Chapter Text
AU- SkyeWard - I won’t lie to you.
No one really likes lines, though they are a necessity. You have to queue up so that there is order, lack of chaos. Grant always liked order, rules, and knowing what you could and couldn’t do.
But he really hated lines at Starbucks.
He had to report to work every day by 8 am no later. Apparently same as everyone else in the area. The line was long filled with cranky and downright rude people. And if they weren’t rude then they were overly chipper with the most complicated orders known to man. Chaos and ridiculousness.
A few weeks back Grant frequented a nice quiet mom and pop shop a few blocks over, but unfortunately like most smaller placed they were taken over by the man, aka Starbucks.
He tried to make his own coffee, he really tried but, turns out he’s just not that great at it. After 3 weeks of suffering and making his coworkers suffer his bad coffee rage. Fitz finally wore him down to just go the Starbucks.
And besides the long lines and cranky (weird) people, it has been the best 10 minutes he’s had in a line in his entire life. Why, because of the woman standing in front of him.
She was small. Well, most people were small compared to Grants 6’3 frame. Not to mention the bulk he had on him. While not overly big he clearly had muscle on him. He had to to do what he did. Specialists weren’t exactly you normal agent. Get in get out get the job done.
She was maybe 5’4. At least without the nice black heels, she had on her very nice legs. A simple cream-colored button-up shirt that dipped down just enough to be teasing. But Grants truly favorite part of her. The part that made this entire circus of a copy shop of the black fuck me pencil skirt that framed her pert butt so perfectly.
Every time she shifted her weight from one foot to the other her cheek would become that more pronounced. And at every shift, the skirt would rise up just a few millimeters higher on the thighs. If was the biggest tease he’s ever seen. Not that she knew what she was doing.
She had the standard white headphones plugged into a very small tablet or a larger than average phone that she was typing away at an astonishing speed. Not that Grant was computer illiterate by any stretch, Some of the techs he’s handled has been advanced beyond belief. The only reason he even noticed the typing was at every pause in clicks the weight would shift and the cheek would come out again.
Grant always considered himself more of a breast man, but damn he might be switching his thoughts on that.
Before he realized it she was speaking to the barista with a slightly throaty voice that sent a small shiver down his spine. And before he knew it he was opening his mouth and making what he was sure would be a terrible decision but his lips were moving without his consent.
“ I’ll pay for her drink.”
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“ I’ll pay for her drink.”
Skye twisted her head around to see who had spoken and was a little shocked at who it was.
He was tall and clearly rocking the suit he was in even if it was a little too by the book for her tastes. She could see the biceps strain on the arms of the suit since he had them crossed over his chest.
Always one to recover fast and never one to turn down a free drink.
“ You don’t have to, but thank you” Skye answered with a small smile
“It’s my pleasure.”
Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome didn’t seem inclined to add to the statement so with another smile at him then the barista Skye finished ordering her caramel goodness and stepped to the side to wait for her drink to be done.
She took out her earbuds to listen to him order a black coffee asking the opinion of roasts from the barista. She tried to be subtle when she checked him out but was pretty sure she failed at it.
He filled the suit very nicely now that she really had time to admire him though he gave a stick in the mud impression. He seemed a bit too rigid in the way he carried himself, though confident. Skye was always more of a free bird herself and always had a problem with too many rules. His voice was deep though which was always a plus and had a very classic type of handsome face.
Overall not a bad person to buy her a coffee.
He stepped over to the waiting area not too much later and stayed slightly behind her. Skye thought he would try to strike up a conversation now that they weren’t ordering but no dice on that.
‘Hmm, maybe he’s just doing one of those pay it forward things you hear about. By a drink for someone and the good deed just keeps going’
Since a conversation didn’t seem forthcoming she turned her attention back to her phone, sans earbuds while she waited for her drink. Skye was stuck on a particular line of code and kept shifting her weight from leg to the other. A habit she just can’t seem to break when she’s breaking down a problem. A low groan caught her attention.
Raising one eyebrow she turned to her mysterious benefactor, but he didn’t seem to be the source of the noise.
“Order for Skye!”
A big smile erupted on Skye’s face at the thought of the deliciousness she is about to consume. “ Thank You!”
“Order for Grant.”
Both coffee patrons grabbed their respective drinks and headed for the door. Grant got to the door before he and held it open.
“ Thank you for getting that.” Skye mentioned “ Also for the drink. Can I ask why you bought it for me?” She stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of Grant as he spoke
With a smirk, “ I Had the best view in the house the entire time I was in line.” His eyes dropped down slowly in the most seductive elevator eyes Skye had ever seen. “ It was well worth it.”
To Skye's astonishment, he pulled out a pair of dark sunglasses and with those parting words walked around and disappeared into the hustle and bustle of the busy Los Angeles streets.
“ Hey, you don’t get to just check out my ass all morning and walk away!!” Skye yelled to the street. She could have sworn she heard a laugh echo in the crowd as she turned the other way to work.
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His work thinks he’s sick.
Grant couldn’t keep the smile off his face after his encounter with Skye. Not that they introduced themselves but the barista did say her name. It kinda suits her he couldn’t help but think.
After walking a block or so away he couldn’t but analyze his response to her. To be so brazen was a bit out of the norm for him. At least him when he wasn’t undercover posing as some entitled snob. He has perfected over time and countless missions a million different personas to cover any situation that could arise.
It was why he was so good at his job. Best espionage scores since Romanov. Not that he cared for the comparison. Every agent has a set of skills they excelled at it was like comparing apples to oranges. Both fruit and yet very different.
Honestly, has he held the door open for her when she asked why he did it, he just didn’t want to say anything but the truth. Lying was part of the job, but she wasn’t the job. She was just a beautiful woman with a killer ass that he happened to run into in a Starbucks. Who know if he’ll ever see her again or if she’ll avoid the Starbucks not that it be tainted by a creep.
‘Though she didn’t actually seem that mad when she yelled. I mean really it was a compliment’
The thought of whether he would see her again or not swirled in his head as he approached the Hub. One of S.H.I.E.L.D ‘s largest bases, though nothing compared to the Triskelion. Grant Ward had been running ops out of this location for about a year now under the direction of Victoria Hand and Senior Agent Phil Coulson. Hand mainly prefers to run back end from the Hub while Coulson was more in the field making the hard calls type. Both had their style and both were valuable Agents.
Grant scanned his badge at the first gateway. A fingerprint at the next. Retinal to ride the elevator. The camera’s all around. You can’t say S.H.I.E.L.D. took security lightly.
He arrived on the 5th Floor North wing at 7:56 am per usual. Sat at his desk and proceeded to use the computer terminal at his desk to log in and get started with his day. Antoine Triplett was right behind him coming in but paused his steps when he first entered the office.
The spacious room was divided into six cubicles. Two housed specialists which were Ward and Triplette aka Trip. The last four spots were used by various agents level 2-5.
Trip looked around the room when he entered, trying to find a prank or some sort of newbie hanging around. When he found nothing out of the ordinary. He sat down logged in and waited to look at his watch periodically.
After about 7 minutes Ward couldn’t help but notice.
“Trip, Is there something your waiting for?”
“ No.” He answered succinctly.
“ Then why are you staring at your watch?”
“ Come on man, you don’t know?” At Wards eyebrow raise Trip’s Smile took over his whole face. “ Dude you have had a smile on your face for the last 10 minutes!”
As soon as the words came out Grant lost the smile. “ No, I haven’t you’re being ridiculous.”
“ Nah man, I’ve been timing it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile that big. It made me think something was happening when I walked in.”
“ Now you are just overreacting. I'm allowed to smile.” He responded making his frown more pronounced. Had he seen an ass like Skye’s he’d be smiling like the joker too.
Trip picked up his phone and dialed an extension with rapid punches. Placing it on speaker he waited for a few rings before a Scottish voice answered. “Fitz.” “ You man Fitz is Jemma there?” “Yeah hang on….Simmons!” “Coming! Yes Agent Triplett
what do you need?”
Grant could feel something was about to happen but didn’t know what. Nothing good came from the science twins. While the most exceptional pair that S.H.I.E.L.D. has turned out in decades as far as the Science Academy goes, something was lacking in their mannerisms with people of an IQ below 200.
“ So Ward has been smiling for 10 minutes straight.”
Silence
“Is he sick?” Jemma asked quietly, almost afraid to know the answer.
Ward swears that Trip was laughing about that all week.
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It was bothering Skye how much effort she was putting into her outfit for work. While she always tried to dress well she never dressed with someone in mind.
‘This is stupid! He might not even be there today let alone at the same time as me. Hell, he’s probably just a creep and won’t even remember what he said to me.’
She held up one shirt after another, debating the pros and cons. Skye glanced at the clock on her bedside table and realized she would be running late if she didn’t hurry up.
‘ I got it! I’m not wearing anything ass flattering that way he has no reason to stare and he’ll get the hint that I'm not interested…….that much.’
With a resolute nod of her head, she picked a pink dress with a little frill on the bottom and some strappy gold heels.
Out the door 10 minutes later Skye headed towards work and her morning coffee. As she approached she couldn’t help but look around and see if her new coffee buddy Grant was lurking around like a creeper. After a few turns of the head, she decided he was there and proceeded to move into the store.
Like every early morning. Starbucks was packed. Skye to her place dutifully in line. Behind a suburban mom who looked like she needed the fix to keep going. After looking around the store she let out a small sigh of disappointment.
‘He’s not here. Oh well not like I was looking forward to it or anything.’
Skye tried to step out of her funk and placed her order for her signature Double Caramel Macchiato. Right as she was getting her wallet out of her cute clutch. A deep voice sounded to the left of her at the other cashier station.
“Her drink is on me today.”
Skye's head turned so fast she actually thought she might hurt herself.
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“Her drink is on me today.”
Skye turned around very quickly, his voice startling her. Standing right next to her without her noticing was her coffee beau.
“Your name is Grant right?”
He nodded his head. “Well Grant, Thank you again for the coffee though I'm not really sure what it's for this time.”
This is the least ass flattering outfit I have.
Grant had the biggest grin on his face and I knowing look in his eyes but he stayed silent.
“ So you’re paying for both sir?” The Barista Joel interrupted. “Yes that’s right” he replied.
Nodding Joel finished the transaction and waved them on to the pickup area.
Grant and Skye stood said silently for 2 minutes before she cracked. “ I don’t even think you can see my ass in this dress.” He matter of fact statement made Grant let out a throaty laugh. The smile on his face forced an instant smile on Skye’s.
“ You actually can’t see it that well now that you mention it. But your ass didn’t get you a coffee today.”
“Order for Grant and Skye!”
Thank you both responded in unison. They grabbed their drinks and walked towards the exit.
“ They have really nice mirrors in here,” Grant said offhandedly. Skye looked at him with an arched eyebrow. “ Are you an interior decorator or something?” She responded as he held open the door for her. Waiting for him to get back on topic “ No but when I was standing behind you today it gave me a great view of your tits.”
Skye glanced down and saw that in her attempt to keep her butt out of sight she forgot that the pink dress highlighted the perkiness of her boobs.
Huh didn’t even think of that.
As Skye was registering what just happened Grant started walking away presumably towards his job.
“Hey!” Skye yelled at his retreating form. Grant paused his stride and turned to the side towards her. “ So Tits or Ass? I just want to be sure for next time!”
Bystanders looked on in curiosity and the couple yelling over the crowd.
After a moment of thought, Grant yelled back. “ I’m kinda interested in the whole package!”
With a casual salute, he turned back around and continued on to work.
The people on the LA Street can honestly say they have seen weirder things.
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‘Interested in the whole package he says. Pfft. Yeah right if he was so interested he would stick around for a few minutes.’
Skye stomped off to work with a smile on her face sipping her coffee. Well, work was a loose term. Yes, she was a paid employee of a company. Global Incorporated. But it was virtually a cover for her.
Computers and more specifically hacking were always her true passion, but over the last few years, Skye felt it prudent to start building a bit more legit life. No more living out of vans and showering at the gym. Her job as an IT girl consisted mainly of helping the computer illiterate unlock their computer after three failed password attempts. Every now and then she would get lucky and have to install some updates.
But it was a decent paying job that allowed her to fly under the radar. While she was an excellent hacker, Skye started to notice people getting closer and closer to finding her after some larger hacks. They could never find her, clearly not having anything concrete to find her with, but it unnerved her to think that someone was getting good enough to even know what state she was completing the hack from.
Hacktivism used to be her passion. Hacking for people's rights to the truth. It took a few bad ideas for Skye to realize that some things should just stay a secret. Some truths get people killed. After that hard lesson, it wasn’t long before Skye was hacking just to keep her skills sharp and to say she can.
So she 2 years ago she put her van in drive and headed west and lost herself in the hustle and bustle of LA.
She entered the revolving doors of her branch locations office and scanned her badge at the security checkpoint. IT Grunts lived on the sublevels near the server coolers. A small 20 x 20 office was where she spent her deary days. The room was technically split into cubicles but for the last 6 months, Skye had been by herself. It seemed since she was good enough at her job there was no need to hire a new person. It worked out for Skye since she liked her privacy. When she was feeling the need for a hack she did the groundwork at her office.
No one looked too closely if she was reading lines of code, or her computer was processing a little faster that day. Most of the executives and security just chalked it up to her job and left it alone.
After logging into her terminal and checking her emails. Skye paused over her keys and glanced at her coffee. ‘ Grant Grant Grant’ Skye thought ‘ Should I cyber-stalk you today and see a little more about you?’
Typing quickly she pulled up traffic cameras for the corner of the Starbucks but before she could backtrack to earlier that she paused.
‘ Nah I’ll see how long it takes him to man up and ask me out. Guess I’m interested in the whole package too.’
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‘It's Saturday.’ Grant realized as he started his ritual 5:30 am workout. His apartment was organized and clean but just above spartan in decorations. These last 8 months have been the longest he’s been working out of a base. Usually, his skill set leads his too deep cover ops or firefights.
The only thing he splurged on in his apartment was his home gym in the second bedroom. A punching bag and speed bag were set up on one side, free weights in the other. A simple workout bench was placed off to the side as well. Splurged was a strong way to describe it.
The workout was so routine he barely was focusing as he unleashed punch combos on the bag.
‘Skye might not be at Starbucks today. I mean it’s not like I know her work schedule. I’m on call on the weekends so I don’t need to report in unless necessary.
The punches started coming in a little faster as he debated. ‘ What if she does show up and I’m not there.
I just told her I’m interested she probably won’t think I'm serious if I’m not there the next day. Oh god, what if she’s not interested. I joke with Trip about being everyone’s type but she strikes me as someone with more standards than physical appearance.’
If she doesn’t work today, she might not come in at all or at a random time. I can’t exactly wait around all day for her to show up. Or Can I?’
Grant stopped punching and moved over to the free weights. Sitting on the bench he started with his right arm and doled out curls quickly.
‘People spend hours in Starbucks, I can post up with a laptop or a book and just wait…..like a creeper. Uggghhh! This is ridiculous, I don’t remember trying to hit on a woman being this complicated last time I did this.’
Left Arm time.
‘“That’s it! I’m just going to go like normal and if she there then great if not I’ll just try again another day.” Grant spoke to the empty room. “Why am I talking to myself right now? This woman is making me crazy and we aren’t even together.”
Grant continued his workout in a semi-frustrated manner and finished with enough time to shower and change into casual street clothes deviating from his usual suit for work. Grabbing a navy blue Henley and jeans finished with a brown belt and his broken in black boots. Grant was dressed in 5 minutes, the next 10 were dedicated to arming himself with a few smaller weapons. A life as specialist made him a little paranoid but you couldn’t really blame him. A knife in each boot and a Glock hid under his shirt and he was ready to go tackle Starbucks.
At 7:30 am Grant opened the door of his new favorite coffee shop and was surprised, which doesn’t happen very often. Skye was sitting in one of the first tables facing the door, two drinks sitting in front of her. One drink looked to be her signature caramel concoction and the other was a smaller standard paper cup. She was wearing a red plaid Flannel and jeans with dark brown ankle boots. Clearly a casual outfit.
“Oh good.” Skye stated, “I was hoping I didn’t wake up early on my day off for nothing.”
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“Oh good.” Skye stated, “I was hoping I didn’t wake up early on my day off for nothing.”
Grant walked up to her with a smile on his face and took a seat in front of her.
“Yeah, I was kind of worried about that. I didn't want to be here all day waiting for you if you weren't going to show up at all.” Grant responded. “ You were planning on waiting all day? That's actually really sweet.” Skye smiled at him
“ Well, I decided I'm interested in the whole package as well. So I dragged my ass out of bed for this. I really should work on waking up earlier though in the morning on my days off. I could stay in bed all day if I had nothing planned.”
“I wake up at 5:30 every morning,” Grant said with a small grin. He had a feeling that the smile wouldn’t be leaving his face for a while. Good thing he wasn’t planning on seeing Trip or FitzSimmons today. He would never hear the end of it.
“Here!” Skye Pushed the plain paper cup towards him. “I ask the Barista, Joel, if he knew what you normally ordered and he gave me this coffee for you, I hope you like it.” Grant accepted gratefully
“I figured it was my turn to buy you something since you have bought all of mine.”
“Thank you that was nice of you. I don’t mind buying your drinks though” A Gentleman should always pay.
“So is this what you dress like on your days off no more pencil skirts and dresses.” Grant switched topics.
Skye laughed a small little chuckle with a smirk on her face. “Well I know I'm rocking the outfits I normally wear, but they really aren't that comfortable for day-to-day life but a uniform is a uniform. I see you're not working your normal suit today either.
“Well like you said, a uniforms a uniform. But no, I don't prefer to wear them they're not exactly breathable.”
“Hmm, is that the reason why you act like the T-1000 when you’re wearing them, I prefer this look it's a good look for you.”
“T-1000?” Grant questioned. “ Yeah, you know from Terminator….the Robot …...nothing?!” Grant started at her blankly. “ Huh? We will work on that during another date.”
“Is this a Date then?”
“I woke up and got dressed when I didn’t have to so yes it is.”
“Good to know.”
“What did you have in mind for this date then? Grant asked. “Well we can start by finishing this coffee and maybe take a walk it's a nice day.” Skye swirled her coffee around with the straw mixing the whipped cream with the coffee.
“Sounds perfect.”
During the conversation, both Grant and Skype started sipping on their drinks while staring at each other after a few seconds of silence both averted their eyes only to look back at each other with a blush on their cheeks.
“Why do I feel so awkward about this? I’m acting like a small high school student right now trying to talk to a girl for the first time.” Grant shifted his weight around in his chair. Great I can withstand torture but I can barely figure out what to say to her right now.
“Oh good so it's not just me. I thought I was being a little bit ridiculously giddy. Actually these last two days I've been actually really thankful that no one is in the cubicle next to me because they will probably think I'm a madwoman. Seriously I can hack the most hardcore encryptions with a burrito in one hand, but I can barely figure out why my heart's racing so fast just sitting here with him.
“ You are lucky you work alone. Trip, he's one of my friends that I work with, he called down to our science division to have them check me out because he thought I was sick.”
Sky laughed so hard. “Why would they think you were sick? Are you not normally in a good mood at work?”
“I'm not exactly known for being an open book, especially during work. I take my job very seriously and tend to not joke around during work hours. Your body is highly distracting and it was noticeable.”
“So what do you do?” Skye asked.
“Well, I do security enforcement for a large company just a few blocks down.” Grant paused and stared at her intently. “Actually, no that's wrong.” What am I saying ? The cover is easy enough. I can’t tell her I’m a secret agent with a confirmed kill count higher than episodes of Supernatural.
Skye arched her eyebrow staring at him. “Do you not know what you do for a living?”
“No, I know what I do for a living, but I can't tell you.” He told her seriously,
“Oooohhh! Is it one of those things that if you tell me you have to kill me?” Skye said jokingly not realizing how on the mark she was.
“Not quite like that. Let's just say my job comes with a very high clearance level and I'm really not supposed to talk about it. I don’t know why though, there is something about you. I don't want to lie to you. If it's alright with you, I would like to keep it at, I just can't tell you”
Skye sat there staring back at him as he was staring at her. He was clearly waiting for a response
“ Ok.” Was her answer
“That’s it? I’m a bit surprised. I expected a little bit more of an inquisition if I’m honest.”
I understand. I haven't been in a serious relationship for a while but my last one ended because he lied about a series of things. Things that I don’t think I would have even cared about if he told me. I'm a curious person by nature and part of me really wants to know and yet I'm very happy that you're telling me the truth. I have secrets too, big ones actually, and I don't want to lie to you about them so if we are going to do this let's make sure it's mutual, and we understand what's happening.”
“So, there are things about your job that you cannot tell me, and I have things about my life that I’m not ready to tell you, correct.?”
Grant nodded. “Exactly!” His head bobbing to show his agreement. “I don't want to lie to you that's why I told you I was checking out your ass the whole time the first day we met. I could have said a million things way less awkward. I have to lie to a lot of people, it's part of my job and I don’t regret it. You are not my job, there is something about you, I want to tell you the truth even if the truth is that I can't tell you.”
“I think I can live with that.” A soft smile graced her face. “Actually it's kind of refreshing. The worst part about lies is the betrayal. When you find out you were lied to in the first place half the time I feel like the secret isn’t what makes people mad, its the fact that you trusted someone not to lie to you and they let you down. I guess if I know you're not telling me the truth it doesn't seem that bad.”
She might just be perfect. Grant thought. A weight lifted off his chest knowing that even though he couldn’t tell her, he was starting something without the lies. One day I might actually tell him who I am? He seems too good to be true. Skye thought wistfully. Actually, wait a second…
“ You know we have never actually introduced ourselves.”
“You know what your right, I’ll start. Hi, Nice to meet you my name is Grant Ward.”
“Pleasure is mine. My name is Skye.”
“Just Skye?”
“No, but my full name is one of those secrets you have to earn. Skye’s as real a name as any me though.”
“Well, it’s wonderful to meet you. Would you like to join me for breakfast?”
“Absolutely.”