The Bus had been back in the air for nearly two weeks. There hadn't been a lot in the way of missions lately. Just one piecemeal investigation into several assassinations. The men had been killed in Volgograd, while the Bus had landed there. 4 men had been killed. All leaders of the local drug ring. It hadn't taken more than a day to establish that they were done by professionals. 3 had been confirmed performed by the Black Widow herself, the other had been by Azrael. Another big shot Russian assassin on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s payroll.

Black Widow and Azrael. Two of the Big 5. Those top 5 agents that were living legends. Their reputations were known by everyone in the organization. There was the American, and Ward's personal hero, Hawkeye. Incredible archer and tracker, his arrows never missed, he was crucial in the battle of New York. Also from the USA was The Cavalry, Agent Melinda May, martial arts expert and ace pilot, she could fight anyone with anything. Agent Romanoff, from the former Soviet Union, super spy and assassin, her body enhanced by the Soviet version of the super soldier serum. Another Russian, Azrael, was said to move faster than the eye could see and fought with light, Ward wasn't really sure what that meant. Lastly was Shade. He was widely believed to be from Russia too, but no one was sure, no one who had seen him had ever lived, or been brave enough to talk about it, he thought wryly.

Ward remembered the morning a few days ago when they had landed in Volgograd. She had been waiting there for them. The infamous Black Widow a.k.a. Agent Natasha Romanoff. Ward's first thought had been: She's gorgeous. And she was, standing just beyond the Bus's door, dressed in an elegant black coat and gloves, red hair sprinkled with snowflakes, with an enigmatic half-smile on her lips.

She had greeted them all politely. Skye and Fitzsimmons practically bursting with excitement, asking her all kinds of questions, every time she just answered 'that's classified' and smiled. Ward would never admit it but he was a fan too, after all who wasn't, she's the Black Widow? You're just not going to embarrass himself by acting like it in front of her, the always-watching Cavalry, Coulson or the dashing Agent Aksikov, which you may or may not have still had a giant crush on; all of whom were standing mere feet away, he thought.

Romanoff waving off the excited science experts (computer science in Skye's case), walked towards them. She hugged Coulson and promised to catch up later, but the main event had been her reaction to Zakhar. The two apparently knew each other, very well, or so anyone would guess by the way he had hugged her, swinging her in his arms and she kissing both his cheeks; all the while speaking in rapid Russian. He and May had barely been spared a nod.

Ward strained his ears to understand the Russians. Not that he was eavesdropping on a private conversation. He was simply being a good agent; making sure she wasn't a hazard to Zakh ... or the rest of the Team, he justified, but they were impossible to understand, they weren't even using whole words or full sentences, everything abbreviated as much as possible, it was like trying to listen to two teenagers. Just when he was getting the hang of it, he heard her call him, 'my angel' and him call her 'my fiery sun', and he felt his heart thoughts came flooding through his mind. They were obviously together, why else had he hugged her like that? Why had she kissed his cheeks but no one else's? Why else did they have pet names for each other? Ward could feel the energy in his face drain away, leaving his expression as a cold grimace, he hoped no one would notice.

"Perhaps we should go inside", Romanoff announced and turning, beckoned them all to the door 25 feet away. Ward started moving and felt a small force on his left arm, investigating he saw it was Simmons' hand. He looked her in the eye, she mouthed "we'll talk later", and moved off. Great, he thought, now Simmons probably knew. After the 'attempted suicide for the benefit of all mankind' incident, she had come to thank him for saving her, they had talked for a few hours, they had almost nothing in common but she was interesting and they had formed a sort-of friendship.

Everyone had been bundled into the surprisingly homey residential wing of the compound. Simmons had grabbed his arm and told him to meet her back on the Bus after dinner. That was now. After a hearty meal of Russian stew he had deliberated on whether or not to go and see her. He had eventually settled going because not going would only be more suspicious. He had nothing to hide. There was nothing wrong with a crush. They were natural, and having someone to confide in might not be so bad, after all his current excuse of being 'under the weather' wouldn't fool her, she was a doctor or close enough to know he was lying.

The 25 feet between the compound and the Bus felt like the longest walk of his life. Why did he feel so exposed? He had nothing to hide going back to the Bus, he still couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched through crosshairs.

Walking up the cargo ramp, Ward was met with the sight of an annoyed looking Jemma Simmons.
"And what took you so bloody long?", she asked, arms folded over her modest chest. Was that a rhetorical question or?, he wondered. Apparently not, if the glare she was giving him was any indication.
"I was just establishing an alibi", he lied coolly.
"What for? We're not doing anything untoward." she looked him in the eye and smiled slightly, "or are you worried Zakh will hear about us sneaking onto the Bus in the middle of the night?".
... He hadn't thought of that. Now he wished he actually had established an alibi.

"So how long have you liked him for?", she asked,
"What?!", okay, yes he had walked in with the intention of telling her about his apparently not-secret-crush, but that didn't mean he could go from barely acknowledging his own feelings to outright confessing them.
"Really Grant?", when he didn't speak she continued. "You stutter and blush around him. You looked like a kicked puppy when he hugged Romanoff. And you're loud.", her accent made everything seem like simple elementary.
"Loud?", he queried.
"Well I assume you were dreaming. You were moaning. And his name may have been mentioned.", she said.
Great, so he was moaning out his name, everyone probably knew then, Zakh too. And he hadn't done anything about it. Maybe he really wasn't interested...
"I doubt they know.", Simmons said, correctly guessing at his thoughts, "I'm a light sleeper, always have been, and your bunk is next to mine.", she explained, "Zakh sleeps like the dead".
"How do you know that?", he asked, motivated partly by a way to change the subject and partly by genuine curiosity.
"He actually comes to movie night with me and Fitz, he fell asleep during paranormal activity 3 and didn't flinch when me or Fitz screamed", she explained, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture.
"Now. How long?", she asked again.
How can I change the subject?, he thought. I could just not answer? No she'd get angry and probably jab me with the actual truth serum she kept in the lab.
"Grant, it's not like I'm going to think less of you for liking him", right, he had told Simmons he was bisexual. She'd been very understanding. Then she'd told him that she was gay. Yep Simmons was into other girls. A very nice thought.
Apparently that's why she and Fitz were such good friends, she'd come out at the academy to him, he'd stood up for her on a number of occasions about it, Fitz, to his slight surprise, was straight. She'd promised that he wouldn't act any different if he told him but Ward was still putting off that conversation.
"Three weeks", he said, "but it's just a crush", and copied her earlier dismissive gesture.
"I take it he doesn't know about it.", Ward nodded, "so what are you going to do about it?", she asked.
Do something about it? The incredulous thought must have been clearly written on his face.
"Are you going to tell him? Or are you hoping it just goes away? Because that look you got when he hugged Romanoff was a lot of hurt for just a crush." she said. She placed her hand on his arm.
Could he tell him how he felt? Sure Jemma and Leo were okay with it but would he be? Gay and Russian more often than not, didn't mix well. And he had Romanoff if it didn't work. Everyone would know he liked guys too, no more 'don't ask, don't tell', was all that really worth a possibility with this man?
In front of him, Simmons' squeak brought him out of his reverie, she was biting her lower lip looking at her shoes. Simmons was never good with secrets and apparently the righteous indignation about his late arrival had gone.
"Jemma? What is it?", he probed.
"Well I may have overheard a conversation between Coulson and Zakh... totally by chance, as I was just getting some samples and..", she said hurriedly trying indemnify herself.
"Jemma focus. What did he say?", Ward prompted.
"Right. So Coulson offered Zakh a place on the Bus", Ward couldn't help the smile forming at the thought, "but he said he wasn't sure. He didn't know if there was anything for him here. I don't think he was planning on leaving here with us." she said looking guilty.
He wasn't leaving with them? He was going to stay here with her?
"So obviously, if you're going to tell him you need to do it soon." Simmons finished with some of the steel in her voice from earlier.

The rest of that evening was a blur, Ward too deep in thought for any interaction.

The next day, Ward had spent the last 15 minutes searching for Aksikov, having resolved at 2 o'clock that morning to confess his feelings. Walking down another of the base's identical halls he found Romanoff. Cool and dangerous as ever. He couldn't help the metallic taste settle on his tongue or the burning unease in his stomach. Ward wasn't exactly sure if this was despair or jealousy, what he did know, he didn't like it. She was a hero, she fought at the battle of New York, and she was a legend before that, there was more than a little awe, after all who hadn't heard of Black Widow and her Widow's bite? But she was also the woman who had kissed the man he had a crush on for the past 3 weeks. A little crush that was now growing a little out of control.

"You're Grant?", she asked. He wasn't expecting to talk to her, he felt his mind stall as it had to abandon its current train of thought.
"Ye-yeah", he answered dumbly, nice stutter genius, his mind criticized.
"Thank you for saving Zakhar. In Greece.", she said flashing a warm smile. She was thanking him? What? Why is she doing that?
"You're welcome", he tried. She just smiled at his response.
"Zakhar is outside. There's an elm tree out the front of the base, he sits there when he needs to think", she said, almost off-handedly, pointing behind her with a thumb, before walking down the hall and around the corner, out of sight. Well he hadn't checked outside yet. May as well, he thought continuing his search.

Her directions were good. Sitting out the front of the base, his back pressed up against the trunk of large elm tree, was Aksikov, staring blankly off into space. Ward stood in the doorway for a moment just studying the scene in front of him. It was a perfect profile shot of the Russian man looking out over the snow-covered plains, he was even dusted with snowflakes, it was almost a postcard. The beautiful scene was interrupted when without moving he called out "Hey, Grant", Ward fought to suppress the small warmth flow up out of his core at the attention. Leaving the doorway, Ward felt it. That Russian cold. The cold bit into him, like all his clothes were gossamer, he was from Massachusetts and he worked in Russia before, both were cold. But South Ossetia and Massachusetts had nothing on Volgograd with the wind blowing off the still more-water-than-ice, Volga river.

The snow crunched beneath his heavy boots as he sat in the snow next to Aksikov. Ward trawled his mind for something to say, in the end it settled on absolutely nothing. He tried to suppress the shivers that were starting all over him, the cold biting deeper. He knew he failed when Aksikov scooted over to him and rubbed his arm. The action did make him feel better, until the wind kicked up and scythed through all 4 layers of clothes, robbing him of the new heat. When the shivers started getting worse. Aksikov took off his scarf and wrapped it around him. Ward couldn't help feeling his heart melt a little. And if the scarf didn't do it, the Russian man wrapping his strong arms around him pressing Ward's head into his chest did. The shivers subsided, and he could feel the figure above him smiling. It was warm here, warm and safe, he thought, Ward felt a burst of warmth explode from his stomach out to all his limbs. Happy just to enjoy the almost intimate moment.

"So you and Romanoff, huh?", Ward mumbled. What?! Why would you ask that?! It just slipped out! his mind was screaming, Ward was starting to wonder if he was losing his mind, surely it arguing with itself wasn't normal.
"Yeah. She means the world to me. Everything she has done for me", the other man trailed off. The cold attacked him again, ruining all the happy warmth he was taking from the current seating arrangement.
"So how long have you and she been", the words caught in his throat, "y'know, dating?".
The response was instantaneous.
"What!?", the Russian pulled away to look him in the eye, "Dating?". The new gap between them was quickly occupied by the frigid wind, which made the distance feel like miles instead of inches.
"We-well, I mean, what I mean is, ugggghhhh", he mumbled before the laughter cut him off. It was Aksikov, laughing like an idiot, actually rolling in the snow. Great, now he's laughing at you, his mind spat, wait a second, why is he laughing?

A minute passed before the Russian man regained his composure.
"Natasha and I are not a couple." he said, a few more stray giggles escaping.
Not a couple? Ward couldn't help the smile that split his face, or the little Ward inside his mind start happy dancing. He didn't know how long he had sat there grinning like a fool but it must've been a while because Aksikov had started looking concerned and tried to get him inside saying something about the cold and him not being Russian and 'snow madness', not that Ward cared, Zakh and Romanoff weren't an item!

When Aksikov wrapped his arms around Ward's shoulders to try to get him standing, Ward saw a perfect opportunity. When the Russian pulled up, Ward grabbed the front of the other man's coat and rolled back into the snow. The Russian fell on top of him gracelessly.
"Grant, what are you-", he was cut off when Ward's hands found either side of Aksikov's face and crashed their lips together.

Ward relished the heat of the other man's lips, Aksikov gasped and Ward took the opportunity to slip his tongue between the Russian's lips. That must have made something click in the other man's head because that's when he started kissing back. Hard. The pressure on his lips double and he felt his tongue being pushed back in his own mouth, along with Aksikov's and in that moment three thoughts occurred to him:
Zakh was kissing him.
Zakh was kissing him.
And Zakh was kissing him.
Each one making him heady. The other man's tongue traced his own, sliding against his the sides of his mouth, sending electricity shooting down his spine with every swipe of that tongue. Ward felt the blood rush to his groin so fast he was light-headed. Ward moved his head back panting, looking up into blue eyes, now he could see the lust swirling.
"We should go inside. Now", Ward said between pants. The smile he saw on the face above him was all the agreement he needed.