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"It's Clear As This Promise"

"I have to marry her on both worlds."

One Day Later

FitzSimmons and Skye waited impatiently for Coulson, May, and Ward to come back to the Bus. Skye had wanted to be there when they released him, but he'd insisted to remain on the Bus, that May and Ward was there.

She kinda felt hurt; but that all changed the moment he stepped onto the Bus, carrying the weapon diagonally across his back. Coming at him, she launched herself in his awaiting arms with wide smile on both faces. "AC!" She cried, burying her face into the conjunction between his neck and collarbone and wrapping her arms around his upper shoulders.

"Hi Skye." He greeted, voice broken as he stumbled back a few steps. Coulson pulled her closer, tightening his hold as much as he thought she could handle. "Don't cry. I'm here." He soothed, although he did the opposite of his words.

Their team stood back, just smiling at the reunion. May and Ward had headed up the ramp to stand near FitzSimmons. May finally motioned for all of them to give them this moment alone. All four were smiling as they headed upstairs.

Skye pulled back just far enough to see his face. "I'm so glad you're back. Don't ever do that to me again." She commanded.

"Yes, ma'am." He responded, leaning over to kiss her passionately. "Does this mean you're the boss in our relationship?" He asked as he pulled back once again to look into her eyes.

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, I am a goddess, which means you probably should listen to me." Skye thought about it. "So yes, I get to be boss."

He chuckled. "Yeah, okay. We'll see about that, Ms. Goddess." Coulson gently guided her backwards, staying in step with her, so May could close the cargo ramp.

"Don't make me get Thor after you." She threatened.

He stopped, perking up. "Talking about him, how do you get a hold of your brother? I need to talk to him."

She eyed him, curious. "Why?" she dragged out.

"About how to get your father to agree to let me come up to Asgard and speak with him about you. I want you with me until the day either of us die." He furrowed her eyebrows for a moment. "Well, me first because I'm not Asgardian and live for thousands of years." He shook his head. "Anyway, I'd like to talk to your brother."

"If Thor has a cell phone, we don't know it."

Skye was still suspicious of his actions, but she figured she'd learn what he really wanted to talk to her brother about. She had a suspicion of what it was, but until she had something concrete, she wasn't going to venture down that road. Lifting her left arm, she showed him the bracelet her brother had given her the moment just before they descended to Earth. "Press this and he'll get the signal to come." She pressed a small inset black diamond. It started blinking red.

"Well, that was easy." Coulson commented.

About ten minutes, the plane started to rock against turbulence. Coulson opened the cargo hold. Thor landed with a thud onto the asphalt runway. The couple separated.

"Skye, are you okay?" Thor immediately asked as he boarded the plane.

"Yep." She pressed the button again. Jerking her thumb to Coulson, she said. "This goofball needs to talk to you."

Thor averted his gaze at the Midgardian. "Son of Coul, good to see you out of the hospital."

Coulson flashed a smile. "Thanks. I just got out actually." He turned to Skye. "Why don't you head upstairs? We'll be up in a few." He jerked his head to the stairs.

She looked at him suspiciously. "Okay." Backing up, she regarded her brother. "You be nice to him, Thor." She pointed at him. "I can whip your ass."

Thor laughed. "Certainly, Skye." He gestured for her to go on up. When she was out of sight, he turned to Coulson. "What do you need to talk about, Son of Coul?"

"C'mon, let's get off the plane." He motioned to the ground. "This is something I'm not ready for any of them to hear."

"Certainly." Thor followed the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent until they stepped off the ramp. Once they were yards away from the plane, Thor questioned his actions. "What is wrong, Son of Coul? Is my sister really okay?"

"They prey on those that have no family."

"Oh, yeah. She's perfectly fine." Coulson assured, taking a deep breath. "What I'm about to ask is not something I ever thought I'd ask, but I love her without a doubt and I can't imagine living without her in my life. It's a tradition on Earth – well, in America and some other countries – to ask the father for permission to–" he stopped himself, completely nervous. He'd also never imagined being so nervous in front of Thor. Taking an encouraging breath, he forced himself to continue. "To ask his daughter's hand in marriage or son if they roll like that." He'd been looking at the ground before chancing a look at Thor. "But I thought I'd ask you because your father isn't here on Earth. That, and I really don't want to have to ask Loki."

Thor set his Mjolnir on the ground, crossing his arms as he continued staring. The God of Thunder seemed to be thinking it over. He studied the shorter man. Phil Coulson wasn't known to be appear like he was physically strong – even with the workout he'd been putting his body through – yet Thor had respect for him. He'd given up his life to save others, motivated a team that hadn't exactly worked as a team before his death. Here the Midgardian was, obviously very much in love with Thor's baby sister, who'd certainly be the kind of man Thor wanted for Skye. All that, plus they were already psychically connected.

How could he deny him that?

"How can you assure me you can properly take care of my sister?" he asked.

Coulson reached behind his back, pulling out the weapon, stepping back and pressing the button. The blades shot out like bullets and a bluish-white light glowed. "With this weapon and my own powers." He was dead serious.

Thor gave a very small smile before realizing Coulson mentioned powers. "What powers? I was under the impression that humans did not possess natural powers."

"Some do. Your Asgardian healer gave me some abilities: telekinesis, force field, and the powers my weapon gives me." Coulson stated. "Skye never told me what the inscriptions said."

"You have agility, super strength, flight, energy projection, and are a master combatant when using this weapon. The weapon will be passed down to your first born son and so forth." Thor explained. The God of Thunder studied Coulson a little bit more. "You will do, as they said."

Coulson grinned, but it soon turned into a frown. "But I won't be good enough for your father, will I?" He pressed the button again and returned it to its sheath.

Thor took a deep breath, letting it out shakily. Coulson wasn't used to Thor being so uncertain. "I do not know. He still has this ideal that Asgardians should marry Asgardians."

"But you give me permission to marry her on Earth, is that correct?" Coulson asked, pointing to the ground when he said 'Earth'.

Crossing his arms, Thor glared at him, making Coulson actually squirm under his gaze. The agent had seen Thor in battle and hoped to never be on his bad side. He looked passed the shorter man, noticing his sister and her friends sneaking onto the ramp to watch them. Skye looked curious but worried and appeared like she was about to come to them. Coulson craned his neck back to see his team being nosy. "You better treat her right, Son of Coul." Thor said in a menacing tone, pointing directly at Coulson's heart with each word he spoke. Coulson looked back at the god, stumbling back when the god poked him, knowing the god was making a point. "If you do not, you will have to deal with me and Loki before you get anywhere near our father."

Coulson's face immediately paled at the mention of Loki. "Uh, no thanks. I'm good." The agent said quickly. "I promise to treat her with the utmost respect and love she deserves."

"Then, I give you my permission to marry her, Son of Coul." Thor smacked him on his right shoulder blade, making Coulson grunt and grimace.

"That's an order."

Skye watched with curiosity as her brother and sort of boyfriend/boss/whatever he was have a deep discussion of something. When her brother appeared to be studying Coulson, she grew nervous. She really didn't want to see what her brother would do to Coulson if he pissed him off. Maybe she should go over there and mediate.

Just when she'd made her decision, Thor slapped Coulson on the shoulder blade and the two of them headed toward them. So he isn't going to kill him. Thank god! Skye prayed. As soon as the men stepped up on the ramp, Skye launched herself at Coulson again and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"It's okay, Skye. I'm okay." Coulson assured, looking over at Thor, who was smiling. He mouthed 'thank you' to the god, who just gave him a subtle nod of acknowledgement. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her even closer than humanly possible. Good thing, she could handle his strength. "Miss me already?" He joked. At the shake of her head, he rubbed her back. "God, you and Ward need to brush up on your understanding of jokes." He said off-handedly. It made her chuckle against his chest. Looking at Ward over Skye, he saw the younger agent's flabbergasted expression.

"We take care of our own."

Her brother had left to join Dr. Foster again, and all was good on the Bus. Although they were temporarily grounded due to Coulson's psych evaluation, the team as a whole was enjoying Skye being back, especially Coulson. She was still fussing over him about drinking enough water and eating better. He wouldn't have it any other way.

Coulson wasn't sure how long she'd be able to stay, but he had every intention on keeping her next to him.

"Don't do it, Skye!"

The team had played an array of games and enjoyed the night. Coulson and Skye had retired early. Unable to resist any longer, Coulson slid the door close, turned to Skye, and paused.

Hands clasped behind her back, she bounced back and forth on her feet. They were like two nervous teenagers doing it for the first time. "So I guess we need to talk." She prompted.

"Probably." He agreed, walking the few feet away from her. Staring down at her, he studied her chocolate doe eyes that were filled with so much stress, so much hurt. He wanted to kiss it all away, wanted to bring back that free spirited hacktivist that they all loved.

But so many things have changed. They have changed.

Maybe with all of this change, they could stand on top of the mountain of drama. Maybe there is a chance for them to be in a relationship without her father and uncle trying to intervene.

"We can make this work, Skye. You need to believe that." He gently told her, reaching up to brush her hair behind her ear. Coulson left his hand on the side of her face, settling his fingers on the base of her neck. She was looking up at him with teary-eyes. "I will do anything – " He let out a heavy, shaky breath and she knew he had something serious to discuss. Far more important than she thought. "That I can to keep you here." He stepped away, leaving her to watch him. Walking around his desk, he yanked open the top left drawer, rummaging through it before sharply shoving that drawer back and checking the one below. "Where is it?" He mumbled, irritably.

"Where's what, AC?" Skye wondered as she craned her neck to see what he was doing.

"Ah! Here it is!" He responded, triumphantly, holding something in his hand near his side as he came to stand in front of her.

Skye now had a suspicion of what he was getting out. Wait a minute. Is he…?

Swallowing a lump in his throat, he emotionally fought to finish what he wanted to say to her. "I never thought I'd ever find someone that I can honestly say I want to spend the rest of my life with – well, afterlife, really – even if it's on the crazy train. I don't wanna lose you now because I'm looking right at the other half of me…and you've been right here all along regardless of the distance." He bent down on his knee, never taking his hopeful baby blues from her anticipating chocolate ones.

Her hand came up to her mouth in surprise. Oh my god, he is!

He could feel his heart beat match hers like it should. Opening a black velvet ring box, an elegant engagement ring – a silver clear diamond with inset colors of their birth months – was presented to her. "I love you so much, Skye. You've been wrapped around my heart since the moment Ward and I found you, subsequent kidnapped, and interrogated you. I promised your brother that I would love and respect you, and that's my plan." He watched her for any signs not to continue. When he found none, he finished. "Will you do me the phenomenal honor of becoming my wife?"

She was so caught up in his proposal that it took her several minutes to even say anything back, leaving him uncertain. Before he could protect his ears, Skye squealed. "Yes! Oh my god! Absolutely!"

"Really?" He asked, as she dragged him up off the floor.

"Yes!" She clarified, pulling him into a passionate kiss.

"Hmmmm…" Coulson pulled back just slightly. "Don't you think I should put this ring on your finger, sweetheart?"

"Probably." She allowed him to slip it on before pulling him back into a bone-crushing hug and kiss. "We should probably celebrate."

"Oh really?" Coulson's interest was piqued. "Shall we go downstairs and announce it to the rest of our family?"

She shook her head. "Later." She grabbed his hand, raking her eyes down from his feet to his head. "I have other plans for us."

"Maybe we should discuss this in the bedroom." He suggested to which she nodded, practically dragging him into their shared bunk.

"I plan to do whatever it takes to save her."

Safe. It was what she was feeling as she lay next to Coulson, naked. They were now officially a couple. She was his star in the night sky; he was her knight in shiny armor, her protector. Their separate lives have merged into one. To bad it couldn't last.

Finding it hard to sleep, Skye ran her fingers through his hair repeatedly as she softly sung to him.

"It's a long way down, we so high off the ground
Sending for an angel to bring me your heart
Boy, where did you come from? Got me so undone
Gaze in your eyes got me saying

What a beautiful guy, no ifs, ands or maybes
I'm releasing my heart and it's feeling amazing
There's no one else that matters, you love me
And I won't let you fall boy, let you fall boy"

Everything was crazy right now. Neither of them deserved to be thrust into this world. Why couldn't it be so simple like it had been before her uncle gave Ian Quinn the go ahead to shoot her? Why the hell couldn't Kaju just accept the fact that his brother had a hybrid child? Why couldn't she just remain clueless on where she came from?

As she watched him sleep, she came to realize that her father was right. They had to remain separated until one of them could kill Kaju. Raising from the bed, she came around the bed, pulled on her pajamas, bent down to be eye level with her beloved, and ran her fingers through his hair repeatedly, gently.

"I love you, Babe, more than you know. I realize that we haven't really gotten the chance to explore this whole relationship, but I know we have a connection – more deeply than other couples – that spans across space. I'll always be able to sense you and vice versa, but what I'm about to do will hurt right now. Just remember I'm doing this for us." She kissed his forehead before his lips. As she pulled back, tears fell from her watery chocolate eyes. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she said one more thing. "I'm taking your ring to show you I haven't changed my mind. When this is over, I have every intention to return to you and become your wife. We both deserve this happiness, but right now it can't be." She kissed his lips again. "You've given me something to look forward to in this black abyss. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but you have given it to me once. Hopefully, you will again."

Skye ran her fingers through his hair again. "Goodbye for now, babe."

Then, she rose and grabbed a pen and paper, writing down what she'd just told him before leaving it on his nightstand. After that, Skye grabbed some clothes, changing into them before leaving the room.

Pressing the bracelet as she left the Bus, it didn't take Thor long to come to her. "I'm ready to face this problem, Thor."

"Did he hurt you because I warned him?" he started toward the ramp.

"No!" She quickly grabbed his arms, stopping him. "If I'm going to get the chance to be with him, we have to eliminate Kaju." She showed him the ring. "He asked me to marry him and that's exactly what I plan to do as soon as we eliminate Kaju. AC deserves to be happy with me."

He studied the ring, impressed by the choice his future brother-in-law had picked in the ring. "Then, we must return to Asgard."

"Take me home, bro." Skye looked up at the sky.

Thor commanded Heimdall to open the Bifrost. Skye looked back at the Bus before stepping into the funnel of colorful lights, silently crying as she left this world. She didn't know that she was bringing more than just his engagement ring with her.

TBC...