AN: I couldn't wait! This chapter has some SkyeWard fluffiness in it (and even some Skimmons friendship) so I wanted it out there ASAP! And I'm just in a happy mood so I hope this makes you happy too!
Ward turned off the TV as soon as Skye came into the room.
"How was training?" he asked.
"I need a hot bath, now. My muscles are on fire and I feel like a steak that's just been tenderized."
Ward laughed, but then saw the serious look on her face and did a double take as he noticed the light bruises that were beginning to form on her arms and legs. "Wow, May did that?"
"She was teaching me."
"Yeah, but you're bruising!"
"Each mark is a lesson. Now just let me get that bath going."
"You go get a glass of water, I'll run the bath for you" he told her. Skye nodded and set off for the kitchen, slowly.
Ward went into the bathroom and started running water into the tub. He made sure that the water was warm enough to be soothing, but not so hot as to be uncomfortable. Then, he grabbed some Epsom salts from under the sink and sprinkled them in the water. Skye came in just as he was turning off the taps, and he started to leave but she grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back.
"You worked out a bit too, mister. Care to join me?"
Ward responded by pulling off his shirt and kissing her on the lips. The tub was technically only made for one person, but they made it work. It came dangerously close to overflowing when Skye sat on Ward's lap, but they managed to save it by draining a bit of the water.
"Mmmm" Skye sighed. The warm water and Grant's massaging hands on her back were pure bliss. As he was rubbing, he discovered more and more bruises covering her.
"What did you mean when you said that the bruises were lessons?"
"May says that I'll learn better if my mistakes have consequences. That if she doesn't hit me hard enough to leave a mark, then I won't have incentive to improve."
"You must be learning lots then."
"Some" Sky joked. "I even flipped Mel once! I used that move you showed me."
"Which one?"
"Well, I'll give you a hint," Sky whispered as she turned around to face him. "It wasn't this one." She kissed him, hard.
A moment later they were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Skye?" Jemma called from outside the door. "May I come in?"
Ward groaned. Skye smacked him lightly and held a finger up to her lips as she pulled the curtain across. "She'll be suspicious if I say no" she whispered to Ward, then called "Yeah, come in" in a louder voice.
Jemma was only in the room for a couple minutes. Fortunately she didn't seem to notice the fact that there were a few too many articles of clothing in the pile on the floor. The girls chatted idly while Simmons relieved herself and Skye kept shooting Ward death glares as he poked and tickled her. Once or twice she almost laughed at the touch, but managed to hold back the sound at the last second. As soon as the door closed behind Simmons, the two bathers dissolved into laughter.
The rest of the bath was pleasant. Ward even washed Skye's hair for her, which had Skye moaning even more than the massage had. After they finally decided to get out and dry off, Ward sent Skye out first to check that the coast was clear. It was.
"Wanna watch a movie?" Grant asked as he joined her in the empty lounge.
"Sure," Skye replied. "Should I go see if the others want to join us? It would give you a chance to bond some more… How did that go this afternoon, by the away?"
"It wasn't bad… I think I made some headway with Coulson and I helped Simmons out with a neurotoxin that she was having issues with... I think that Fitz is going to be harder though. He's been avoiding me pretty rigorously."
"He'll come around. Maybe we can pick a movie that he can't resist… What do you think, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, or Curious George?"
Ward laughed. "How about I, Robot?" he suggested instead.
"Okay. I'll go get the others, you make popcorn and set the movie up."
Skye went to Simmon's bunk first. She figured it would be easier to convince Fitz if she had Jemma's help. "Come in" Jemma invited at Skye's knock. Skye went in and found Jemma reading on the bed.
"Oh hey Skye" Jemma smiled. "All finished with your bath?"
"Oh yeah, it was exactly what I needed."
"I bet" Jemma giggled. "I saw Ward's clothes mixed in with yours."
"Shit! You did? You didn't let on!"
"Well I wasn't going to say anything when he was there!" Both girls grinned, but then Simmons sobered up. "You are being cautious, aren't you Skye? I mean, I'm happy to give him this second chance, but you still need to be on your guard."
"I am, don't worry. I've got May teaching me to kick ass now too. I can hold my own."
"I'm more concerned about your mental wellbeing, Skye. If I didn't know you as well as I do, I might not have noticed it, but Ward's betrayal hit you pretty hard, didn't it?"
Skye looked at the floor and shuffled her feet. "Yeah. I don't even know how I got through it. Having a job to do helped, I guess, but I just, I couldn't believe it. Even now I guess I've only partially accepted it. In my mind, I know that it happened and I'm pissed, but my heart hasn't really grasped it. And now I'm just moving forward. I'm forgiving him.
"That's probably why I'm so callous, at least by your standards. I'm kind of just skipping over it."
"And if it happens again?"
"Jemma…"
"You need to at least consider it!"
"I can't! I can't Jemma. If it happens again, then I'll fall to pieces. But that doesn't change anything now. I can't love him any less now because of what he might or might not do later. I can't love him any less because of what he did before. I tried. I tried to hate him, Jem. I yelled and screamed and swore and hit things, and after that I cried. I cried because I still loved him, despite it all.
"So am I being cautious? Probably not. But I'd say that I'm being as cautious as I can be."
Simmons gave a little smile. "I was afraid you'd say something like that. Just know that I'm always here for you, Skye."
"Thanks Jem." Skye gave the other girl a hug. "Anyways, what I came for was to ask if you wanted to watch a movie."
"Oh, what movie?"
"I, Robot."
"Oh Fitz adores that movie! Can he join us?"
"Absolutely! If you can convince him."
"Convince him? Oh… Ward's watching it too, isn't he?"
"He's making the popcorn right now."
Simmons sighed. "Fitz took this whole thing quite hard… I mean, he believed in Ward until nearly the very end! He was so sure that Ward was just undercover, pretending to be HYDRA, or that he was under Cybertek's control. He refused to believe otherwise. But then, when it came out that it really was Grant, acting on his own… Well, I think he partially blamed himself. I don't know why, but I'm pretty sure he feels that there's something he should have done. And now, that guilt is coming out in the form of anger. I think Ward just needs to talk to him, but that might be easier said than done, because Fitz wants nothing to do with him anymore."
"That's why I'm trying to at least get the two of them in the same room. I figured, one of Fitz's favourite movies might be enough incentive…"
Simmons shook her head. "Not even close I'm afraid. Look, you and Ward enjoy your movie. I'll talk to Fitz and maybe in a couple hours we can push the two of them together. It might get loud, but I think that once Fitz gets it out of his system, he'll get over it pretty quickly."
"I'm pretty sure that Grant'll do anything at this point. Hell, if Fitz wants to hit him, he probably wouldn't even fight back. He won't say anything, but I know he misses him."
"I think that Fitz is smarter than that, but I'll keep it in mind. I'll text you later, to tell you when and where Ward should meet Fitz."
"Okay. Thanks Jems, you rock."
"Anything for you, Skye. Enjoy your movie."
Skye went back into the lounge and found Ward sitting there, waiting with the popcorn.
"I think it's gonna be just you and me, big boy."
"Oh really? None of the others wanted to join us?"
"Well I only asked Simmons, but she said that she's quite sure that Fitz would say no. She's going to try to convince him to at least talk to you later though. She thinks he just needs a chance to address everything."
Ward nodded. "I guess that's fair. And the others?"
"Well, I was going to ask Mel and Coulson, but then I figured, you've already bonded with Coulson today, and there's always tomorrow for you to hash things out with May, so maybe tonight we could watch this, just us?"
"Sounds good to me!" Ward growled playfully as he grabbed Skye by the waist and pulled her into his lap.
AN: If this made you happy, make me happy! Review! Thanks!