The Snapshot {An Agents of Shield Fanficton} [1]

Peaceful Goodbyes

12 Hours Later

I stood on the crest of the hill, feeling the soft summer breeze blow against my face. Short stalks of yellow grass brushed against my boots and wisps of hair danced around my face. I breathed in and closed my eyes. It felt good to be back home.

I placed my hands in my pockets and turned around slightly to see a figure walking towards me. I smiled slightly.

Peter cleared the last steps to me and looked around him at the trees. "So this is where you're from?"

I nodded. "It's home." I looked him up and down. He looked better now; less weak and frail. The brightness had returned to his once gray eyes, and were now a bright green and full of content and happiness. His skin was less pale and I could still as the sight remains of the cuts and bruises on his temple and cheek. He was finally dressed in something in something better than a hospital gown; jeans, tennis shoes and a tshirt and flannel. His eyes met mine and I saw his lips curve upward in a slight smile as he brushed his hand through his sandy blonde hair.

"They let you out?," I asked, glancing towards the plane, which was now invisible, about a hundred yards away behind a border of trees.

"I guess they figured I should have a chance to say goodbye just as they had," he replied.

I smiled. "Bittersweet, nonetheless. I'll miss them...Skye the most. Ward, not so much."

He nodded. "So what now? You just go back to your normal life? Here, at home?"

I shrugged. "There's nothing else for me anywhere else." I looked up at the sun setting on the horizon. "Besides, where else am I going to get a view like this?" I turned back to him.

"You think you'll ever be going back to SHIELD," he asked.

I scoffed. "Believe it or not, my opinions of the validity of SHIELD have changed since this whole ordeal. If I do, it'll be under my terms, not there's." I paused. "What about you?"

"They're going to drop me off back in New York. Don't have much of a plan as of where, but home is home, you know?"

I tilted my head. "I didn't peg you as one wander around till he settled."

He shrugged and looked up pensively. "Well, not all those who wander are lost."

I looked down at my shoes, tracing a path in the dirt with my boot in those few moments of silence.

"I want to thank you," he said.

I stared at him questioningly.

"For everything," he continued. "From the very start you were on my side when no one else was. You did some things...the drug? They told me about it...I could have never had the courage to do that. And... a-" he trailed off, averting his eyes and taking a breath. "Down there, back in that room, I -..." He stopped.

I hadn't forgotten the mirror. I hadn't forgotten that dream.

I hadn't forgotten the sound of the gunshot.

"You tried to end it," I said. His head snapped back up in awe. I shrugged. "It makes sense. Your powers were out of control and you were going to kill more people, even if they were those guards. I know what you felt, and you felt it necessary to end yourself before you ended anyone else."

He shook his head. "Well, they stopped me."

"Hey," I said, reaching out and touching his arm, turning him back to me. I could see the ever so slight tears welling in his eyes, so small in fact a normal person wouldn't notice. But I was no normal person. I felt his regret and his sorrow. "I know what happened. I saw it. I lived it. What you did in the past isn't important now. You have to move on and forget it, because it isn't going to help you now. The last time I stood here, I wasn't the same person. Now, I've realized that this ability has brought me a war inside myself that I'm going to have to figure out how to win. And the same with you. You can control your power better now. Don't let it dictate what you are inside. When I looked inside you, I saw good." I pointed to his chest. "You are good, Peter. You caught a bullet for someone. That's shows something."

He pressed his lips together. "Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"What you said...when I was dying. That you cared."

"Every bit," I replied, staring back at him.

Before I knew what was happening, he took a step forward and leaned his face close to mine. I took a step back in surprise, but he was faster. His lips touched mine and stayed there in a long, gentle kiss.

It wasn't what I had expected; it wasn't like I had read in a book or seen in a movie...it was better. I felt this feeling flutter in my stomach that I recognized. I had felt it when I first saw him that night at the barn and last felt it when my hands were covered in blood as I choked back tears. But here it was stronger than ever before. I felt it run through my veins and climb up my arms like a warm blanket. And here I realized this was the first time I had ever truly felt...well...love.

He pulled away and I looked at him in shock. My mouth hung open and I was speechless.

He smiled shyly and I couldn't help but smile myself.

"That was your first kiss wasn't it?," he asked.

I nodded, smiling, and looked away. "You know this would never work, right?"

He smiled again and shrugged. "I know. But I figured it was worth it, anyway, you know, given you're the only reason I'm alive."

"Now you're just being ridiculous," I said.

"No, I'm not, and I'm genuinely thanking
you. For everything," he said.

I felt color rise to my cheeks. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him, pulling both of us into a hug. I looked beyond him at the landscape and the sunset.

Here, at this moment in time, I am finally at peace.

~•~

Authors Note: ROLL CREDITS! Well, I hope you enjoyed this story, it is my very first and honestly I think it's crap but it's whatever you know? If you're reading this that means you finished it so thank you so much I love you more than life. Sorry if you didn't expect romance in this book...honestly I didn't either lol. It not canon and their relationship probably won't go anywhere, but I felt it necessary to add it in just to make it platonic. It's a bit realistic, I guess, so that's why it just brought it in to bring the story to a close. Stay tuned for the sequel (which will probably be set in the more recent Agents of Shield timeline) and comment if you have any suggestions.

Thank you all so much and I love each and every one of you! <3
xoxo
sarcastic- writer