They arrived at their destination, Coulson having no idea how he was going to explain to Skye that their living arrangements had changed.

He didn't want to lie. Hated it even.

But he wasn't sure what else he could do. Skye didn't have a handle on these new powers and the slightest wave of emotion could bring the building down around them.

He made the decision to talk to Simmons about the amnesia that Skye was displaying.

If she thought it would be safe to tell Skye that she was missing more time than she thought then he would be the first to tell her everything.

Mainly because he didn't like the restrained happiness on Ward face when he realised that Skye couldn't remember everything he had done.

He didn't like it one bit.

Though he could admit at least to himself that if Ward was literally any other person on the planet then the situation would pull on his heart strings.

To have the person you had lost through your own actions, who hated you, suddenly not remember any of it? To have them back, thinking you were the same person they once trusted? Only to have the threat over your head of their memories returning along with their hatred.

It was brutal.

Another thing he could admit was how nice it was to have the skye he met back. The carefree, happy skye who still held trust in her eyes.

He sighed as they left the jet.

This was going to be tough to navigate.

"Uh, Coulson? Why are we at," Skye squinted through the trees in the clearing they had landed in to see the name of a less than classy establishment flashing in neon lights "Pine view Motel? Where's May and Simmons. Where's the bus?" Skye asked the questions rapid fire as she stepped off the ramp onto the grass.

"A temporary base," he decided to give her more half truths "You're missing quite a bit of time but I'll save you the long story. There's a new director of shield," he hesitated again trying to sort through the timeline of events after the fall of shield and tried to amend it for her benefit.

He started walking to the motel "Gonzales. He doesn't like me much. In fact there's a warrant out for my arrest, so places with cctv are out of the question for a while. And he took the Bus." he explained about the plane that she, without her memories, still thought was her home.

"Wait," she shook her head, confused, and ran to catch up to Coulson "Why the hell does he want to arrest you? Where's Director Fury?"

"Fury is taking a leave of absence. This new guy wants me brought in because I have something of Fury's that he wants. But I don't want him to have it, hence the whole on the run in cheap motels thing." He gestured to the place in front of them.

"And May and Simmons are working with Gonzales, keeping me informed of his movements."

"Wow. Remind me not to get Amnesia in the future, you miss out on a lot," she joked, Coulson not finding the humour in it considering she didn't know how much she had actually missed.

"You said back at that office building," she started to ask "That we were there tracking someone with powers. Why? What did they do?"

"They didn't do anything bad if that's what you're thinking. We were there to protect them. Or try to. There's another new guy on the scene, two actually. List and Strucker. Remember Hydra you saw earlier?"

She nodded.

"Well they're back, lead by these guys. They're looking for gifted individuals, obsessed with them. They're trying to get power, world domination, the usual." He said flippantly.

She nodded again, "The guys that left in the flash of blue? They were the gifteds?"

Coulson nodded "Some of them. There are quite a few all of a sudden."

"That man, the blonde one. He said I knew him. If I've only lost about two days when did I meet him?"

Coulson didn't have to lie this time "That, I honestly don't know."

Ward showed up then, halting their conversation.

"Where's Palamas?" Coulson changed the subject.

"She left. We had a difference of opinion in how things should play out." Ward explained.

Despite not being fond of either him or the other former agent he still said "She needs to be careful. She may not be shield anymore but Gonzales is out for blood. He'll try anything to get what I have."

"I don't think that'll be a problem, sir. She's not too happy with shield and trusts us even less than she likes us. She'll probably go off the rader for a while." He told them.

After their talk on the jet and no words spoken between the two on the way to their new location Coulson had requested he fly them to she had told him she would wait for his call when he had been "riddled with bullets" as she had put it, given him a burner phone with one single number on it, hers, and left with his "Take care of yourself" hanging in the air.

Coulson was impressed and slightly disgusted with the ease that Ward had slipped back into including himself as part of S.h.i.e.l.d in an effort to not tip off Skye.

His "us" in reference to shield pissed him off but he couldn't say anything with Skye right next to them.

"Right. We need a room for the night," Coulson tipped his head back to look at the darkening sky and continued to the motel that he wasn't looking forward to spending the foreseeable future in.

He called to Fitz and Hunter who had been activating the cloaking on the Quinjet. Before they entered the building he pulled them all to one side, away from the entrance.

"We can't all go in as a group, it's too suspicious so we'll go in pairs. Fitz you go with Skye, Hunter you're with me, Ward you go in alone."

Ward nodded but couldn't help being disappointed that he wasn't with Skye. It was a ridiculous thing to be thinking when he knew Coulson wouldn't let him be alone with her. It reminded him of when he was in middle school and wasn't allowed to work with his friends on projects.

A part of him wondered if the parts of himself he had repressed and wasn't allowed to show as a teenager were clawing violently to the surface to get their day in the sun.

After all, he couldn't have thrown a temper tantrum or screamed about life not being fair when he was left alone in the woods. He had to be the one to make life, if not fair, then at least stay with him for a bit longer. And Buddy too. He had not only himself to take care of but his best friend.

This would explain his somewhat childish and petty resentment to Coulson for not letting him be partnered with Skye.

At least he hoped it was that.

Coulson and Hunter went together first, they waited 15 minutes until Ward went in followed by Fitz and Skye another 15 minutes later.

After they were checked in Coulson called them all to Skye and Fitz's room.

Not beating around the bush Coulson got straight to it "There are multiple gifteds who have been taken by Hydra. They're being experimented on as we speak."

He made eye contact with Skye who looked like she was going to be sick.

"Why? What could they possibly get from this?" She asked, repulsion on her face.

"They want soldiers. Enhanced soldiers. And they'll stop at nothing to get them. And if they can't get them they'll make them. They're experiments are all to find out how these people have their powers and how they can be transferred to others, and a personal favourite of theirs: weaponised."

"How do we stop them?" Skye asked, determination in her voice as though she had been personally affected. Coulson knew that even if she couldn't remember that she herself had powers that she would always have empathy for those that did.

"There's no we yet. Not until your head gets checked out."

"Coulson," she stared at him deadpan as if she couldn't believe he was serious "You've got to be joking. I'm missing like two days of memory. It's not like I've forgotten my own name!" She threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Two days or two years, it's still amnesia and you need to get looked at," he saw her about to protest and sent her a stern look "No buts. That's an order."

He left out the part where there wasn't really a shield left with a hierarchy in which he could give her orders.

But she didn't remember that.

She sighed "Fine. But we can't go to the hospital there's cctv everywhere."

"I know. I'm contacting Simmons."

"No, sir, you can't," Leo told him, shaking his head "She's undercover with the new shield, if she leaves they'll tail her like they tailed me."

"I know. I'm going to get a certain hacker to play a loop of Simmons in her bunk at the Playground. I'll send a message to May to cause a distraction so she can sneak out. I'll also need that hacker to send our location, encrypted, to Simmons."

Skye smiled, pleased to be of use "She can do that." Her smile dropped "Oh wait. She can't. I don't have my phone or my laptop. I'm so not freaking out about it either." She informed them sarcastically.

"There's a laptop on the jet, not yours, but it'll have to do." He looked at Ward, trying to tone down his glare and remember how he used to look at Ward before the betrayal. "Go with Skye to the jet. Get the laptop then come immediately back. Do you understand me?"

Leaving them alone was the last thing he wanted to do but he needed to have a rather important discussion with his other team mates.

"Yes sir." Ward picked up on the threat in Coulson's voice but knew there was no way he could convince him of the fact that he was thrilled and a little, ok a lot, stunned, to be in the same state as Skye again, let alone in the same room so wouldn't jeopardise it by fucking around.

Does he think I'm going to lock her in the plane and fly away?

You have before, his inner voice reminded him.

He gave up trying to tell himself it was different. That he had taken Skye with Mike Peterson's assistance to help Garret. He viewed Skye's amnesia as a messed up kind of second chance to be who she always thought he was before he showed everyone he wasn't. And he knew that part of that second chance would be to own up to his mistakes and crimes without blame, ifs or buts.

Just honesty. Pure, raw, honesty.

At least he would get to that part when he knew it was safe to tell her the truth.

Let's hope that's not too soon in the future, he couldn't help thinking.

He sighed, not able to bury the hope that her memory wouldn't return for a while.

Selfish bastard, he reprimanded himself as he and Skye left to the jet.

"Fitz, Hunter," Coulson gestured for Fitz and Hunter to follow him out of the room into his.

"We have a problem," he locked the door and turned to face them hoping he didn't look as worried as he felt.

"Skye obviously doesn't remember that she has powers. But she's being hunted by Strucker and List. Along with all the other gifteds. And you know the reasons we can't tell her about them. But my problem is that she won't be prepared for them coming after her. We can't stay hidden forever."

"Why don't we just tell her they're after her cause they believe she has powers? I mean the pair are stark raving mad anyway it's not a leap to say that they have their theories about who are gifted and who aren't." Hunter shrugged.

"Hunter?"

"Yep?" He leaned forward, arms crossed.

"You're a genius."

"He is?" Fitz asked, face scrunched.

"I am?" Hunter asked, face equally scrunched.

He turned to fitz "Remember when you guys went to the Academy?" Fitz nodded "May and I went to meet with a man who had intel on Skye's past. Long story short Skye was classified as an 084."

"An 084? But no known 084 has ever been a human," Fitz was visibly confused.

"Well consider Skye the first. Turns out the reason was her powers. And I told her last year about her status as a baby, so she'll believe they're looking for her because of that."

"Yeah," Hunter nodded and leaned against the wall "That's what I was thinking the whole time."

Coulson smirked "Sure."

"So," Skye started talking, walking further into the jet "Where did this plane come from anyway? Did we grand theft aero it?"

Ward was so caught off guard by how casual and relaxed Skye was around him post memory loss that he actually had to catch his breath.

Him, the specialist and former Hydra member who was trained and then some to be exactly not that.

"Hello? Earth to Ward?" She snapped her fingers in front of his face.

He blinked and finally regained some sense.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. Just thinking. And uh, no, the plane was shield property, from a hangar we happened to be close to." He guessed, not actually sure of how Coulson had obtained it. He knew it was shield, it was hard not to from the huge logo, but if Gonzales had commandeered the bus he was sure the other aircraft at shields disposal were off limits to them too.

"Huh," she pondered on that while she searched for the laptop "So I haven't missed anything big and exciting then?" She asked, lifting a jacket discarded on a seat to check under it.

He stood and watched her as she searched for the laptop, searching himself for the words he wanted and needed to say but couldn't find.

God, she looked exactly the same. Other than the hair which she now, thanks to Coulson, blamed him for she looked just as she had when he could still claim they were teammates, claim the title of her supervising officer. She had that carefree air that she always had before, that look in her eyes that made it seem as though she was always a tiny push from laughing.

And despite the many hours he spent last year debating over the question of should he continue to follow Garret because he had given him freedom or stay with the team because they had given him a reason for that freedom, he knew in that moment, in this stolen plane a short walk from a rundown motel that he had chosen wrong.

She turned, holding the laptop triumphantly, her grin asking him to celebrate this small success with her as though she had won the lottery.

Yeah. He had chosen so wrong.

"Hey," her grin slowly vanished and he wanted to split in two just so he could beat himself up for causing it not just this time but all the other times he had made her lose that smile "Are you ok?" She walked closer to him "You seem off." She looked up at him, a frown of concern on her face.

"Yeah," he sent her a weak smile "Just an off day is all."

That grin slowly tried to reappear on her face "You having an off day? The great Grant Ward?" She smirked "Preposterous. Unheard of."

His forced smile morphed into an easy genuine one "Preposterous? Big word. You've been hanging around Simmons too much." He said in fake astonishment, the urge to tease her coming to him so naturally.

She punched his arm lightly "Jerk." She glared at him, the huge grin on her face letting him know she was the opposite of offended.

The smile slipped from his face again.

How could he lose this, lose her, a second time?

He had told her on the bus that he was a survivor. And he had been. Survived his family, survived the woods, survived Garret and shield and hydra. Survived everything.

But he wouldn't survive this.

So he told himself, vowed to himself, that he would do whatever it took, even the impossible to make amends to his former team. To stay with Skye he would do anything, he made the decision right there.

And this time there was no debate as to whether it was the right one.

"I'm gonna need snacks."

"What?" Ward shook himself out of his head long enough to ask.

"Snacks. I'm gonna need 'em," Skye told him adamantly.

"I haven't eaten since I woke up missing time and for all I know I might not have eaten in those two days. Who knows? Not me. And this," she tapped her head twice "Doesn't perform the technological miracles it does without fuel. Think of me as a computer Agent Ward. I'm the laptop and the snacks are my electricity."

He stared at her.

"So..." she trailed off after her little monologue "Snacks." She pointed to the vending machines outside the motel.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said, looking the machine up and down as though it was an enemy intending them harm.

"And why is that Ward? Sugar content? High saturated fats? Health freak," she muttered under her breath.

"No," he sent her a reprimanding look "Because the packets of skittles look like they have dust collected on them." He pointed out "I'm willing to bet that not one of those items has a use by date within even a year of now."

She rolled her eyes "Loosen up Ward, candy isn't like other food groups-"

"Not a good group," he interrupted.

"-It's so much more than those, so different," she continued as though he hadn't interrupted her.

"It won't go off the way meat or dairy does," he looked at her, a look of pure skepticism at her theory "Trust me." She said, looking into his eyes with a solid belief in her words.

At his lack of acceptance and unwavering stare she sighed "Look, Ward. When I was a kid and I didn't have much money I ate from these things all the time. And I'm still here." She gestured to herself, all confidence.

He couldn't tell her no, not when she was looking at him like that.

"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you."

She squealed in excitement for the sugar rush and the thrill of winning their mini argument and stood waiting.

He stared back.

"What are you waiting for?"

She looked at him as though he was an idiot "Hello? Just woke up with no memory, no phone, no money? Ring a bell?"

He rolled his eyes and dug into his pocket to pull out a ten dollar bill.

"Oh wow, Rockefeller, if I knew you were rich I would have put on more makeup, maybe flirted a little." She teased.

"Ha," he spoke, monosyllabic, but feeling his ears burning at her comments. What was wrong with him? He never blushed. Ever. And Skye's whole personality was based on flirting, or at least it used to be. So he couldn't exactly say he was special "Knock yourself out." He tried to say casually.

She pointed to her head again "Apparently I already did. Been there done that. T-shirt is in the mail."

"Shit," he realised his fuck up "Sorry." He looked down, looking bashful.

Skye smirked, loving whenever Wards arrogance faded away to reveal his soft side.

"Don't worry about it. The skittles should cover the apology." She pressed the necessary buttons put in the bill and turned to him.

"Want anything? You're buying." She joked.

"No." Was all she got out of him along with his usual annoyed stare.

Snorting, she grabbed the items that had fallen to the little section at the bottom of the machine and balanced them in her arms.

Ward silently took the laptop so she could focus her efforts on not dropping the likely years old mould covered candy and lead the way back to Skye's room.

She dropped onto the bed along with the snacks and grabbed the laptop back from Ward.

"Ok. This is where the magic happens." She opened the lid and turned it on.

An: Hello to whoever might be reading! So in case you haven't realised by now, this is mainly gonna be fluff with a bit of angst mixed in. I'm a simple girl who just wanted her OTP to have fluffy moments and happiness. Is that too much to ask for? Apparently, but it's fine that's what fanfics are for :)