Cold as Ice

Chapter Seventeen

Season One, Episode Nineteen: The Only Light in the Darkness

Part Two

I felt his fingertips brush against the bare skin of my back as we laid together, causing a small shiver to run down my spine. My cheek was pressed against Ward's chest, listening to his heartbeat and feeling his chest rise and fall with each breath. My entire body was relaxed, one of my legs intertwined with his, and there was a content smile on my face. I moved my head to look at him, the smile remaining on my face as my eyes trailed over him. His hair was messy, not in its usual neat manner, causing a small laugh to come from my mouth.

"What are you laughing about?" Ward questioned, his eyebrows raising as he watched me with a small smile curling up on the corners of his mouth. Instead of replying, I propped myself up on one of my elbows before reaching my other hand up, pushing his hair so it wasn't quite as messy. Ward rolled his eyes, realizing what I had been laughing at. "Your hair isn't looking it's best either, Mel." He chuckled lightly.

I pulled my hand back, placing it over my chest and opening my mouth slightly in mock hurt. "You're a jerk, you know that right?" There was heavy sarcasm lacing my words as I fought back a grin.

"It took you this long to figure that out?" He questioned, one of his hands going to my hair, running his fingers through it. There was a long pause as I gently laid my head back on his chest, careful to avoid the bandaged areas. My eyes began to flutter shut for a moment before he spoke again. "We should get up soon, go check on Koenig and Skye." His voice trailed off at the end, clearly not enthused by his own idea.

I nodded my head, my eyes closing once again. "We could, but we don't have to. It's not like things can get much worse from here."

"We have a mission." He reminded me gently, causing me to let out an annoyed sigh before I sat up, turning my head to look at him. "And if we're gone for too much longer, you know that they'll start to wonder where we are. I don't know about you, but the idea of Koenig finding us like this makes me a little uncomfortable."

We laughed for a moment before I rolled my eyes, pushing myself out of bed before grabbing the clothes we had thrown across the room. I handed Ward his clothes before putting on my own. "I just want one day off, just one day where it doesn't feel like the weight of the world is resting on the team."

"It'll be a while before we get a day like that," Ward spoke as he finished getting dressed. I nodded my head in agreement before slipping on my shirt.

I made my way over to Ward, my arms wrapping around his shoulders as I pulled him in for a kiss, knowing that this would be one of our only chances for the rest of the day, given that we would be around Skye and Koenig. After a few moments, we pulled away from one another, small smiles on our faces. "All right, let's go," I spoke, lacing my fingers through his as we made our way out of my room.

Ward and I made our way down the halls after finally getting dressed and leaving my room. As much as I had wanted to stay there for the rest of the day, to not think about anything else, Ward was quick to remind me that we had a mission. Regardless of my protests at the time, I knew that he was right. There was still a lot to be done. The others were still on their mission and we were supposed to be trying to figure out what had happened at the Fridge. Even just the time that Ward and I had taken together made me feel slightly bad. When so much was going on in all of our lives, it felt a bit selfish to take time for ourselves.

"Are you okay?" Ward questioned from beside me, his hand squeezing mine as we walked.

I nodded my head before speaking. "Yeah, I was just thinking that we have the worst timing."