Hey babes! New update for all of you lovely people. I loved reading all your thoughts on the last chapter. Very wonderful. I apologize for not updating earlier in the day, I've been busy all day getting my house ready for this weekend. We have people coming over because my older sister is getting married this weekend. Yay! :) I'm so excited! But I'm updating now, so yeah.

Guest: Yeah, very very true.

Tamara: Updating now. :)

Guest: Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.

Here's the new chapter. Hope you enjoy!

*A week and a half later*

"What's got you acting all mopey recently?"

Skye lifts her head from staring down into her cereal bowl to see Lincoln standing near her, a small smile on his face.

"Lincoln, hey. What's up?"

Lincoln shrugs, "I was just walking by and saw you in here staring at your breakfast." He pulls himself up onto the stool next to her, "You haven't been acting at all like your usual self for the past week and a half. Joey even said you cancelled the training sessions you had set up with him. I'm starting to get really worried about you, Skye. If it's any kind of medical issue, you know I can help you."

She gives him a half-hearted smile, "I'm fine, Lincoln, I promise. It's nothing that you or any kind of medicine can fix. I just had a pretty big disagreement with someone that I really care about and I'm feeling a little guilty about what happened because it's mainly my fault."

"Well what happened?" Lincoln asks. "Maybe you're feeling guiltier than you should be."

She shakes her head, "No, the amount of guilt I have right now is most definitely deserved. And I'd really rather not talk about it."

He nods his head, "Okay, that's fine. I get it. We can talk about something else."

"Look, I appreciate you always being so willing to sit and listen to me, but I'm not really feeling like talking much right now, okay?"

Lincoln nods again, "Yeah, okay."

Skye looks back down at her cereal again and pushes it around with her spoon while Lincoln just sits quietly, his head down.

"Skye."

Skye lifts her head to see Bobbi approaching her, a concerned look on her face.

"Hey," she greets her friend with a small smile.

Bobbi smiles back, "Hey. I was just wondering if..." she trails off when she sees Lincoln sitting next to Skye. She looks back at Skye, "I was uh, I was wondering about how that…thing is going that you mentioned to me at the beginning of last week."

Skye sighs, "Not well. Still nothing except for the usual."

"I'm sorry," Bobbi says. "I'm sure things will turn around soon."

"I sure hope so," Skye gives her a tight-lipped smile. "This past week and a half has been a very, very difficult one. I just wish that something would—" A beep from her phone cuts her off. She digs inside her pocket and pulls her phone out and unlocks it to find a new text from Grant within the shell program. She quickly opens it to read the message Call me so we can talk? Please?

She gives a small smile at the message before typing back a quick reply Give me a second to get alone.

She looks up at Bobbi and Lincoln, "Sorry, guys. I have to go, this is really important."

"Is it...?" Bobbi trails off.

Skye smiles and nods, "Yeah."

Bobbi smiles, "Good, it's about damn time. You better go."

"Right," Skye nods. She quickly makes her way out of the room and towards her bunk, already pulling up a phone call with Grant and holding the phone up to her ear.

As soon as she closes and locks the door to her bunk, she hears his voice come through the speaker, "Hello?"

"Grant," she breathes out. She makes her way over to her bed and sits down on it, pulling one leg up underneath of her, the other hanging down. "You said you wanted to talk?"

"Yeah. Jess probably won't be up for a little while yet so I thought now would be a good time to talk. You weren't busy with anything important, were you?"

She shakes her head, "No, I wasn't."

"Good, good. So uh, I guess this is where we talk about things."

"Yeah, I guess so. Where do we start?"

"I'm not really sure," he tells her. "The last time I remember fighting like this, you just jumped by bones and then left."

"Those were some pretty good times," she nods with a fond smile. She takes a deep breath, "I think I should start by saying that I'm sorry. I never wanted you two to feel the way that you do about me being gone for so long at a time."

"And I'm sorry too," he says. "It was never my intention to make you feel guilty for your choice. I know it's been pretty tough for you."

"It has. That's why I really love and treasure every moment that I get to spend with you and Jess at home. You two help keep me grounded in this ridiculously crazy world that I'm still a part of."

"Same goes for me," Grant says. "Not talking to you this past week and a half has been absolute torture. I missed hearing your voice."

"I missed hearing your voice too." She lets out a small laugh, "Wow. We are so unbelievable sappy right now."

Grant chuckles, "There's no one else I'd rather be sappy with."

"Same here," she smiles. "You've definitely changed me, Grant Ward."

"No, I think you're the one who changed me. For the better, I might add."

"I think we changed each other for the better."

"Yes we did," he nods.

There's a beat of silence and then Skye speaks up again, "I really miss you and Jess."

"We really miss you too," Grant tells her. "But you'll be here for the Fourth, right?"

"Yeah," she nods. "I wish I could come by sooner, but I don't want anyone getting suspicious."

"I get it," Grant says. "We'll just have to satisfy ourselves by talking to you on the phone and with video calls."

"Yes we will."

"Hey Skye?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

She smiles, "I love you too. And I promise you that I will get out of here soon."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Give me…until the end of next year, tops. There's a few things I want to try with the team to see who might be best at taking over for me and it might take a little while. But if I don't make a definitive decision before the end of December next year, then I'll just leave. I don't know if I'll tell the rest of the team about you and Jess right away, but I'll leave. I promise."

"You really mean that?"

Skye nods, even though he can't see, "I really mean it. I'm going to come home permanently. Do you think you can hold on for a little while longer?"

"Yeah, I think I can do that."

"Good. I love you so much, Grant Ward."

"I love you so much, too, Skye Ward."

*June *

"How'd the op go?" Coulson asks Skye as she makes her way through the base, still dressed in her tactical gear.

Skye turns towards him and gives him a small smile, "It was good. Everybody did really well, still a few things to work on, though. But other than that it went off without a hitch."

"Good," Coulson nods. "I'd like your reports on my desk in the morning."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Skye lets out a breath.

Coulson raises a brow, "You were?"

Skye nods, "Yeah. I was planning on hitting the showers and then going to bed. That op was pretty exhausting."

"Alright," Coulson nods. "Sleep well."

"I will," she smiles. "Thanks." She watches as he walks away and then turns around to make her way towards her bunk.

Once she reaches her bunk, she steps inside and shuts and locks the door behind her, making her way over to the closet.

She removes her gauntlets and sets them off to the side where they won't get damaged, followed by her belt, and then unzips her top. She pulls the skin tight material off of her body and tosses it into the laundry bin, leaving her in just her tank top and pants. She reaches up and pulls the elastic band out of her hair, letting her dark brown hair fall in waves down her back. As she goes to remove her pants, her cell phone goes off from where she had set it down on her bed upon entering the room.

Stepping over to the bed, she picks it up and unlocks it to see a new text in the shell program from Grant with a photo attached Call us? We want to say goodnight. The photo shows both Grant and Jessica, their cheeks pressed together with wide smiles on both of their faces.

Smiling to herself, she opens up a video call with Grant and then sits down on her bed, leaning back against the wall behind her.

A few seconds later, the call connects and both Grant's and Jessica's faces appear on her screen, Jessica's face sitting closer.

"¡Mamá!" Jessica exclaims when she sees Skye, a wide smile on her tiny face.

"Hey angel," Skye smiles back. "Daddy said you wanted to call me."

Jessica nods, "¡Sí! Wanna say g'night."

"Jess was very insistent about calling you to say goodnight," Grant smiles. "But of course it's not like I was going to turn down a chance to talk to my completely and utterly gorgeous wife."

Skye smiles, "You, sir, are a major flirt, did you know that?"

He smiles and nods, "Maybe a little."

Skye just laughs.

"¡Mamá!" Jessica shouts into the camera, getting closer to the screen.

"Sorry, baby," Skye smiles at her daughter. "You called to say goodnight to me, not so daddy could flirt with me. Did you have a good day today with daddy?"

"Yeah," Jessica nods. "We played at da park wif Ian."

"You went and played at the park with Ian?"

"Yeah," Jessica nods again. "And Buddy."

"And Buddy," Skye repeats. "Sounds like it was a very fun day."

"We did have a pretty good time," Grant smiles. "Of course, Jess didn't want to leave when it was time to come back home for dinner. She almost threw a fit in the middle of the park but thankfully she didn't."

"What did you promise her?" Skye asks him with a blank look.

"What makes you think I promised her something?"

"I know you, babe. I know you promised her something."

He sighs, "Fine. I promised her that when you come down for the Fourth we'll all go to the park and even get some ice cream. Hunter and Bobbi can come with us if they're able to. And Mack as well."

Skye purses her lips in thought, "I guess that's not so bad."

"See, I know how to parent," he smiles.

"This coming from the man who almost traumatized our two year old daughter the other day by showing her a scary movie."

"You're still holding that against me?" he asks her.

She nods her head, "Mm-hmm. You're just lucky that she fell asleep before it got too scary. Otherwise I would have had some very serious words with you."

"Oh I don't doubt that for a second," he chuckles. "But I believe we called you for another purpose; for you to say goodnight to the little angel." He reaches out and grabs Jessica around the waist, pulling the small child back into his lap, making her giggle.

"Right, of course," Skye smiles. "Are you in your jammies?" she asks her daughter.

Jessica nods, "Uh-huh. Da ones wif elfants," she points to the animal scattered all across the fabric of her pajamas.

"Ooh, good choice. Did daddy give you your bath?"

Jessica nods again, "Yeah. See?" she holds up some of her wet hair in front of the camera.

"I see, good job. And did you brush your teeth?"

"All over," Jessica says.

"Good girl," Skye smiles. "And did you go potty?"

"Uh-huh," Jessica smiles proudly.

Skye takes a deep breath, "Well Jessie, I think you are all ready for bed. What do you think?"

"Yeah," Jessica smiles. "Mamá, canta, por favor."

"You want me to sing to you while you go to sleep?"

Jessica nods, "Sí."

"Alright, I think I can do that, but only a tiny bit of a song. What do you want me to sing?"

"Bon Jovi," Jessica answers.

"And which song by Bon Jovi would you like?" Skye asks.

Jessica thinks for a minute, "Uh, Wherever You Are."

Skye smiles, "Welcome to Wherever You Are, an excellent choice. Are you all tucked in bed?"

"Espere," Jessica holds up one of her tiny hands to the screen. Then she slides down off of Grant's lap and hurries over to her bed, climbing up on it and underneath of the covers.

The camera shifts as Grant moves over to the bed and sits down on the edge of it, leaning back so his head is resting against the wall, holding the camera so both he and Jessica are in the frame.

"Are you ready?" Skye asks after a minute.

"Yeah," Jessica replies with a small nod, snuggling deep under her covers and pulling her ladybug doll closer to her.

"Alright, here we go." Skye takes a deep breath and then opens her mouth to softly sing, "Maybe we're all different, but we're still the same. We all got the blood of Eden running through our veins. I know sometimes it's hard for you to see, you're caught between just who you are and who you want to be. If you feel alone and lost and need a friend, remember every new beginning, is some beginning's end. Welcome to wherever you are. This is your life, you made it this far. Welcome, you gotta believe, that right here right now, you're exactly where you're supposed to be. Welcome, to wherever you are."

Once she finishes singing, she smiles when she notices Jessica's eyes fluttering closed. "Good night, my angel," she whispers into the phone's microphone. "Sleep tight. Mommy loves you."

"Buenas noches, mamá," Jessica says sleepily. "Te amo."

"Buenas noches, Jess," Grant whispers, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.

"Buenas noches, daddy."

The camera shifts again as Grant stands from the bed and makes his way into the hallway, shutting Jessica's door behind him and turning off the light. "She's out," he smiles into the camera as he makes his way out into the living room. "Your beautiful voice has done it once again," he tells her, sitting down on the couch.

"Glad I could help," Skye smiles.

"Me too," Grant smiles back.

Skye lets out a yawn, "I think I'm going to follow in Jess' footsteps and go to bed now too after I take a shower. I'm really exhausted after today's op."

Grant nods, "I remember what that's like. Go take a hot shower, sleep tight, then wake up tomorrow and do some more good in the world. I love you."

Skye smiles, "I love you too. Bye."

"Bye."

Ending the video call, Skye locks her phone and sets it down on the small table next to her bed. She stands up from her bed and goes back over to the closet, continuing to get ready for her shower and then bed.

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

They made up, yay! :) And Skye has set a deadline for herself.

Quick note, probably won't update again until sometime on Sunday. Going to be crazy busy all day on Saturday because my sister is getting married! Woo hoo! So yeah.

*Mommy, sing, please
*Wait

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!