"Ward?" Fitz called, rapping his knuckles on the door.
Ward's eyes snapped open and he looked at Skye. Her eyes fluttered open. He looked at the clock. It read 6pm.
"Ward?" Fitz called again.
Ward tried to get up, but his back had seized up more than it had that morning and now he really couldn't move.
"What's up Fitz?" He responded, staying put on the bed.
"Can I come in?" Fitz asked.
"Sure."
Fitz entered the room and after seeing Skye trying to unsuccessfully haul Ward off the bed, went to help.
"What's up?" Ward repeated, steadying himself on his feet.
"I have the ring for you." He said as he passed the box to Skye. "I've reset the stone and updated the design slightly. I hope it's ok."
Skye looked at the ring. The modifications Fitz had done made the stone sparkle more than it ever had before, so that even in the low light of the bedroom you could detect all of the colours of the rainbow.
"It's perfect." She said, kissing Fitz on the cheek.
"Cheers Fitz. Do me one more favour?"
"Sure."
"Don't tell Simmons I'm struggling with my back."
Fitz thought about it for a moment.
"One condition. You tell me right now why you ended up in the slammer."
"I stole a car, drove the 100 miles to my parents house from the Military School they had sent me to and set fire to it. I didn't realise that my older brother was in the house so the charges ended up at: GTA, Arson and Attempted Murder. My parents were lobbying for me to be tried as an adult when Garrett broke me out of there."
"Wow." Fitz responded before turning and heading for the door. "No wonder he likes bombs so much" Skye and Ward heard Fitz mutter to himself out in the hall.
Ward laughed before turning toward Skye.
"Sunflowers and purple?" he asked, eyebrows raised.
"I like sunflowers." She countered.
"I realised. If that's what you want it's what we'll have." He said, pulling Skye into his arms. She was still wearing the sling.
"Maybe you should keep that on until your shoulder heals." He suggested to her.
"Do I have to?"
"Skye. Don't lie to me. I know it hurts more today that it has done since you did it and I'm also sure you know the reason why."
"I just wanted to cheer you up." She replied defensively, a tear forming in her eye.
Ward rubbed his thumb under her eye and softly wiped it away.
"I know and I love you for it. But no more until you're better. Alright?"
Skye smiled weakly at him and he kissed her softly.
"So tell me about this prank idea?" he said, a glint forming in his eye.
"We will need Tilly and May to help. They way you're moving it wouldn't work." Skye told him.
"So what is going on between you and Agent Coulson?" Sue asked May in the kitchen. It was Skye's turn to cook so Sue volunteered to take her place instead. May was helping while Amber and Kain were sparring outside and Coulson was talking to Simmons. Rob had gone home to put his new suit away and had ended up sorting out his wardrobe and Tilly was in the study.
They had sent Skye to lie down a few hours ago, and Ward had gone to put the suits away and not returned. When May had gone to check on them they were both fast asleep.
"There is nothing going on between us. We're just friends and co workers. We've known each other a long time." She answered.
"Are you sure?
"I'm sure."
May's phone buzzed on the counter and she looked at the text she received. It was from Ward.
"Come to the bedroom. Bring Tilly. Tell no one." It read.
Confused May made her excuses to Sue and located Tilly in the study. She was still working on the schematic she had spent the previous couple of nights working on.
Together they made their way to Ward's bedroom and knocked on the door before entering. Skye and Ward were sat on the bed. Ward wore a look of mischief and Skye looked fidgety. This was not a good sign.
"Skye has a prank she needs your help with." Ward announced.
At three a.m. Ward, Skye, Tilly and May congregated silently in the kitchen. They turned no lights on. If they woke Kain or Amber the game was over.
"So how do we reach the ceiling without waking them?" Tilly asked in a hushed voice.
Skye looked at Ward, who grinned mischievously.
"Not a problem." He whispered.
"So how do we do this?" May asked.
"If you take the area around Kain and Tilly takes the area around Amber." Skye told them. It was her prank, this meant she was in charge.
"Alright, let's do it!" Tilly said, handing May a couple of balls of string and some pins.
"Won't pins wreck your front room?" May asked.
"We need to redecorate anyway." Ward told her. He would never have let Tilly use pins if they hadn't.
Silently they made their way into the front room and got into position. Tilly took the end of a ball of string that May was holding and crept to one side of the room. Ward used his 'special' skill to attach it to the ceiling. May unrolled the string and fastened it to the other side of the wall. The continued in this manner until the entire room resembled a spiders web. Tilly turned to view their handiwork and knocked one of her Gramz vases off a side table.
May, Ward and Skye all held their breaths, but Tilly managed to catch it before it hit the floor. She replaced the vase and crept through the string to the others in the doorway. They stood back and looked. The room was full of crisscrossing string. May had managed to get in close to the two sleeping interns so that when they wake in the morning they will be engulfed by the 'web'.
Just as the four were headed back up to bed they heard glass smash in the kitchen. They looked at each other and headed to the closed kitchen door. Ward opened it a crack and they could see flashlights roaming around the room.
"Go wake Coulson. Watch out for the fifth and seventh step. They creak" Ward whispered to Skye.
She set off, silent underfoot, while Ward and May made a plan. Tilly quietly opened the drawer where she had hidden Ward's gun. She tossed him it and he put it back together as quietly as he could. They stood at the door waiting to make their move.
They had identified that there were five assailants looking around the kitchen. Ward waited until the flashlight was pointed away from the door before he opened it and slipped into the room, closing it after him.
May and Tilly did the same thing so that all three of them were in the room with the assailants. Silently Ward and May crept up behind them and silently overpowered them, pushing them into chairs where Tilly tied them up and gagged them.
They got to the last two assailants when one of them caught their friends in the beam of the flashlight.
"Run!" he tried to shout, but was cut off by May's hand across his mouth and Ward's gun pointed between his eyes. The last assailant was trying to make a break for it out of the patio door that they had smashed to gain entry, but came face to face with Rob's shotgun.
It transpired that Rob was a very light sleeper and had woken to the smashing of the glass and had made his way over to see what was going on. Even though the idiots who had broken in hadn't seen Ward and May, Rob had and had decided to hold the perimeter.
Once they were satisfied that everyone who had broken in had been subdued Ward turned the light. Once Coulson and Skye had returned they closed the door to prevent waking everyone up.
"Skye, on your laptop, find out who our guests are. Ward, call the authorities." Coulson ordered, taking control of the situation.