(A Few Days Later)

Ward readjusted himself so he was sitting up in the bed, right next to Skye He started to stare off into space as a single thought started to nag at him. "Skye," he began. "Do you think me as a good man?"

"What?" Skye asked back, turning her head to look at him. His question caught her off guard. Why would he say such a thing? "Grant, what the hell do you mean? Of course you're a good man. Hell, you're the sweetest guy I know. If you weren't," she gestured around them. "We wouldn't be in the same bed together. Why are you saying this?" Her voice was low and soft.

He shrugged, "I don't know, it just came to mind." he replied. "I just wonder sometimes if I'm actually good, if I'm actually a hero. I have a hard time believing so most of the time." He kept his head down, like shame was weighing down on him. Despite his current environment, his depressed thoughts were coming back. Well, it only had been about a week since the incident, since Skye had been rescued, so there had been little to no progress with his recovery. He lived every single day with his thoughts trying to tear him down and drag him to the point where he wanted to kill himself.

"Just after all that happened, I don't see how I can do any good anymore. All I do is burn everything I touch." Ward stretched out his hand, making sure that they were far away from Skye, and sent embers dancing into his palms. "You can try all you want to say that this is a gift, but it'll always be a curse to me."

Skye held her breath. Ward really wasn't supposed to be using his powers right now, since they usually put some kind of strain on his mind. And considering his current mental state, that strain wasn't needed. But she didn't say anything about it, she didn't want to freak him out. "Grant, your powers do not decide who you are, just like how my powers don't decide who I am." she began softly. "Curse or not, they don't define you. At one point they did, but not now."

Ward let his hands drop to the sheets, looking at Skye with a confused look, "What do you mean by 'at one point'?" he asked.

She took a breath, "When I first met you, you were probably the closest thing to a demon that I've ever met. You were closed off, cold, snapped at anyone that tried to talk to you. I see now that that was all just a defense mechanism just because you were so afraid. But you were letting all that hate and fear shape you into the very thing you were afraid of. At least you've learned to be yourself, and that's a good thing."

"So you're saying that I'm a good man now?" Ward asked cautiously, afraid of Skye's answer. He didn't want to say it, but she was right. He did remember being a nightmare of a man with how he acted towards everyone around him, but he was just trying to avoid that hate. But did it really make the hate go away?

Ward knew that he had Skye to thank for how he was now. It wasn't until she actually took a chance with him and stood up for him that his real self started to come out of that shell of a practical monster. There was no one true person to blame to what he had become, everything had contributed to the 'demon'. But Skye had been the one to break it.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Grant. You've come a long way from what you were not too long ago." she replied. She settled in closer to his side, "You are a good man, you've got to stop trying to convince yourself otherwise. That's just only going to make things worse for you. Andrew said it himself, if you want to heal faster, you've got to think positively of yourself. I know it's really hard to do so after everything that you went through, but you've got to try."

He shrugged, staring off into space again as Skye laid her head onto his broad shoulder. He chose to ignore what she had just said as another question came to mind, "Do you think that there's a future for us?" he asked, his eyes still looking ahead at absolutely nothing. "Do you think that this will continue to work?"

Skye bit her lip, but not moving her head off of Ward's shoulder, "I'm pretty sure that it will, Grant. You love me, I love you. So why the hell wouldn't it work? And don't give me that 'because I'm a monster' crap."

Ward sighed and moved away from her slightly, "Skye, you deserve someone better than me. You deserve someone that you don't have to take care of like a sick child every single day." He looked to the side and lowered his voice as Skye looked at him with genuine concern, "I'm not worth it. You deserve someone better than a broken piece of shit like me."

"Grant, I love you. I really do. I honestly don't care that I'm gonna have to take care of you for a while. You're going to get better, you're going to get stronger." Skye said softly, taking his hand and tracing light circles onto the surface of his palm. "You're not a piece of shit. Yes, you may be broken, but you'll get better in time. But you are not a piece of shit."

"So you will stay?" Ward asked, voice like that of a small child. He was genuinely afraid. One part of him wanted Skye to go find someone better than him, but the other part didn't want to let her go. That part was afraid that she would leave him cold and alone.

"There's not a chance in hell that I will leave you, Grant Douglas." Skye stated, brushing her lips against the stubble on his cheeks. "You are so freaking paranoid, I'll never leave you."

"Can't help it. I've…" he trailed off and shook his head. "I've never actually have someone fall in love with me. I never had a significant other. No one wants to be with a demon.

There's also the fact that I practically dropped out of high school when I was like in 9th grade, so I didn't get that entire experience. So, I honestly don't know what to do, Skye. That's why I'm afraid. I don't know how this all works. But I also know that you deserve better than me."

Skye's heart ached for Ward. He was so damned insecure about himself, more than likely a part of his clinical depression. He questioned every decision he made, and he was even questioning loving her. She gave him a heartfelt smile, "Don't worry, Grant, you're doing just fine. I love you and I'm not leaving your ass for a long time, I'm sure of that."

He smiled back at her, even though it was extremely dopey and awkward. But it warmed her heart. He leaned over and pressed his lips up against hers, his stubble stinging her skin. "Thank you." he breathed. "For giving me an actual chance. No one's ever done that before."

"Well, they missed out on a really great guy." she replied with a massive smile. "'Cause you're amazing." Skye shook her head and started to reach over for the lamp beside them, "Now, it's getting really late and I know you're a very early riser. We should get to bed."

Ward still smiled at her, but nodded. He settled down into the sheets as Skye flipped the light off. He felt Skye sink back into the sheets, drawing in towards his side. He turned and draped a muscular arm around her, drawing her close.

"Mmm. You're so warm." she mumbled, clear that sleep was already starting to drag her down. "Don't let go."

He took in the sweet scent of her hair, "Don't worry," he muttered into her ear. "I won't. I won't ever let you go."

She snuggled in closer to him, trying to take in as much warmth as she could, "Night, Grant." she whispered. "Love you."

And those two words made something stir deep within Ward's chest. A smile pulled at his lips as he buried his face into her soft, brown hair. He knew that he finally had the world, that he finally had something right. "Love you too." he murmured. "I love you too."


Author's Note: I don't own AoS, Marvel does. So one more chapter! It'll be an epilogue in which the duo of Quake and Hellfire finally come to be known and revered. Please keep reading and please favorite, follow, and/or review! ~AwakeAndAliveSpartan.