From Darkness into the Light
Spoilers: All Episodes, mainly focused on the 1x21 "Ragtag" promo
Disclaimer: I don't really own anything here.
Skye sat on her computer reviewing some security upgrades while she waited for news of Ward's mission. It amazed her that while they were partners on missions, the one he was on was solo in North Korean territory to retrieve a high valued scientist who had access to Korean nuclear technology. Coulson and May backed Ward up about Skye not going, something about how if he was captured he stood a better chance of escape if she wasn't there.
The sound of the bunk door rattling made her look up and she found Ward when the door opened. He looked like he'd been through Hell. Cuts and bruises covered his face and the slight limp present with his left leg said he'd probably sprained it. The door shut behind him and he began stripping off his clothes, bandages and wraps consistent with Simmons's handwork laid across his body.
"What happened?" She leaned against the wall as she watched him sit on the bed to remove his boots and socks.
"Military intercepted us just as we reached the border." He looked up at her, "we got out but not without injuries. Jung got shot but it wasn't lethal so everything went better than expected."
Moving over to him, she stood and touched the cut on his face. "I should have been there…"
"Not this time," he looked up at her from where he sat. "Not for a while, we don't want to endanger her." Ward leaned forward and pulled up her shirt slightly, kissing her still flat stomach.
Skye smiled and ran a hand through his hair, "Coulson is still pissed at you for knocking me up."
"He'll get over it when he sees her, everyone will."
"You still think it's a girl?" Skye smirked at him, "what if it turns out to be a boy?"
Ward chuckled and pulled back, moving to get clean clothes from under the bed. "Then we'd better pray he turns out to be like his mother because if he's anything like me as a child we're in for trouble." He looked up to see her back on the bed with her laptop in hand. "Before my brother was sadistic and my parents didn't care, I was a happy child. However that came with tantrums and mischievous behavior that was more dangerous than anything else. Combined with your determination and sense of adventure we'll be in for a world of trouble."
Skye watched him as he started getting dressed, "so you'd rather a girl?"
"A girl like her mother and in need of being spoiled but disciplined at the same time." He sat back on the bed and started pulling on socks and boots. After he turned to her and looked into brown pools of emotion he loved to drown in. "We may joke about it but all I want is a healthy child, I don't care if it's a girl or boy. I vow to make sure they're safe and happy, innocent and ignorant of the world for as long as possible. They deserve that and a family that loves them so fiercely that they'd throw themselves at a gun to protect him or her."
Placing her laptop aside, Skye stood and cupped his face in her hands. "You are going to be an amazing father Grant. You may have doubts but you will be nothing like your own father or brother, this baby will have a family that loves it but also a father who would go to the ends of the earth to make them happy."
He rested his head against her belly, "I don't think I'll ever deserve you or her."
Pulling his head up, Skye ran her thumb over his scar while staring into his eyes. "You may feel that way and your actions were perhaps immoral but you're the only guy I want. As for deserving, our baby deserves you as a father because you'll love them like no father could. Your own past teaches you right and wrong, what you can give and what you should give. A man with a better life probably wouldn't know as much as you can give."
Standing before the Red Oak Assisted Living Home, Skye looked at the man beside her to judge his face. He had a standing day of visitation every year that he visited his grandmother and he'd missed the year before due to everything that went down with the team and HYDRA. So standing before the nursing home on his day of visitation, Ward found himself holding her hand tightly. He'd asked her to come with him and she'd agreed without hesitation because she wanted to ask the woman why she hadn't taken Ward and his younger siblings in when the abuse got bad.
Getting to the room was easy enough, the staff recognized Ward and gave them passes as they signed in. Skye watched as Ward knocked on the door to Apartment 17 and squeezed his hand to reassure him. The door opened and an elderly woman looked at them both, a smile crossing her face.
"Grant, you are here." She pulled him in arms and pulled back to look at her. "You haven't given me a hug in years, not since you were a boy and here you are hugging me back." She smiled and moved aside, "come in please."
Ward put a hand on Skye's back and slightly pushed her forward so she walked in ahead of him. Sitting on the couch, Ward looked at his grandmother. "Gramsy I'm sorry I didn't come last year, my job had me tied up and I couldn't get away."
"That doesn't matter now, that's in the past." She waved him off and looked at Skye, "who you are you young lady and how did you meet Grant?"
Skye smiled and took Ward's hand, "Skye and I met Ward here on the job, he found me and I helped him with work. I specialize in computers and security," she bumped Ward's shoulder with her own. "We just worked well together and decided to try dating, turns out it suits us."
"Does she make you happy Grant?" His grandmother asked and he chuckled.
"She's my world, I can't imagine life without her." Ward squeezed her hand, "nor do I want to try to imagine that."
His grandmother chuckled and reached across the coffee table, patting Skye's leg. "Tell me about yourself. Where do your parents live, what do they do…just tell me everything."
"I'm an orphan, my parents died when I was a baby. I've been sort of adopted by our boss and his sort-of-but-not-really girlfriend." Skye shrugged, "I dropped out of high school but my skill with computers often makes up for the lack of a diploma. Grant and I work together, partners really and that's really everything."
Ward chuckled, "not everything. Your favorite color is blue, you have an affinity for plaid and you'll never cut your hair because you like it long. You love watching Disney movies just to sing the songs and even though you're an adult you like to read teen fiction."
"Thanks for spilling all those." Skye rolled her eyes and his grandmother laughed.
"Grant, Erin came by last week with her son and I have to say he's beautiful. I have pictures if you want to see." She started to get up but Ward stopped her.
"I'd rather not," he looked down at the floor. "I closed that chapter of my life a long time ago and I don't want the memories that will resurface."
She sat down and smiled, "I understand, your past is full of pain and I only wish I'd been in better health to take you in. I tried to step in but you know the police never believed us because your father knew how to tell the right lies." Rubbing her hands together the elderly woman looked at them both. "Now, tell me when the wedding is, I see that ring on your finger."
Skye looked down to see the three rings that were part of a set, it was worn as a deterrent so guys didn't try to pick her up. "Oh this, it's actually so guys don't ask me out. It's not an engagement or wedding ring."
"We actually discussed it already Gramsy and we decided marriage wasn't for us." Ward looked at Skye, "what did you tell me when we made that decision?"
"That a piece of paper can't accurately define what we are to each other." Skye smiled at him and rested her head against his shoulder. "We decided that later on if we feel like it we'll register with a civil union but right now we're content as is."
Ward saw his grandmother's happiness deflate slightly so he decided to tell her the big news. "While we may not be getting married, we're expecting a baby. Skye's twelve weeks pregnant right now."
The woman's soft smile turned into a grin, "another grandbaby for me to spoil. Do you know the gender yet?"
Skye shook her head, "not yet but we're kind of hoping for a girl. Between the two of us, a boy would be a nightmare due to behaviors and traits that could be inherited. Besides," she looked up at Ward, "I think Grant really wants a Daddy's girl that he can spoil and chase away guys with his gun."
"No one would ever be good enough for our daughter. Any kid Fitz and Simmons has would be borderline acceptable but no one else would ever be good enough. Besides, with how beautiful you are we'd have to lock her up."
Both women laughed and Skye shook her head, "you'd never hear the end of it if you did."
"The way it should be then."
A/N: I thought we should include his grandmother.
Next we jump a few years into the future and see the Ward Family together. It'll also be the last chapter and there will be no sequel to this one since I'm working on 3-5 other AoS fics (lost count of how many so I rounded).
Please read and review...