I do not own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or any of the lyrics used here.

"and the night will break your heart, only if you're lucky now."
lucky now - ryan adams

The neon sign outside the motel room window flashed brightly, the faint buzz almost enough to drive Fitz up a wall. He laid awake staring, counting each second the light remained on and each second it flashed off, unable to let his mind rest.

A pair of footsteps creaked outside his room followed by a soft rapping at his door.

Begrudgingly, he rose to his feet and crossed over to the door. It was nearly midnight now, and he knew it could only be one person.

"Skye?" He answered, surprised not to see Simmons standing in front of him.

"Hey," she began, "I'd apologize for waking you, but as I figured, you're as wide awake as I am."

"What is it?" He hadn't meant to sound so curt with her, but the lack of sleep was beginning to get to him.

She was silent for a moment, studying his face. "Can I come in? I can't sleep."

Well, that's obvious, he thought, stepping to the side and allowing her access to his room. She flashed him a smile, appreciative for the company, and sat down carefully on the edge of the bed, which was still made up.

"I can't stop thinking about this Ward thing," she confessed, her eyes locked on an unidentifiable spot on the wall.

"Don't you share a room with Simmons?"

"She's sleeping. I didn't want to wake her. I figured you'd still be up. I heard you shuffling around not too long ago."

They were both silent for a moment now, Fitz waiting expectantly as Skye searched for the words she wanted to say.

"I know you don't believe Ward is evil, Fitz," she spoke, fingers tracing the dated floral pattern on the bedspread. "But… he's not good, either."

"Skye-" he began to reply, but she cut him off.

"No, I know what you believe. And I want to believe that too. I just don't understand why you have so much faith in him."

You don't write off friends, he wanted to say. But that isn't what Skye wanted to hear right now; he'd never been skilled at reading people, but the distance between them told him enough. This wasn't the Skye he knew; this Skye had no spark, there was no charm or wit or snark. This Skye was just a girl.

He uncrossed his arms and - nervously - took the empty space next to her.

"I should go, let you sleep," she said after a lifetime. "There's no reason for both of us to hate ourselves in the morning." She stood and walked over to the doorframe, where she stood hesitantly, turning back to look at Fitz. "Sorry."

Fitz shook his head as if to tell her not to worry about it and watched her as she disappeared into the hall and carefully slid the door shut behind her.