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“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Skye asked Grant, her voice betraying her uncertainty.

“One hundred percent.” Grant turned to look at her, a small smile on his face. “Gramsy and Thomas’ll love to meet you.”

“But what if they don’t like me? I did shoot you!”

Grant sighed, leaning his head against the headrest of the driver’s seat. “I already phoned ahead, so we can’t bail out now.”

Skye just glared. “We’re going to have to work on our communication a little more.” She said grumpily before she got out of the car. Grant glanced over as she opened the car door. Chuckling to himself, he also exited the vehicle and locked it, following Skye to the front door of the house they’d parked in front of.

The door opened before Skye was halfway there and a man who looked somewhat like Grant rushed out. “Grant!” he yelled in delight before jumping on him. Skye just stood on the path, looking utterly confused.

“Grant?” a softer voice sounded from the doorway, drawing Skye’s attention. An old woman, tiny for her age, stepped out of the house. She flicked her gaze to Skye, and the agent was surprised at how intense it was. “You must be Skye. Welcome, dear.” She smiled, and Skye couldn’t resist beaming back.

“Nice to see you too, Tommy. Can I say hi to Gramsy as well?” Grant’s amused but slightly annoyed tone floated towards the women, who turned their heads to see the younger of the two men drop the ground after clinging to Grant. “Hi there, Gramsy.”

“Grant, darling.” The Ward grandmother raised her arms for a hug, and as soon as they pulled apart, she hit his shoulder. “Why did it take you so long to come back to me? It’s been decades!”

“Sixteen years, Gramsy.” Grant replied, rubbing the spot where she hit him. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t get you involved in what I got myself caught up in.”

Skye’s heart went out to this family, still so close after so long apart.

“Are you going to introduce us, Grant?” Thomas spoke up. He was looking at the strange woman on his property.

“Sorry. Tommy, this is Skye, my girlfriend. Skye, this is Tommy, my younger brother.” Grant gestured from one adult to the next.

“Hi.” Skye smiled, but the look that Thomas gave her wasn’t friendly.

“So you’re the one who shot Grant.” He said menacingly.

Gramsy looked horrified as she looked between Grant, Thomas and Skye, noting the devastated look on Skye’s face, the resigned one on Grant’s and Thomas’s cruel glare on his. Gathering her manners about her, she turned to her youngest grandchild. “Thomas Ward, the next time you are anything less than polite to a guest, you will be scrubbing this house from floor to ceiling. Do you understand me?”

Thomas was appalled. “But she–”

“I heard what you said. And I saw her reaction. Do you honestly expect your brother would have brought her here if he hadn’t forgiven her first?”

The man now looked ashamed and looked at the ground. “No.” he mumbled.

“Good. Now dears,” she said, turning back to the couple. “Come on in and tell me everything that has happened since you left for military school.”

Skye looked at Grant. “You went to military school?”

“My goodness, Skye, you have much to learn about this man.” Gramsy laughed, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Grant groaned as his grandmother took Skye by the hand, leading her into the house while listing all the stories she would no doubt retell later on.

“Looks like you’ll be staying a lot longer than you expected.” Thomas commented from his left side. Grant looked at him. “You turned up in a car that you obviously stole, because that is and has never been your style of vehicle, and you were wanting to stay the night?”

Grant shrugged. “It’s not like we have anywhere to stay.”

“Oh well. Perfect excuse then.” Thomas smiled before leading the way into the house.

Grant found Skye standing on the deck out the back of the house, gazing at the starry sky. Stopping in the doorway, he leant against the frame, just admiring the view. He knew she was troubled, not helped by Thomas’ icy behaviour towards her, but he was going to wait until she was ready to share her thoughts.

A few moments passed before Skye turned her head round enough to look at him. Her face softened into a fond smile, but her eyes held immeasurable sadness. “Hey.” She said.

“Hey.” Grant replied, smiling back.

Pursing her lips, Skye turned the rest of her body around to face him and leant back against the post. “How did Thomas know?”

“I told him.” He hurried to elaborate at Skye’s hurt look. “It was a month after. I was still quite angry at you then, and he was concerned that I wasn’t gonna make it.”

Skye glanced down and crossed her arms. “You know I never wanted you to die, right?” she said in a small voice.

“I know.” Grant soothed her, pushing off the doorframe and walking towards Skye. “I meant ‘make it’ as in get to our meeting place. We hadn’t talked for years, and he was so excited see me again.” He smiled fondly.

Skye had laughter playing at the edges of her smile. “I noticed.”

Grant chuckled, his voice reverberating through his chest as he slipped his arms around Skye’s waist. Smirking a little, Skye slid her hands into Grant’s hair and pulled his face down to hers, meeting his lips with a delicate sweetness.

Neither of them noticed Thomas standing in the kitchen, seeing the kiss through the window. Although he understood how much his brother loved this woman, he could not picture himself accepting someone’s love after they shot him, and seethed with anger at how much this Skye had Grant Ward wrapped around her finger.

Placing the tea towel he’d been strangling onto the bench, he strode out of the kitchen to grab a tracker he’d snagged from the police station a week ago. Ensuring that it was still functioning, he snuck out of the front door and crept to the flashy car parked on the street.

Sorry, Grant. But you made one mistake too many. She doesn’t deserve you.

“Thank you for the tea, Gramsy.” Skye said with a smile as she placed the empty mug into the sink.

“Oh, you’re welcome dear.” Gramsy beamed back. She was overall delighted with her grandson’s girlfriend. “I take it you’ll be staying tonight?”

“If you have room. We’re kind of on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D.”

“Oh, Lordy. Well, I should hope the police aren’t on your trail. They don’t trust anyone around here, and their behaviour shows it.”

“Oh.” Skye turned away slightly with a frown. “We should leave early tomorrow morning, then.”

Gramsy fixed her sad gaze upon the woman. “I wish I could help more, dear. But me and my old age…”

“It’s fine, Gramsy, really. A bed for the night is more than we were asking for.” Skye’s mopey expression cleared when Grant walked into the room, but his harried look brought about a feeling of dread. “Grant?”

“Police dispatch. They’ve been tipped off. We need to go.”

“What? How?” Skye demanded, already striding forwards to meet him.

Grant took her hand and pulled her towards the front door as he answered. “I don’t know. But we can figure this out once we’ve gone. Gramsy, I’m so sorry to leave like this.” He turned to his grandmother, who had trailed after them looking increasingly worried. “Tell Thomas I said goodbye.” He said, giving her a hug.

She nodded. “I will. Be safe, the pair of you.” She pulled Skye into a brief hug and then pushed them on their way. “Of you go. Before you end up with your backsides in jail.”

Grant and Skye all but sprinted for the car, jumping in and speeding off minutes before the wailing police cars screeched to a halt in its place.