Coming Home

The cool metal made Ward's fingertips tingle as he gripped the handle to the entryway door. He took a deep breath, knowing exactly who was inside the building. His old team. He figured it was best to avoid confrontation with everyone who wasn't Coulson or Fury, it was too long of a story to explain to anyone else and he was exhausted.

He pulled open the door and stepped inside, letting the air conditioning hit him as he walked in. He made his way towards Fury's office when a small voice came from behind him. "Ward?"

He stopped, frozen in his tracks. He slowly turned on his heel and turned to face Skye. "Skye," he nodded in greeting.

She made her way over to him, arms crossed, as she glared at her old SO. "What are you doing here?"

The level 7 badge around her neck didn't escape his notice and he sighed. "It's a long story," he started.

"You know, we didn't think we would ever see you again," she admitted, glare softening, but only slightly.

Something caught Ward's eye from the other end of the Hub's main entrance. Fury was standing in the corner and beckoning him over. He turned back to Skye. "Look, there's an explanation for everything, I just don't have time right now."

Skye craned her neck to look in Fury's direction and then turned back to Ward, scoffing. "Unbelievable."

***

Two years ago, Hydra had reared its ugly head and John Garrett was revealed to be the Clairvoyant. Ward, having been Garrett's rookie, was assumed to have been a likely target should Garrett ever come back for blood. With this in mind, Fury and Coulson had decided to send Ward away and gave him miscellaneous missions without the team. Ward heartily agreed, saying that it was his best chance to keep everyone he loved safe.

That was how he ended up here, two years later, outside of a gym at the Hub watching his old Rookie beat the living daylights out of a punching bag.

He walked inside the room. "What's that punching bag ever done to you?"

Skye looked up and raised her eyebrows when she saw the level 9 lanyard around his neck. "Level 9? You leave for two years and you still somehow become level 9?" she questioned, eyebrows furrowed as she raised her voice in annoyance.

Ward looked down briefly. "Oh, this. Fury had me doing some solo missions to help bring down Hydra while I was gone."

"Solo missions? You left the team to go solo again?" her eyebrows furrowed and her face suddenly took on a sad expression. "You left right when we were starting to build something good," she said, referring to both S.H.I.E.L.D. and their...relationship, of sorts. "Why would you want to leave?"

"I didn't want to leave," he explained as he shook his head. "Fury and Coulson both decided that I would probably be Garrett's next target and he would probably be coming for blood. If I went solo, he wouldn't have been able to hurt you guys in order to get to me."

Skye scoffed. "You have got to be kidding me! We are literally a team of spies! We can handle ourselves!"

"I wasn't willing to take that risk," Ward shook his head as he lowered his voice.

Skye heard the honest emotion in his voice and suddenly looked down at her hands. She swallowed. "Still," she said, unwrapping her hands and walking over to him, "you could've written a letter or something."

"Leaving was hard enough," he sighed, "I didn't want to write a letter and have you try to come and follow me."

Skye looked like a kicked puppy for a moment. She then bristled again and slightly raised her voice. "Why?"

Ward raised his voice to match hers. "Because I would've stayed." He took a deep breath and lowered his voice down to a volume only slightly above a whisper. "Despite my better judgement, it wouldn't have taken much for you to convince me to stay."

"You're right. I would've come after you," she said. Her voice broke a little bit, but she did her best to hide it. "I might've even gone with you, because what we had was worth fighting for," she admitted, raising her voice. She then looked down at her feet and said in a whisper, "at least to me it was."

"I wouldn't have let you come with me, Skye," he shook his head and stepped closer to her. There were only a few inches of space between them, now. "The whole reason I was leaving was to keep you safe. You and the team."

Skye finally looked up and met his eyes. She slowly felt her resolve start to crumble. She bit her bottom lip. Two years of sadness, regret, and the sting of betrayal washed away as she stepped forward to close the space between them, wrapping her arms around him.

Ward returned the hug and cradled her head, trying to convey how sorry he was for leaving her for so long. He held her tight against his chest as she burrowed her face in to his shoulder.

"Are you here to stay now?" she asked softly as she pulled away to meet his eyes.

He placed his hand on the small of her back, pulling her fractionally closer. "I am."

That was all the confirmation she needed to lean forward and connect her lips to his. 

I had a need to write this. Don't question it. 

Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought!