A/N: Sorry for the lack of update yesterday – I was sick, and spent most of my day in bed, switching between being half- and completely asleep. I'm still not completely 100% yet, but getting there. And I promise I'll make up for the missed chapter.

Silly, Romantic Gestures

When she finally decided to give Grant Ward another chance after everything, Skye had expected occasional breakdowns and fights, complete devotion, passion, and, yeah, great sex. And she got those, to varying extent (but especially the sex). What she didn't expect, though, way corniness – the Grant Ward she had once got to know was simply not capable of being corny. He was simply too much of a… robot.

This was, it seemed, not true to this new version of him.

"Hey," he said softly, somewhat even shyly, standing on her doorstep, knocking on the doorframe.

"Hey," she called back from sitting at her desk, raising her head at his voice, and smiling when she saw him. "So you got back in one piece?" she asked teasingly, referencing to the flash op he took part in that day.

"Not even a scratch," he chuckled, stepping into her room. "But you can do a throughout, full-body search for injuries, if you want."

Her grin widened – okay, so she might have had something for this flirty side of his.

"I might even take you up on that later," she teased, "but first of all: what's that in your hand?" With him standing only a feet or two from her by then, she all but lunged for the hand held behind his back, but he blocked it easily, side-stepping her with a grin on his face.

"It's for you, actually," he said, squatting down beside her chair so they would be at the same level. "Just a little something that reminded me of you," he continued, handing her the small gift box. "Please, don't laugh."

"Why would I…" she started as she ripped off the ribbon from the box and opened it, but the second part of the sentence died on her lips when she saw what was inside.

It was a bracelet, cute, but simple enough – a tan, braided cord with a delicate, silver key charm of intricate detail. She loved it.

"Oh, Grant…" she sighed, already picking it out of the box to put it on. Grant took it from her, carefully unclasped it, then placed on her wrist, caressing the soft skin there with the tips of his fingers, even after the bracelet was secure on her.

"It's not just it," he said, looking into her eyes. Shrugging back the sleeve of his sweater, he showed her his wrist: there lay a similar bracelet, only instead of a key, it had a charm of a lock. "I just saw it, and…" He let out a small chuckle. "Call me an idiot, but you've always had the key to my heart, even when I didn't know I wanted it opened. So when I saw it, it reminded me of you, and I just had to get it. It's not an engagement ring or anything – I know we are not there yet –, but I want you to know how much you mean to me, and it seemed like an appropriate sign for that."

Oh, damn – she most definitely didn't have tears in her eyes. She was way too old to get teary eyed over grand, romantic gestures made by adorable men.

"Grant… You…" she stammered, and when nothing else intelligible seemed to come out, she shook her head, grabbed his face, pulled him close and kissed him, deep and passionate, pouring her very soul into that kiss. When it ended she didn't pull away, but rested her forehead against his, and, looking into his eyes said, "I love you too, you idiot."