Written for the prompt: Skyeward fluff prompt - Skye doesn't expect Ward to do something overtly tender, even though she knows he's very capable of caring, but sometimes she catches him being sweet to others. However she so doesn't see coming what he does for her. (Unromantic romance? Aka something that isn't romantic per se, but given the characters and circumstances it is.)

He's capable of it, she knows he is.

She's seen him make coffee for FitzSimmons when they're working late on a project, watched him stand guard over the duo of scientists long into the early hours though there's no discernible threat since the Bus is 30,000 feet in the air.

She's heard him reassure both Fitz and Simmons, together and individually, that they're the best at what they do and of course they can solve whatever problem is currently eluding them. Every time she hears it, she feels like she's intruding on a private moment, a tender moment, one that she has no right in being part of because it doesn't involve her.

She's watched him sit at the bar with May, long after most everybody has gone to bed, after the most difficult of missions. From her position on her bed, Skye knows they don't speak but it's not the talking that counts; it's the fact that May, the strongest woman she knows, needs someone to just be there and Ward cares enough to give up his precious sleeping hours to be that person on the rare occasion that Coulson cannot.

Speaking of Coulson, she's seen Ward do it with him, too. Their boss likes to keep himself to himself, though his door is always open to any member of the team who needs to talk. Sometimes, though, it's Coulson that needs the company, a shoulder not to cry on but someone to talk to, to bring him out of whatever shadows have crept over him.

More times than not, it's May or Skye who takes on the role of confidante for their boss but when they're not able to, Ward is always willing to step up to the plate. Whether it's to indulge in small talk about the Yankees or the Nicks or something else Skye finds equally inane, Ward is always there if Coulson needs someone to talk to and there's no one else around.

It's not just when they're on their own, either; she's seen Ward demonstrate how much he's come to care for the team he originally didn't want to be part of in the little gestures he makes that she's not even sure he knows the significance of.

It's more than him being their protector, though she's sure he'd lay down his life to save each and every one of them. His job doesn't require him to make sure the scientists eat or that there's fresh pastries over breakfast on the rare mornings when the Bus is on the ground but he makes the effort to do so, to make their lives just that little bit more comfortable, little sweet gestures that make her smile and realise there's more to her SO than the stoic mask he tends to favour wearing.

Sometimes, though, she thinks that though she's seen him show how he cares for the other members of the team, she's never experienced him doing it for her.

To him, Skye is just his rookie. A trainee agent who screwed up once and hasn't forgiven herself for it yet, so how can she expect everyone else to?

Everyone else seems to, though. From FitzSimmons to Coulson, and even to May, there doesn't seem to be any feelings of animosity and while she appreciates it and is grateful for it, Skye wonders if there'll ever be a point where Ward forgives her, too.

It's not until one night, close to morning, when she can't sleep and thoughts are whirling through her mind at a mile a minute that occurs to her that maybe he has, that maybe he's been showing it in ways that are so little and unremarkable that she's not noticed it before.

Like when he complimented her on a self-defence move she's been working hard to perfect for weeks.

Or when he cuts their training session early because he can see she's still reeling from the affects of Coulson's abduction and subsequent return and can't quite focus on what he's trying to teach her.

Or when he takes time out of a mission to show her the Wall of Valor at the Academy, or returns with her later when she asks for a moment alone but he somehow knows that being alone might be what she wants but it isn't what she needs.

They're not typically tender gestures, nor would they seem romantic in the eyes of anyone else but to Skye, they mean a lot.

It shows he cares about her, that he knows her - possibly better than she knows herself at times - and it shows, most of all, that's he's forgiven her and that's what's more important.

The morning after her revelation, she greets Ward with a blinding smile he matches with an almost shy grin of his own. They make breakfast together and she notices the way he gives her the toast that's slightly less burnt (the toaster on board burns everything to a degree, thanks to Fitz fiddling with it one day to try and get it to do the opposite) and the way he makes sure she's got plenty to eat and her coffee cup's full before he joins her and sits down at the counter.

Later on, when they're training, she tries to flip him but something goes wrong and their legs tangle together and she sees an embarrassing and potentially painful face!plant in her future in the seconds when she realises something has gone terribly wrong with the move she was trying to execute but before she can land, Ward twists them deftly, cradling her against his chest.

He hits the mats first - hard - and his breath leaves him in a pained 'oof' as he breaks her fall and keeps her from meeting the ground in what she's sure would have left her with more aches and bruises than normal.

For a few moments, she's still atop of him, staring into his slightly dazed eyes, wondering how she came to be lying on the (still quite firm but not so unforgiving) form of her SO rather than the mats.

"Thank you," she manages after a few moments, sounding more breathless than she'd like and for a minute she's not sure if her inability to catch a breath is caused by the unexpected landing or Ward's (very close) proximity. Probably the latter but she keeps that to herself.

Ward gives her something that passes for a grin, his lips quirking upwards and his arms tighten around her middle momentarily. "No problem."

And they lie there for a few seconds more, neither of them seeming able or willing to move until May announces over the intercom that it's fifteen minutes till landing and Skye scrambles to her feet, blushing to her roots as she holds out a hand to help him to his feet.

He doesn't hesitate in taking it, and if his hand lingers around hers for a little longer than necessary, Skye will never say but will think about later, a smile on her face, as she realises that the old adage about it being the little things in life that matter has never been more true...

End?

Not entirely sure if I hit the prompt (or if I just think I did because I've had a glass of wine or two to celebrate not being at work tomorrow...) so I hope it did, I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you will let me know! :)