A/N: I'm cleansing my system of a couple of short scenes that just won't leave me alone before I continue working on my longer pieces. Anyway, this one is a little what if – what if Grant decided to pretend the outside world didn't exist/wasn't HYDRA to begin with?
The World Outside Doesn't Exist
After arriving back to Providence from Portland, Coulson was exhausted – emotionally even more so than physically. Seeing Audrey after all this time, yet not really seeing her at all… It hurt more than he'd anticipated. All he wanted now was to catch up with the half of his team that had remained at the base, take a shower, and have some rest – and maybe a scotch. And perhaps after solid eight hours of sleep he could approach the problems at hand with a clearer head. At least he hoped so.
Instructing FitzSimmons and Trip to put away their equipment, then get some rest themselves, he set off towards the lounge/control center, expecting to find his agents there. May was without doubt taking charge, Ward was never one to sit idly aside, and he had a strong guess that wherever those two were, he'd find Skye as well.
Only just before he could have reached the door, he was stopped by Koenig.
"I wouldn't advise you to go in there, sir," he warned Coulson in a somewhat nervous manner, earning a raised eyebrow from the senior agent.
"I'm just looking for Agent May, Agent Koenig."
"Eric."
"Eric," Coulson conceded.
"Agent May is not in there," Eric said, looking a tad uncomfortable. "She left, hours ago."
"What?" Coulson reached up to loosen his tie. "Where?"
Eric visibly fought the urge to throw his arms open in a helpless gesture.
"She didn't say. All I know is she has some business to attend. I tried to speak to her, but since she's been through orientation I had no–"
Coulson raised his hand to stop him.
"Alright, I get it." He let out a sigh. "But Ward's still here?"
"Of course."
"Where?"
Eric's eyes momentarily flickered towards the closed door of the lounge.
"But I don't advise you going in there."
That was the point when Coulson really started to lose his patience – but before he could have voiced this to Eric, Trip came around the corner.
"What's happening here?" he asked, looking from one man to the other.
"Nothing – I was just telling Agent Coulson here that–"
Using Eric's momentary distraction, Coulson sidestepped him and reached for the door, readying himself for whatever waited for him on the other side of the door – honestly, after this little interlude, he was ready for anything and everything.
Well, except for this.
The room was completely still and, save for the soft whirring of the computers, silent, bathed in the ambient glow of the digital fireplace. And on the couch, there were Skye and Ward, sleeping peacefully – Ward on his back, head propped up on the headrest, his arms around Skye, whose cheek was pillowed on his chest.
Coulson stopped at once.
So this was Eric was trying to keep from him.
"Oh… It's better than I expected," Coulson heard Eric's hushed voice from behind him, gradually getting closer – apparently, he'd followed him inside.
"Better?" Came Trip's confused question.
"They could have been… naked," Eric answered, making Coulson turn towards him, his eyebrows pulled together. Eric cleared his throat. "I stepped out for a few minutes to attend to some matters, and when I returned, Agents Skye and Ward were engaging in an act that would fall under the fraternization clause…" Sensing both Coulson and Trip's narrowed gazes, he stopped and rephrased the sentence: "They were making out, sir. I thought it would be the best if they were left alone. They haven't left the room ever since."
Trip let out a little, snorting laugh, then turned to leave the room, shaking his head with a smile on his face. Coulson, on the other hand, simply turned back towards the couch, and let his gaze linger on the scene in front of him for a couple of moments, a small smile creeping to his face.
He stepped to the couch, lifted the blanket from the back of it, and covered the sleeping agents with it. Neither of them stirred, although Skye gave out a little, content sigh, burrowing her face deeper into Ward's chest, prompting a small chuckle from Coulson. He knew he should have disapproved the developments in his agents' relationship, but honestly, it was so good to see this little sliver of happiness amidst all this mess, he just wanted to preserve it.
"Let's leave them alone," he told Eric softly. "The debrief can wait until tomorrow – all of us are exhausted." He led Koening out of the room and closed the door behind them – but not before taking one last look at the sleeping couple.
