Something Worth Saving

Chapter 19

Skye stood in the doorway of the kitchen a few days later as Ward made himself lunch. "That smells amazing."

Ward turned when he heard her voice. "Just making a sandwich. Did you want something?"

"You wouldn't happen to have more of those would you?" she grinned, the most amiable she'd been with him since before S.H.I.E.L.D. fell.

Ward grinned, used to making food for his old rookie. "Sure."

Skye walked towards him and hopped up on the counter, watching as he made the mozzarella, pesto, chicken, grilled cheese sandwich. After he had finished cooking it, he handed the plate to her. "Here."

Skye grinned like Christmas had come early. She took a bite and sighed. "Your grilled cheeses are better than Coulson's."

Ward chuckled as he stood, leaning, on the opposite side of the counter. "That might be one of the nicest things you've said to me."

Skye rested a hand over her heart. "That's not true!"

Ward narrowed his eyes as he thought back. "Okay, maybe...third nicest thing."

"See?" Skye laughed, shocked at how easily she and Ward had slipped into their old routine.

Ward held his hands in surrender as he walked to the sink to put his plate in it. "Alright, fine, you proved me wrong."

Skye smirked at her small victory and moved to put her dishes in the sink as well. "It's my job."

"I don't technically think it's in your job description..." Ward said as he raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest.

Skye sighed wistfully. "A girl can dream."

Ward chuckled and started to move out of the kitchen and towards the bunks. "I'm gonna go find Fitz."

"You two seem to have fallen back into your old ways pretty quickly," Skye remarked with a tiny smile.

Ward stopped and turned to face her again. "Yeah. Apparently he didn't want anything to be awkward for longer than it needed to be, so..."

Skye nodded as she started to walk with him towards the bunks. "I'm surprised. I would've thought he'd be the last person to try and do that."

"I thought the last person would either be you or Fitz," Ward nodded in agreement. "People can surprise you, I guess."

Skye stopped at her bunk and smiled softly. "Yeah, I guess they can. Thank you for lunch, Ward."

Ward nodded and mock-saluted as he continued on his way to Fitz's bunk. They had a poker game to finish.

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"How's your hand?" Lincoln asked as he sat down next to Katrina in the lounge.

She looked at her hand and flexed it. "Almost healed." Lincoln handed her one of the beers in his hand and she accepted it with a half smile. "Thanks."

"A few days ago, you said something about how you were supposed to protect other people and how no one needed to help you," Lincoln started. "What did you mean by that?"

"Exactly that," she took a sip of her beer. "I learned to take care of myself a long time ago. I don't need others to do that for me."

"What about your parents?" Lincoln asked in confusion.

"My mom left when I was ten and my dad died when I was eighteen. The only good thing about my mom leaving was that she had left behind her necklace. The one with the terrigen crystal. It's what transformed me," she explained. "It's what's inside the obelisk. She was an Inhuman too, and she used to tell me all about them when I was little," Katrina told the story with a small smile. "I was so excited for the day of my transformation. Then she left and I decided that I didn't want anything to do with the Inhumans. I didn't even know she left the crystal behind until my dad died. I was cleaning out the house and it was lying on the floor under the bed. When I picked it up, I transformed just like you, Skye, and Trip did."

"I'm sorry about your parents," Lincoln said sincerely. "I didn't know."

"How would you?" she chuckled. "I don't really talk about it much."

"I noticed you don't like to talk about anything very much," Lincoln teased with a small smile.

"That's not true, I talk," she defended.

"Small talk, sure," he conceded, "but this is the first time you've actually told me about yourself."

She shrugged. "Not much to tell. Mom left when I was ten, dad died the year I left for college, I became an Inhuman, I finished college, found out that Hydra was tracking me. That's about it."

Lincoln shrugged. "That's alright. We're a team now, though, we share stuff with each other."

"That's not really my thing," Katrina scrunched up her nose.

"I noticed," he teased again, "but you'll figure it out. I know you will."

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