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Okay, so the scientists were annoying, hyperactive, wet behind the ears, and he still couldn't figure out which was Fitz and which was Simmons... but they had good taste in beer. He reluctantly sat down next to them on the cargo ramp and rolled his eyes at their excitement waiting for the Slingshot to fire off into space. (Okay, so maybe deep down there was still a little boy who'd loved setting off fireworks that thought the rocket was pretty cool. But that wasn't Agent Grant Ward, so he clamped it down.) The Cavalry - May - sat down on the other side of the cooler by the girl and almost smiled. Agent Coulson was several yards behind them discussing repairs with the local crew.
To be honest, he still wasn't entirely sure how they'd managed to get out of that fiasco of a mission. Between a nastier-than-nuclear 0-8-4 and Coulson's psycho ex-girlfriend's troops, they'd been in a tight spot. His shoulder still throbbed from when he'd grabbed the column to avoid being sucked out of the plane - he's only about 60 percent sure it's not dislocated. But however they managed it, they all sat together now to watch a rocket lift off into the sky. He almost laughed as the boy scientist did a nasally countdown along with the speaker system along the airstrip, then used his hands to mimic the propulsory explosions. Whoever thought it was a good idea to put these kids in the field?!
As the rocket faded away, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw the selfie he'd taken with Skye displayed on the screen. (She'd insisted on taking several before finally noting with satisfaction that they looked good. He'd never understand how him looking annoyed while she landed a sloppy kiss on his cheek made them "look good" but he went with her judgment on it.) Excusing himself, he hopped down from the cargo ramp and walked out of hearing range as he answered the phone. "Hi."
"Hi yourself. Just checking in on you - free to talk?"
He glanced back over his shoulder briefly to check everyone's position then turned his back on them again. "Yeah, I'm good. Just cleaning up after a mission."
"Anything exciting you can tell me about?"
"Might have found a couple of good souvenirs." Translation - interesting tech that Garrett might be interested in, though nothing connected to the overall mission. "Oh, and had a little run-in with one of Coulson's ex-girlfriends."
Skye snorted on the other end of the line. "Oh my god, are you serious?" Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial tone. "Was she hot?"
"Oh, she was hot all right. Almost as hot as her soldiers' weapons when they were pointed right at us." He couldn't help the small grin that escaped as he listened to her laughing on the other end. "Sounds like you're doing better."
She hummed a bit. "Helps that I know my friends are okay now." Mike and Ace Peterson. "Thanks for pointing me in the right direction on that."
"Well, it wasn't just for your benefit," he reminded her.
"I know. I'm still grateful." She went quiet for a minute, and he could hear tapping in the background. He rolled his eyes a bit.
"Are you on the computer while talking to me?"
"What, can't I multitask?" she chirped.
"Seems a little disrespectful to your boyfriend."
"Yeah, well, I haven't told him I'm talking to you while chatting with him."
"Oh, nice!" Ward laughed a bit. He heard her echo him through the line. "Anything on your end I need to know about?"
"Nope. Our last lead was a bust - somebody trying to sell dummy alien tech on the black market. So Monroe and Perry are working on the paperwork for that. Garrett's got me monitoring the back channels while we wait for new orders."
"Okay. Looks like our plane will be down for at least a couple days for repairs, so there won't be much going on here for a while."
"I'll still call you tomorrow. Good for the cover."
"You just can't admit you can't get along without me."
"As if!" she protested. "I'll have you know we already have a new specialist joining our team soon. It'll be like you never left."
"You keep telling yourself that."
"Cocky bastard."
"Stubborn... girl." He closed his eyes in embarrassment as Skye shrieked with laughter on the other end. "Okay, not my best comeback."
"Oh, Ward, I miss you, too." He could hear the smile in her voice. "Take care of yourself."
"You, too." Ending the call, he took a moment to pull his cover character back together. Sure, Agent Ward had a girlfriend but that's compartmentalized, separate from his professional life. So as he turned around to go back to the plane, he pulled back on the expression of a stern, prickly, lives-the-job agent.
"So, Ward, who was that? Family? A girlfriend?"
But he hadn't counted on the scientists pouncing on him as soon as he was in range.
"That was just my girlfriend, Skye."
"Oh, how wonderful!" the girl crooned. "And very unexpected. I mean, you're very attractive - very symmetrical and tall and really, nothing to complain about - but I hadn't expected you to have a long-term relationship with anyone -"
"Well, what with being a super spy and all, does that really work when you're running around saving the world all the time?"
"But I just knew it had to be someone special because we could see your whole stance change when you were on the phone and-"
" - bet she's a hotshot agent just like you, huh, Ward, like the Black Widow or sumthin' -"
Ward felt like he was in a riptide of babble as the two crowded close to him, practically bouncing with excitement, and he started to wonder just what else they might have in that cooler of theirs.
" - have any pictures?"
And suddenly his phone was in the girl's hands and they were flipping through the photos Skye had loaded up on there. He'd thought she was being ridiculous, but now he was glad she'd been so insistent that any committed boyfriend these days would have pictures on his phone.
"Oh, she's lovely! And she looks much more cheerful than you, that's good, probably draws you out a bit. Fitz, isn't she lovely?"
"Yeah!" he agreed enthusiastically, nodding his head as he looked over the girl's shoulder. "She's got great b-" The girl turned to glare at him and he stuttered, trying to catch himself, "uh, ba- bu-, uh, boobs." He flushed as he finally gave up and just spit out what he was going to say. The girl sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes.
Ward just reached out for the phone and drily said, "Thanks."
"Oh, don't mind him, he's an idiot about girls, honestly."
"Hey!" her partner protested, "Just because I appreciate a woman's primary features -"
"Primary?"
"- doesn't mean I'm an idiot!"
Rubbing his forehead to stave off a headache, Ward left them to their bickering. Well... at least Skye's cover was firmly established now.