AN: First, Thank You for all of the reviews and your support! Second, I honestly have no idea what happened. It was supposed to be a small glimpse into the dinner scene (which I was having a really difficult time writing/felt like it was forced) and then it turned into an extra chapter. Maybe I'm still trying to get away from all of the angst?

Anyways, I really hope that the characters stayed realistic and that you guys like it!


Chapter 29 Of Blackmail and Tech

Everyone finished setting the table while Coulson went to get May.

Ward sat next to Skye after having pulled her chair out, being sure his chair was practically touching hers. He was learning really quickly that she wasn't too keen on distance between them, even if a few feet. The more he watched her, the more determined he became to finding out what the hell was going on.

The specialist had never considered Skye to be a clingy kind of person. Even after everything that she had been through, most of the time, she simply would be content and relaxed with just the smallest of contact, mainly leaning her shoulder against his; after she had finally allowed the contact that is. The only other instances he could think of was following the darkest of nightmares or flashbacks where she would allow him to hold her. Those times, he could see that she was desperate for something to ground her and he had been more than happy to offer her what little comfort he could. Although a larger part felt like he was doing it to selfishly reassure himself that she was safe and sound, right where she belonged.

Ward's thoughts went to the previous night. He was with her all night; holding her closely as she curled into his side, head on his chest, hand in his hand. If she had had a nightmare, he would have known, but she hadn't.

It was like her nightmares were coming to reality as she desperately tried to get herself grounded while awake. And when they hadn't been able to provide her that base, she had been desperate enough to resort to stopping it all.

The fact that even when awake his rookie couldn't escape that place pissed him off. He knew what it was like to avoid sleep for days just to get away from the hell that his subconscious would throw at him when asleep, trying to force him to face his fears. But Skye, Skye wanted to be grounded in reality.

He forced his mind back to the present, where she needed him to be. Ward would figure the rest of it out later. They would figure it out, he corrected himself.

The specialist reached down and took Skye's hand in his, resting their entwined fingers on his leg. As he casually let the side of his knee lean against hers while listening to the two scientists argue about…he wasn't really sure, he felt the slight pressure of her shoulder against his, her muscles tense.

She began to relax when her thumb started slowly drawing random figures on his skin as he felt the small burning sensation beneath. Ward focused on his breathing. She definitely needed a friend and SO right now, he reminded himself.

"Skye, tell them that I should be allowed to turn off a stove," Fitz turned his attention to the analyst, knowing that Ward would be useless in siding with him. After all, he had wasted 23 minutes of the specialist's life.

Skye's attention went away from the sideways infinity she had been tracing as a distraction to keep her mind from the fact that Laredo would be coming back soon to dinner and with him, the possibility of her seeing the team at the facility. She didn't want to see that place and if that involved living in a delusion for a while longer, she had accepted that alternate. So instead, her mind had sat and analyzed why the back of Ward's hand was surprisingly soft, purposefully trying to come up with ridiculous reasons. Currently the 45 minute absurd yet meticulous moisturizing regimen that involved eggs and scented lotions was winning out.

When the silence ensued and she looked up to see everyone staring at her, she ceased the activity and recalled the last thing that her subconscious had heard, quickly realizing that the standing scientist's had asked her a question.

What's the point in even answering. It's not like their feelings would be hurt,she thought to herself.

But if she answered and played along with the charade, she could keep them a little longer, her mind reasoned. Plus, could she really handle seeing Fitz's sad little scientist face and know that she caused it? It wasn't anything significant that the facility could use if she responded.

"Um, manually? Sure," she replied, her voice a little raspy from the lack of use and quiet tone.

Ward raised a surprised eyebrow as Simmons asked, "You tried to rig the stove to shut off remotely?"

"What? No…no," the Scottish man quickly replied, the pitch of his voice increasing in an incriminating way. His gaze traveled from his best friend to the specialist. At the disbelieving stares from Simmons and Ward, "Well, maybe once," he confessed.

"Wait. That fire that started when I placed it on low?" Ward started. "The one where I ended up getting a lecture from Coulson about how you and Skye were rubbing off on me?" The specialist continued, not hiding the accusation.

"Uh, I might of crossed the wrong wires when removing the remote system…"Fitz took a step back as he tugged at the neck of his sweater. "Where are May and Coulson anyway? The foods getting cold."

As if hearing their names, the two older agents walked in, each taking a seat.

Fitz stared back at Ward who only managed to show an evil little smirk, knowing he had blackmail on the monkey loving tech expert that couldn't cook to save his own life. And to think, Coulson had almost grounded him from cooking because of said engineer.

"You going to join us Fitz?" Coulson asked, as the Scottish man was the only one who remained standing.

"Um, should I get the secluded therapist?" he recovered from his frozen stupor.

Ward felt Skye tense next to him at the question and did not hesitate in replying, "No."

No one questioned the specialist as they diverted the conversation onto safe subjects involving instances of tech gone wrong; the topic left Fitz feeling nervous that Ward would call him out about messing with the stove that Coulson had specifically told him not to touch.

And Ward, well he enjoyed every minute of it, sometimes even purposefully skidding close to the topic of remotely controlled technology just to watch Fitz squirm a little.

Skye played with the food on her plate, partly distracted by the entertaining conversation. If she tried hard enough, she could almost make herself believe that she was a part of it even though she hadn't contributed anything.

Taking a large whiff through her nose, she was unable to deny that it actually smelled good as it was one of her favorite foods, especially with Coulson's special sauce.

Skye felt his gaze on her before she even looked his way. She finally glanced up to see Ward staring at her with a soft smile; his fork hadn't moved. The conversation continued around them as Coulson recalled 'back in the day' technology and FitzSimmons began to hypothetically tear apart the old technology that the team leader had described, pointing out each shortcoming.

The analyst returned her gaze back to her plate, feeling the pangs of loss as she got caught up in his hopeful eyes and wondering if she was too far gone in her attachments.

Shaking her head at the thought, she rolled up some spaghetti and stuck it in her mouth before turning to the specialist who took a normal bite. Skye convinced herself that she had to take enough bites to make sure he got the right proportions as he only ate when she ate. Believing the idea that she wasn't eating for her benefit helped the food to go down just a little bit easier.

Watching them take their first bite, Coulson noticed that the specialist was using his left hand and Skye, her right. It didn't take a genius to figure it out but he had just gotten a speech from May in regards to how he needed to be less obvious in his staring if he couldn't let it go; except May had gotten the point across with only two words and an authenticated Agent Melinda May eyebrow raise.

Coulson knew that she needed someone to ground her and he had argued with May that he understood that as he had paced in front of the pilot who remained silent; but a part of him couldn't help but to worry about whether she was ready for a relationship and if she could make that decision with her self esteem being so low.

He knew Ward wouldn't take advantage of her but he saw the way that they leaned against each other and couldn't help but wonder when it would become something more; two broken people trying to make a whole out of the pieces that they had been given.

Everyone was broken in someway or another, the older agent admitted to himself as he thought of each team member.

Coulson's mind stopped processing his 'purpose of life' thoughts; too thrilled when she started really eating the food on her plate. May elbowed him ever so gently to get him to stop staring and focus on the conversation around them. He gave her an appreciative smile before she tilted her head towards Fitz who had an expectant look on his face, as if waiting for an answer.

The smile immediately disappeared. Crap, the leader thought to himself, having no idea what had been asked of him. He looked over to his second in command who very slightly shook her head 'no', before he turned back to Fitz and simply stated, "No."

The scientist looked a little sad as he sighed and stabbed the garlic bread before taking a bite.

Simmons patted her friends shoulder comfortingly. "Who wants dessert?" She asked, trying to cheer him up. Fitz immediately perked up as he volunteered to help serve the ice cream, hitting the table in his haste to choose the flavors.

Coulson watched as Ward shook his head at the enthusiasm over the dessert while Skye was fighting a sad smile as she stared at the two scientists working together at the counter. The older agent looked over to May, who leaned in explaining, "Fitz wanted to remotely control the coffee pot so that it could be turned on from the bunks and would be ready by the time we made it to the kitchen."

"That's a bad idea?" Coulson questioned, really enjoying the thought of the coffee being ready.

May raised a questioning eyebrow, before settling for one word. "Toaster."

"Oh yeah…definitely a bad idea," Coulson agreed, the memory coming back much too quickly for his liking. They both pulled away from the whispering session as the scientists walked back with ice cream bowls, the engineers being the fullest stacked with three small scoops.

"Tell me it isn't what I think it is," Ward stated, giving a nod of thanks as he grabbed Skye's bowl from Simmons and placed it in front of his rookie before grabbing his, unwilling to let go of her hand.

Fitz's smile widened at Ward's recognition. "Fine, I won't tell you that it's Olaf."

"What are you five?" Ward asked, resisting an eye roll.

"I will have you know, he is a deep character. Very well developed!" Fitz stated, doing his best to keep a serious face before taking a huge bite of his ice cream. "And very delicious as well," he finished with a smile, his mouth still full.

"Oh Fitz," Simmons simply stated before shaking her head and taking a bite of her own ice cream.

"Olaf?" Skye surprised everyone when she asked. It had sounded really familiar.

"The snowman from the movie Frozen," Coulson gently explained to which Skye tried to hide the small chuckle, knowing that Fitz was doing this just to get under Ward's skin.

Ward felt as though a small weight had been lifted when he saw his rookie fighting a smile while Skye chose to forget that this was all pretend as she took a bite of her favorite ice cream.


AN: Did they all make it through while remaining in character? I hope so! Please review and let me know your thoughts.

Next chapter is moving towards the plot and a little closer to the end.