Up

Morning found Grant and Skye wrapped around each other in bed. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, the curtains seemingly forgotten last night. Grant blinked and slowly the room around him came into focus.

Glancing to his side he saw Skye, her head resting on his shoulder, her left arm stretched across his bare abs and her right arm curled up between their bodies. She was still wearing a tank top and lifting the covers, he could see that she had also kept her underwear on.

Smiling at Skye’s sleeping form, Grant thought about what had happened last night, about what had strengthened their relationship with each other.

Skye moaned into his mouth, her arms snaking around his neck as she pressed herself to him. Swaying a little, she manoeuvred him backwards to the bed. Smiling into the kiss, Grant turned them around, lifted her up and laid her gently on the covers, holding himself above her.

Neither of them pushed the other for anything more. They were just grateful that they were finally giving each other the chance that they both needed to move forward. Grant kept his hands on her waist, only moving them to rub up and down her sides. Skye kept her hands linked around his neck, relishing in the opportunity to hold him.

They finally parted for more than a gasping breath and pressed their foreheads against each other. Opening her eyes, Skye found Grant already gazing at her.

She ran her palm down the side of his face. “I love you.”

“I love you.” Grant replied huskily.

They remained like that for several minutes, their joy unable to be surpassed by anything else.

However, Grant’s survival instincts kicked in. “We have to go.” He said quietly.

“No we don’t.” Skye murmured back, stubborn.

“Skye, Hydra’s still out there.”

“And once they’ve made a move, won’t they expect us, or me, to bolt?”

Grant contemplated her words, but before he could make a comment on them, Skye continued.

“And at any rate, the only way Hydra will know for sure if I’m in this area, will be if the two goons I buried were on comms the whole time they were following me.”

Grant nodded slowly. “You buried them?”

“I opened up the ground beneath them. They moved, but it was sort of downward.”

“Huh.”

“So, my point is that we have some time here to get some rest before Hydra chases us across the country. If May and Coulson are going to be stubborn, we can add S.H.I.E.L.D. to the mix.”

Grant nodded and rolled to the side. “Well, if we’re going to stay the night, we should probably save some of that rice for breakfast.” He got up and moved to the table.

Skye sat up and began discarding her clothes, removing all but her tank top and panties and piling the rest in a neat stack on the floor. Grant could hear the rustling as she pulled off item after item of clothing and fought to focus on putting the rice in the miniature fridge. Smirking to himself, because ‘two can play at that game, Skye’, he pulled off his jacket.

Waiting until he pulled off his shirt before turning around, Grant caught the darkened look in Skye’s eyes and smiled darkly. Tossing his shirt and jacket aside, he stalked forward, determined to tease the woman he loved.

“Grant, where are you going with this?” Skye said warily, but the mischievous glint in her eye told Grant that she wouldn’t really mind if they went that far. Smirking, he undid his belt.

“I’m just getting ready for bed. Jeans aren’t that comfortable to sleep in.”

Skye grinned. “I’ll bet.”

Grant let out a chuckle that burned through Skye like a drug. The man in question seemed oblivious to how he had just affected her and pushed down his pants in one swift motion. His shoes and socks followed. Throwing them to the same spot as the rest of his clothes, he pulled back the covers on the bed.

“Oof!” Skye laughed as the duvet and sheet were yanked out from under her, causing her to land softly on her back on the bed. Grant crawled in next to her and flicked the covers back on top.

“Now, considering I’m only in my underwear, shouldn’t you only be in yours?” he teased, grinning down at Skye.

“Easy there, tiger.” she giggled, and pulled Grant down for a kiss. He wrapped his right arm around her waist and happily complied, slipping his tongue between her lips.

They pulled apart after a few moments and settled for cuddling.

“Goodnight, Skye.”

“G’night, Grant.”

“Grant?” a sleepy voice pulled him from his thoughts.

“Morning, Skye.” He smiled at the woman who grinned sleepily back. “You up for some potential law breaking today?”

“Haha, maybe…” she trailed off with a yawn. When she looked back at Grant, the man was gazing at her intensely. “What?”

“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” he asked softly.

“Well of course. I have a rocking body.” She replied cheekily and even shimmied her hips to emphasise it.

“I don’t just mean your body. You’re beautiful. Everywhere.” His eyes were gazing so deeply into her own, Skye felt the truth of his words in her bones.

“Yeah, I know.” She breathed. She leaned forward and kissed him fiercely, her body sliding on top of Grant’s. He slid his hands up and down her back, before tentatively sliding them over her backside and squeezing her cheeks. Skye broke off with a giggle.

“As much as I’d love to, honey, we have to get going.”

“Mmm.” Was Grant’s reply as he sat up and reclaimed her lips with his own.

Skye pulled away again. “Grant, I’m serious. And hungry. So come on.” She pushed his hands off of her butt cheeks and moved to her clothes, donning her jeggings first. Grant just sat back against the headboard and watched her, smiling.

Skye looked over after she pulled off her tank top. “What are you doing?”

“Admiring the view.”

Skye huffed in amusement and picked up her bra, hooking it around herself before pulling the straps onto her shoulders. Grabbing her tank top and the over-singlet she wore to fit in with the crowd, she turned to Grant. “Should I wear both, or just the French one?”

Grant considered it. The ‘French’ top she referred to was white, said BONJOUR over three lines, and would look good on her whether she wore it by itself or not. But it was quite airy, and knowing what most men would do upon noticing her prompted his response. “Wear them both. We can’t really afford to be ogled at.”

“True…” Skye bit her lip as she glanced between both items of clothing. She shrugged and pulled both on. “Come on, get dressed.” She said as she made her way to the fridge.

Grant hauled his body off the bed and gracefully made his way over to his clothes.

“They have a microwave in the kitchen, right?” Skye asked as she closed the fridge door, the container of fried rice in her hand.

“Yeah, should do.”

“Kay. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She headed for the door.

“Skye, wait.” Grant said as he zipped up his jeans. “Last time you went off on your own, Hydra found you.”

“And they’re probably dead by now.”

“Well, it’s not like they didn’t know what you’re capable of.”

Skye flinched.

“I wasn’t trying to be cruel, Skye. Your abilities make you more of a target.” He pulled his shirt over his head and picked up his jacket. “I’d never forgive myself if I let you wander off on your own and got killed or captured. And I doubt the team would, either.”

“Only ‘cause they wouldn’t be able to use me as a weapon.” Skye mumbled bitterly.

“No, Skye.” Grant said softly, and sighed. “Look, put your shoes on and we can go down together. Then we can just check out and go.” He moved closer and brushed a lock of hair out of her face. She looked up. “Okay?”

“Okay.” She almost whispered and gave the rice to him. Walking over to the end of the bed, she slipped on the red heels she’d worn to the bar last night.

“You have a thing with colour co-ordination, don’t you?” Grant queried as he noticed the red of the heels matched the red of the writing on Skye’s shirt.

“Mhm. Now all we need for you is a red belt.” She replied quickly, earning a snort in response.

“Red means danger.”

“Does it now?” Skye looked up as she stood and waggled her eyebrows. “Is that why I suggested a belt?”

Grant sniggered. “Come on.” He said, striding towards the door.

Skye laughed quietly to herself and followed.

“Hey, Fitz. What you up to?”

Fitz glanced up from the screen he was looking at rather guiltily and relaxed when he realised it was Mack.

“Something you don’t want other people to know about?”

Simmons, who was standing a few feet away behind shelves of lab equipment and chemicals made herself known to try and keep Fitz out of trouble. “He’s trying to play back what he recorded from Coulson’s office last night.”

“With Bobbi and Kara? How’d you get that?”

“I stuck a camera in one of the corners of Coulson’s office. I couldn’t get it to…live stream. But I uh…got everything.” Fitz answered.

“Well, are you sure you wanna play it here? It’s kind of open and anyone can walk in.” Mack said, gesturing round at the large lab.

“What about one of our rooms?” Simmons asked after a moment.

“No, they’d get suspicious if all three of us went into one of our bunks.” Fitz countered.

“How about the garage?” was Mack’s next suggestion.

“That’s…pretty open as well.” Simmons replied, worried that Mack wasn’t really helping the situation.

“Yeah, but I often watch the news on one of the screens there, so no one should think it’s out of the ordinary. As long as we keep the volume down, we should be fine.”

“That…could work.” Fitz said thoughtfully, looking at Simmons who nodded with a smile on her face.

“Well, alright then. I’ll take the camera’s memory stick and you two can get some popcorn.” He picked up the items and headed towards the door.

The scientists laughed. “We just had breakfast.” Simmons pointed out.

“Yeah, and I-I don’t think I could stomach anything while watching it, if the tension of Coulson and May are anything to go by.” Fitz said.

Simmons nodded, her humour gone. Then, with the awkwardness returning, she hurried out of the room.

Fitz sighed and leaned his head on his arms on the table. He’d hoped that after the events of San Juan he and Simmons could start being more than ex-best friends. But with Trip’s death and Skye’s change, that dream went down the drain. Damn you, Ward. You caused this. Straightening up, he closed the laptop and headed towards the garage.

He was almost at the hangar door when he heard a familiar voice calling his name. Turning, he saw May walking hurriedly towards him.

“Fitz, Coulson wants you in his office. Now.”

“I was…why?” Fitz started to wave his hand in the direction of the garage but curiosity overwhelmed him.

“Both he and Agent Palamas want to talk to you.” May stopped in front of him, her behaviour screaming impatience.

“Pala…Agent 33?” Fitz clicked quickly and May noticed, little sparks of hope and pride showing in her eyes.

She nodded. “Were you going somewhere?”

“Yeah, I was heading to the-the garage. With Mack.”

“I’ll let him know you’ll be a while.” She moved off without waiting for a reply.

“I-I…oh never mind.” Fitz grumbled and trooped back the way he came.

“Mack!” May got the mechanic’s attention and noticed that Simmons was standing next to him. Why is she here? she thought as the pair stopped their conversation.

“Hey, Agent May. What brings you here? Someone break an SUV?” Mack said, bringing down the window displaying the inside of Coulson’s office.

“Coulson and Agent Palamas want to talk to Fitz.”

“He was just on his way here.”

“I know. I’ve already sent him. He told me was meeting up with you and I said I’d let you know that he’ll be a while.”

“Oh. Well, thanks.”

May nodded and started to leave when a thought occurred to her and she turned back. “Simmons, why are you here? Aren’t you usually in the lab or on the treadmill at this time of the morning?”

Simmons used all the experience she had with lying when undercover to come up with an excuse. “I was just asking Mack a question. About how he hopes to help Fitz and to see if there was any way I could be of assistance.”

May nodded again, picking up on the subtleties of the lie, but covering it up. “He seems to be doing well. When I told him the Coulson and Palamas wanted to see him, he realised in a heartbeat that I was talking about Agent 33. Didn’t even stutter.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Simmons exclaimed, her face lighting up. “I told him he just needed some time to get better.” Mack looked just as delighted. “Thank you for telling us this, May. Do…do you think Fitz noticed?”

“If he did, he didn’t show it. I’ll leave you to it.” May nodded at them both and left.

“How long do you think he’ll be?” Simmons turned to Mack.

The mechanic shrugged. “You know Coulson better than I do, but neither of us have met Agent Palamas.” He breathed in, and let out a loud sigh. “Look, I wouldn’t worry about it. Palamas seems to have gone easy on Ward, so understanding what Fitz went through will most certainly affect how she treats him. She only worked for Hydra when brainwashed, right?”

Simmons nodded. “Yeah. Or rather, for Whitehall.”

“And he’s dead. As far as we know, Palamas hasn’t gone back to any Hydra organisation since San Juan.”

“Except Ward.” she said bitterly.

“He’s not an organisation.” Mack pointed out. “Just a lone wolf.” He moved away to open a case.

Simmons glanced away, once again reminded of how petty she was being about the situation. However, she didn’t want to do much about righting that. “Not so ‘lone’ anymore. He had Palamas for a few months and now he has Skye. And I’m not entirely convinced that Ward was being honest with her.”

Mack, spanner in hand, looked over at her. “When was the last time he lied?”

She scoffed. “Probably yesterday.”

“That you could prove.” Mack said calmly. He was getting annoyed with how stubborn Simmons was being, but he felt confident that he could work through that.

“Um…when he told us that Hydra didn’t get their hands on the hard drive. And he was Hydra all along.”

“I’m not so sure that’s true.” He said lightly.

“What?” Simmons looked thoroughly confused.

“I don’t think he was ever truly Hydra.”

“Of course he was! Why else would he do all those horrible things?!” She was angry that Mack had even considered the possibility that there was more to it than simple evil.

“Was Garrett? Fitz told me that the bastard said, and I quote, ‘Well, I wouldn’t say I’m a true believer’. If he wasn’t, and he heavily influenced Ward, logic would suggest that Ward wasn’t either.”

Simmons blinked.

“Come on, Simmons. Are you telling me that you never once thought to look at this from another perspective? You’re a scientist. You study all variables and explore every angle before you come to a solid conclusion. Or does that only apply to chemicals and strategies?” Some of his anger seemed to be seeping out, and he took a deep breath to calm himself.

“I was so angry.” Simmons said quietly. “He threw Fitz and I into the ocean when we refused to leave the medical pod. Said he ‘had his orders’.”

Mack looked carefully at her, noticing the change in her body language. She was no longer tense and defensive, but rather deflated and sorrowful. “Garret was the one he took orders from, as far as I know. Am I right?”

Simmons nodded absently.

“And how many other Hydra agents were on the plane?”

“Several.”

“Several other men who didn’t know you, who would have shot you without a second thought, simply because Garrett ordered it. Deathlok was on the plane, too, wasn’t he?”

Again, she nodded.

“And with that Centipede serum in his body, coupled with the cyborg shit strapped onto him…he would’ve made short work of that pod door.”

Simmons gaped at him, lost for words.

“So it sounds to me,” Mack said as he sat down on a nearby stool. “That ejecting you out of the plane as quickly as he did, actually did save your lives. Even if it had unfortunate consequences.”

“Into the ocean! We sank!”

“The plane was in vertical flight mode, yeah?” Simmons nodded. “So the fall itself wouldn’t have been too dangerous. As for the sinking problem, it was a med pod on a plane. Not a submarine.”

“S.H.I.E.L.D. med pods are compatible with all transport craft.” she recited tiredly.

“And what use is a med pod at the bottom of the ocean? Think about it, Simmons. Did you expect the pod to sink?”

“No.” she replied in a small voice.

“Then what made you think that Ward would? He probably thought that a light coloured capsule floating around the ocean between Cuba and mainland USA would have been spotted before long. Especially with Coulson, May, Trip and Skye looking for you. They had a jet and two pilots to fly it.”

Simmons took a deep breath and looked to the hangar door. “I think I need to think about this.”

Mack nodded and stood up. “Okay. Take your time. Just let me know what conclusion you’ve come to before you go to Fitz. I have some more information that whole Hydra-Ward case.”

Simmons, who was already walking down the cargo ramp, stopped. Turning, she fixed Mack with a wary stare. “What information?”

Mack shrugged. “Before Coulson asked me to help out here, I ran into someone who needed a lot of help.”

“Who?”

“Mike Peterson.”