Hey babes! Got a new chapter for ya! I know I already updated this week, but I felt like updating again.

Enjoy!

They find Lincoln. He's in pretty bad shape when they do, having been one of Hydra's latest experiments. Raina had somehow managed to convince Gordon to take him and Skye back to SHIELD so that they could find and save Lincoln since no one else was able to. He wasn't entirely stoked about the mission, still not being the biggest fan of the other Inhuman. But it was important to Skye, so it was important to Grant.

The only real casualty in the whole thing was the Bus. For a while, they thought they were in the clear, but of course, things went wrong and Hydra shot them out of the sky. Well, they would have if they hadn't escaped on a quinjet. That'd been a close call. Way too close for his liking.

Getting into the building hadn't exactly been a picnic either, having to fight their way through Hydra agents in order to simply locate Lincoln. He was groggy when they eventually found him, no surprise there, and Skye was immediately at his side, trying her best to reassure him that he was going to be okay. He couldn't help the smirk he got when he saw her going into full-mom mode with the other man. Despite only being a mom for less than a year and their son not having gotten himself into any real danger yet, she already has the worried mom thing down to a tee. Though, he's sure Skye would say the same thing about him being a dad.

He stood guard while she took care of Lincoln, making sure that his injuries weren't too severe and that he'd be okay to travel.

They weren't severe, thankfully. They were able to get him out and on the quinjet back to SHIELD's base of operations. They got him set up in the med bay as soon as they arrived, other doctors hovering around him to make sure that he is really doing fine.

And now he waits right outside the room while Skye oversees Lincoln's medical set up. He knows that she cares about the other man, in whatever way that is, but it doesn't mean that he has to like it. Skye's always been a caring person, so it's natural that she'd care about this man that she's been getting to know.

"How is he?" he asks when Skye finally exits the med bay after spending quite a bit of time in there checking over Lincoln.

She lets out a sigh. "He's fine, relatively speaking. The doctor checked him out and said he'll pull through, though."

"That's good."

"Yeah. And hey, I wanted to thank you."

His brows furrow together. "For what?"

"For coming with me to find him."

He shrugs like it's no big deal. "Raina said she had a vision of the both of us rescuing him."

"I know. And you could have refused to come with me. But you didn't, and I really appreciate that. Lincoln is...he's been a good friend to me since we met. He's also an important part of Afterlife. I would have felt terrible if something had happened to him."

"Technically, something did happen to him," he points out with what he hopes to be a teasing glint in his eyes.

She rolls her eyes at him and he smiles. "Yes, I know. But it could have been way worse than it was. I know you're not his biggest fan, so you were probably very conflicted on whether or not to help him."

"It's not that I don't like him," he defends himself, shifting on his feet. "I just...don't entirely trust him. Like most of the people at Afterlife. I don't know why exactly, I just get this really weird feeling when we're there. Almost like the other shoe is going to drop, but no one knows when."

She gives him a soft smile. "That's probably just the years of caution and paranoia rearing its ugly head again because you were in an unfamiliar place."

He sighs. "Yeah, probably." Things are quiet for a moment before he looks back up at Skye. "Oh, hey, I meant to tell you, I was texting Rose earlier on the ride back, and she said that Adian's awake if we want to FaceTime with him."

Skye's entire demeanor shifts, a wide grin spreading all the way up to her eyes. "Yes, please. I miss my baby."

He smiles. "Do you want to go to one of our rooms so we have more privacy to talk to him?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

They end up in Skye's room, both of them settled comfortably on the bed with her laptop open in front of them. The video call is ringing, taking its sweet time to connect to his sister. He's a little antsy, to say the least. All he wants is to see his son, in person, to hold him and hug him and remind him over and over how much he loves him.

Seconds later, his heart constricts in the best way possible when he finally sees his son's face for the first time in what feels like forever.

"Hey, bud."

"Hi, baby," Skye says, leaning toward the screen and he can see the glimmer of tears in her eyes. He's glad to know it's not just him that's getting emotional at seeing their boy again.

"Dada!" Adian shouts at the screen. "Mama!"

Skye sucks in a sharp breath. "Did he just…?"

Rose nods. "Yeah. I've been showing him pictures of you guys every day, and just the other day he pointed at your picture, Skye, and said 'mama'. I wish you could have seen it."

"Me too. Is he doing okay, though?" she asks as Adian gets distracted by something off-screen. "He hasn't been causing too much trouble, has he?"

Rose shakes her head. "He's been an angel, really. Aside from the constant teething and not wanting to eat."

Both he and Skye frown deeply.

"He hasn't been eating?" Skye asks, her deep motherly concern taking over. He can't say he blames her.

Rose shakes her head. "No, he has. Just probably not as much as he usually does. I think he just misses you guys and knows that I'm not 'mom' or 'dad' so he refuses to eat at first before realizing how hungry he actually is."

"I'm sorry you have to deal with that," Skye says with a frown.

Rose waves her off. "It's fine. It's really not that big of a deal."

"If you're sure…"

"I am. Adian can stay here for however long you guys need him to. Matt's enjoyed having another kid in the house, even if Adian's just a baby. He's been helping me take care of him, which is very sweet. I'm really hoping he doesn't start asking for a sibling, though. Owen and I both agreed on just having one kid. I will not go through all of that again."

"I do not blame you," Skye says with a small laugh. "Giving birth is one of the worst things I've ever been through, and I've been shot before. I don't think I ever want to go through either of those again."

His heart honestly breaks a little at hearing her statement, but he tries not to let it show on his face. It's not that he was expecting it, but if all of his kids turned out as amazing as Adian is, he was kind of hoping to have at least one more. With Skye as their mother.

He's never let himself dream about having children before, but now that he has one, with the woman he loves, he wants more. He'd be fine with just one more, maybe a little girl that is the spitting image of her mom. That's what he really wants. He just doesn't know if Skye wants that. At least, with him. Maybe she does want that, just with somebody else that isn't him.

"We should probably go now," Rose says, pulling him out of his thoughts. "I want to keep talking to you guys, and I know Adian loves seeing you, but we have some plans that we need to get going to if we don't want to be late."

"I guess so," Skye says with a heavy sigh. "I just miss my baby."

"He misses you guys too. I hope you finish whatever you're doing soon. For his sake."

"So do we, Rose," he tells his sister honestly.

They exchange another round of goodbyes before the video call ends, leaving them sitting in complete silence. It's definitely been hard, being away from their son. But they both knew they wanted him to be as far away as possible from whatever they were dealing with. They didn't want him caught in the crossfire. And they managed to do that. For now at least. They don't know how much longer it's going to take for them to deal with whatever is going on.

"I should probably get some rest," Skye speaks up quietly, but loud enough to grab Grant's attention.

He shifts on the bed, setting the tablet aside and then standing. "Right. I'll uh, I'll see you around, then?"

She nods. "Yeah."

He gives her a tight-lipped smile before making his way out of her room and then two doors down to his own. He can't ignore the sinking in his gut that he's had since they first set foot in Afterlife. Even though they aren't there anymore, that sinking feeling is still there. He just hopes that it's wrong, that it's something else entirely.

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

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!