Here we are with the 2nd prompt fic! Thank You to all my lovely readers for their reviews on "Undercover Lovers" yesterday - Wolfca, byLunaA, firerosedreamer67 and Ace - Presenting to you... Skye, Coulson and Training! ^_^
It was the beeping of her alarm clock that Skye woke up to one morning; she rolled over on her bed and snapped it shut before waking up almost instantly. Today was the day when she finally would resume her training no thanks to an unexpected delay which occurred almost two weeks ago, she'd been slightly injured during the last mission. As she got changed into her leggings and tank top, tying her hair up into a ponytail, Skye couldn't help but remember that accident; the mission itself hadn't been anything dangerous at all and yet somehow to her surprise along with the rest of the team's, her ankle ended up getting caught stuck in a crevice for several prolonged minutes and even though there was a risk of them being caught by the enemy forces, Coulson had come back to her as soon as he'd sent the others back to the Bus without wasting another moment and helped free her leg. After that, Simmons had placed her on bed-rest with a bandage plaster and completely cut Skye off from all training with strict orders for physiotherapy and other walking exercises, reminding her friend all along that it was lucky she didn't have a fractured bone or worse.
Now here she was, fully rested and recovered, ready to get back to the training arena at the Playground base which was quite extensive in its equipment and gym facilities. Skye did notice the unusual silence around her as she walked through the corridors, wondering where everyone else was so early in the morning... was it possible that they were all still asleep? When she made it to her destination without meeting anyone - Simmons, Trip, Fitz, May... Coulson, she decided that perhaps it was okay if she began working out before they arrived. Since it was her first day back, Skye figured it was best to take things easy on her legs and went straight to the back corner where the weights were and got started with the first round of exercise.
"Might as well enjoy some music." Skye muttered to herself as she lay down on the bench and pulled out her ipod, turning on some light tunes and settled into the rhythm of her lifts.
For several minutes, Skye managed to get some muscles flexed in her arms as she found a slow routine to her workout and didn't feel any pressure on her ankle at all. She was busy caught up in the music that when the doors opened once more, she had no idea that she wasn't alone anymore.
"Skye?" Coulson's voice rung out across as he stepped inside, scanning the room for her, knowing that since she was already awake, this was the first place he looked to find her. "Are you here?" He called out again as he hoped to find her soon.
As soon as he spotted where she was at the far end, he couldn't help but smile a little when he saw that Skye had begun her morning exercise; remembering how she'd felt when Simmons had kept her on bed-rest for these last two weeks, Coulson did feel glad to see her up on her two feet again. And considering the promise to Skye, he immediately made his way over to where she was and watched her silently; she might not have yet sensed his presence because he approached her from behind and stood a few feet away from the benches. His timing couldn't have been more impeccable for as soon as Coulson reached there, Skye was finishing up her workout and started to leave the weights back on the bar.
The moment she lifted her arms to place the weights where it belonged, Skye felt another pair of hands on the handle, close enough to her own to feel the warm touch of his skin and glanced up to see Coulson standing above her, upside down from her angle but still looking surprisingly different without the suit and tie combination; for the first time in a while Skye noticed that he was dressed in a black S.H.I.E.L.D. t-shirt with matching track pants looking very casual to her. By now, she was very much aware of the fact that they'd both not let go of the weights and that their hands were still touching.
"A.C. Good morning!" Skye finally said as she broke the silence and her hold from the cool metal to pull out her headphones and sat upright.
"Good morning, Skye. I see you already got a headstart to your training today." Coulson stated as he walked around to sit on the bench across from her. "How are you feeling now?" He asked.
"Great! I haven't felt this good in ages... my leg is healed completely and I just thought it was time to get back to the old routine." She replied with a smile forming on her lips, it was barely past 7 am and yet, Skye felt as if she could go on all day; there was all this energy built up inside of her and for some reason, she just seemed very happy.
"That's good to hear. I was actually on my way to see if you were still in bed when I noticed the doors open here." He gave her a small smile but suddenly stopped himself with a pause.
Clearly there was something on his mind, Skye knew Coulson well enough to know that much but waited to see what he had to say. Sitting there across from him, she couldn't help but continue to gaze at Coulson's physique since she hadn't really noticed it before; Skye observed the taut muscles which weren't heavy or beefy at all but well-formed and her eyes were wandering over his chest when she realized he was speaking to her again.
"I know you were planning on getting back into training with May and Trip today but there was something that came up last night which needed our attention and so the team left with Koenig while you were asleep. They should be back by day after tomorrow at the latest..." Coulson knew it was only 48 hours but wondered what Skye would have to say about this delay.
"Okay... so everyone is gone for the next two days... but why did we stay back?" It was a little curious to know that they were the only two people staying at the base just then. Whatever had 'come up' sounded pretty important to Skye if it meant that Billy had to leave base as well.
"Someone had to hold the fort with Koenig off to report our latest discoveries back to HQ. And since Simmons had ordered you off any new missions, I didn't want to leave you all alone here." He answered her before continuing, "I know you were looking forward to resuming your sessions again but without your S.O and Agent Triplett around to assist..." Before Coulson could finish his sentence however, Skye interrupted him.
"I don't mind the delay from having to jump back into that rigorous schedule again; it is a tough act to follow Agent May's orders. That's why I came here early, hoping to find my pace before they arrived." Skye said to him and then remembered something from an earlier conversation with Coulson a few days ago, "And besides, this would be the perfect time to make good on your promise now wouldn't it?" She finished with a grin.
"That is true... I suppose today is as good as any other day." Coulson didn't let on that he had actually been looking forward to this but instead stood up and offered his hand to Skye, not wanting to waste another second, "Shall we?"
Unable to stop herself from laughing just then, Skye simply nodded her head in reply and stood up to take his hand and walked with him towards their next location. Together they made their way outside the training arena and all the way past the main rooms, down to the basement where a private shooting range had been set up. This was the promise Skye had asked of Coulson; to help her begin a new part of her training... teaching her how to handle guns. Knowing that he was probably going to stick to the basics, Skye waited patiently as Coulson talked about what he had in mind for this morning's first session. The guns were all lined up against the wall on a rack with the proper ammunition and gear located on the shelves, which would be required once they got down to the shooting part of her training. Coulson's idea was to start Skye off with a simple handgun for a week at least before slowly moving on to other guns; this was going to be the one aspect which he would be working with her on. After explaining the basics of what they were to do, he selected a .9 milimeter basic sleek black handgun with a box of ammo and a pair of headphones for her with one for himself before leading her to the range itself.
"It looks like someone already set up the target sheets for us to practice on." Skye pointed out when she saw the line of silhouettes arranged at a far off distance from where she and Coulson stood, thinking to herself if she would actually be able to do this.
"Koenig has a habit of making sure everything is ready for us before we need it." Coulson pointed out, reminding her that this base was always going to be under his watchful eye even when they all weren't around.
"I don't know if I'm ready for this... again." She was determined to start this though and didn't want to back out now that she was here, "But I'll still give it a shot. Pun intended." She added as an afterthought.
"That's completely normal Skye, this is something new for you and if it isn't what you want to go ahead with then I'll respect your choice." Even though he knew that Skye would be able to protect herself better with this training, Coulson chose to hear her decision.
"I've decided that I want to do this. I already have the perfect teacher." Skye didn't need a second's thought before she answered him. The fear would disappear once she saw this through; it was time to take the jump.
"Okay then. First things first, before we get started with the real shooting, we should take a dry run at it. No bullets and no targets yet. Once you have the gun in your hand, get used to the feeling of that metal on your palm and remember the most important rule - the key is to know when not to shoot. We'll deal with that later though alright?" Taking the gun and checking to see if the safety was still on, Coulson turned it over to Skye.
As soon as she felt the butt of the gun in her hand, Skye held onto it without doing anything at first but slowly she turned it around and allowed herself to get used to the feeling just like Coulson taught her, she may have used a gun before but this time, she was taking it to another level; Skye wanted to be a better shooter and better able to defend herself and anyone else she needed to protect. Things were different now and it was her idea to go back to the very basics and work her way through all the guns she could learn to use.
"What's the next step?" She asked Coulson once she had found a comfortable sense in holding the weapon; after the mission in taking down Garrett, Skye had more or less given up using guns on a regular basis but now the confidence was returning.
"Well you know the basics of how to load and unload the gun, so we're moving past all the safety measures to get you comfortable with using this again." Coulson walked up to where she stood, facing the shooting targets and stopped right behind her back. "You'll need to find your stance while checking your aim and when you're ready, we'll start with blanks first."
"No. We go directly to bullets. I've been out of touch for a very long time... I don't need to re-learn everything... just... I need to be sure I can shoot my enemy when I do have to." Skye was firm on the matter and it echoed in her tone; she recalled May's advice to empty her mind of all other thoughts and simply focus on the target.
"Before you do that, you might want to keep the gun at a steady level." He had been observing her hold once she'd raised it up to her shoulders; the gun was loaded now and ready to be used.
Skye didn't have more than a second to realize what was happening when she felt the warmth of Coulson's body against her back when he closed the few inches of distance between them and took her right arm in his, adjusting her position slightly; his hand rested on her elbow before moving to brush against her wrist and settle at the back of her hand. With his free left, Coulson had slipped it around her waist near her hip and as his fingers connected with her skin, Skye nearly gasped out loud. Instead, she unknowingly held her breath and closed her eyes for a moment; Coulson may not have seen her reaction since he was still behind her, but Skye definitely felt her heartbeats increasing as she automatically moved her finger to the trigger and fired her first shot.
"Again." Coulson's voice was a soft whisper but Skye heard it clearly as she raised the gun once more and this time, emptied the bullets into the target sheet ahead of her.
When it was over, Skye let go of her weapon and laid it down on the table; there was all this energy flowing through her now and she didn't have to say anything. Pushing the button on the wall, she watched as the target came closer to her and knew Coulson was waiting as well; once it was in their line of sight, she saw that four of her shots had hit the center, one had hit the head and the sixth, the shoulder. Skye knew then that she had never lost her ability to shoot, just the confidence to be able to pull the trigger.
"5 out of 6 right on target, not bad!" She exclaimed as she turned to face Coulson and before her mind had even processed the thought, Skye had already flung her arms around his neck in a spur-of-the-moment hug.
It felt completely normal to be hugging Coulson; Skye knew his hands rested on her lower back and she held onto him, going as far as to rest her head on his shoulder. For several long minutes, the two of them simply stayed in the same position, until she pulled back as if realizing what she had done.
"Umm... thanks A.C." Skye said as she glanced around the room trying not to let her blush show; the rush of adrenaline might have calmed down when she hugged Coulson but there was still part of her, the thumping heart which told her that maybe she needed something else.
"You're welcome Skye, I'm just glad I can help." Coulson didn't hide his smile from her but also thought to himself where that hug had come from and why it felt so... right.
"We should probably head upstairs; I... I've left my bag in the gym... and... there's still a little time to finish up training for the day."
Hearing Skye's comment that she wasn't done with training surprised Coulson; this was her first day back after recovering from the injury and she didn't have to go on like this one after the other. Something was on her mind and he was determined to find out what.
"Do you have something else in mind?" He finally asked, having waited until they did return to the gym; surrounded by all these exercise equipment, Coulson hoped Skye wasn't going to start running on the treadmill just then.
"Maybe..." Giving him a vague answer, Skye didn't have to search very far before she came upon what she was looking for. Since Coulson had already helped her at the shooting range, she hoped he wouldn't mind training her a bit more.
"Skye... you do realize that there's plenty of time for you to continue training... tomorrow. We don't have any missions scheduled... take a breath and we'll pick up from where we left off. Same time, same place?"
"I do know that, but I also know that I'm out of practice and need to be prepared for whenever our next mission comes around. And besides, its not like I have something exhausting planned; just one last little training exercise." Saying so, Skye picked up two wooden poles, tossing one over to Coulson who caught it in his right hand.
"Really? Your last training exercise is sparring?" For once, Coulson wasn't surprised to see that this is what she had in mind; instead he was looking forward to the opportunity this presented.
"I've been told that my offense techniques need more focus than my defense moves." Skye offered as explanation, "Agent May is very good at this."
"Yes she is; but let's see how good you are. Shall we?" Coulson said to her as he took a fighting stance, crossing the weapons together for a second before separating and beginning the training. "First one to disarm?" He asked her.
"First one to get pinned down." She suggested, knowing it was a risky move; Skye wasn't very good at this yet but did remember coming close to beating Trip a few weeks ago.
Over the next several minutes, Skye tackled Coulson with her pole and he responded with equal intensity; the sign of an experienced agent. As the fight went on, it became less clear that they were fighting because their movements soon found a pattern that was almost in a perfect sync with each other. To anyone else who would have been there, it would as seemed as if they were watching a dance between the two of them, one that was getting heated.
"So A.C. How good do you think I am?" Every attack from Skye was met with a tackle or a parry from Coulson who deflected each thrust with very little difficulty.
"I'd say you're good and can definitely get better with some more practice." He continued to retaliate back with several quick, fast-paced moves which Skye seemed to avoid in a second of luck and blocking it with her weapon.
The two of them did not stay in one place for long but rather moved back and forth, as if they were practicing ballet. At one point, Coulson managed to take Skye by surprise with a clever trick he had learned from his early days of training at the S.H.I.E.L.D. academy; even though he hadn't knocked the sword away from her, Coulson grabbed Skye by the hand and spun her around to him, her back against his chest, trying to disarm her.
That one moment of closeness between them nearly caught Skye off-guard as she felt Coulson's heart beating against her back and sensed the heat between their arms that were both wrapped around each other. As soon as her head cleared, a second later, she freed herself and in a quick move she had her stick pointed at Coulson, nearly touching his chest. It was over. Skye had won the fight, or so she thought. As soon as she turned her back to him, he caught her wrist and twisting it gently but with a strong force, made the wooden pole fall out of her hand along with herself as he pinned her to the ground.
Skye and Coulson on the floor atop the mattress staring at each other, breathing heavily as they tried to catch their breath. She was pinned under him and this time couldn't stop herself from turning bright red as she tried to slow her breathing, but was unable to move her gaze from Coulson's eyes that seemed to be trailing down from her eyes to her face, down to her lips.
"First one to get pinned down wasn't it?" He breathed, repeating her words and reached a hand out to brush back a strand of hair covering her eye.
"Yeah..." She felt Coulson's warm musky breath on her cheeks, not remembering that she was currently pinned down after losing the fight.
Neither of them was willing to move in that moment but both were unsure of what was going on in each other's mind. Coulson had felt the spark between him and Skye when they'd both touched the metal bar of the weights together earlier, but obviously it was nothing more than just static. And yet, he couldn't ignore the fact that ever since going back to rescue her all those days ago, Coulson started paying more attention to Skye and had found himself thinking about her more than he ever had. It was no secret that he always felt a little mystified by her, she was not just a team member to him anymore... after everything they'd been through in the last year, Coulson knew without a doubt that Skye truly was the one person he could trust with his own life. They were partners... but what if there was more to it then that? Even when he was showing her how to handle the gun... it was unlike anything he'd felt in that split second when their hands connected. That sense of familiarity and comfort could be felt as he held her in his arms, relishing in this moment, not thinking of a single thing but the woman with him.
Skye also was having similar thoughts; even though the hug earlier had been spontaneous and sudden, she forgot all about training and everything else when Coulson had reached out to guide her. He'd always stayed by her side through whatever came their way, no matter the circumstances. She knew that the cause of her injury was because during the last mission, when they had encountered enemy forces, instead of shooting them, Skye had frozen on the spot. If it hadn't been for the yells of her team members bringing her back to reality and forcing her to run as they all retreated, who knows what might have happened? And when she'd stumbled, trapping her leg amidst the debris, in that moment of pause, Skye had vowed to herself never to feel that helpless again. Coulson had left everyone to go ahead to the Bus but chose to come back to her. He always came, for as long as she was in danger, he'd keep her safe. It worked both ways; she would always go back for him whenever they found themselves in any kind of situation. They understood each other, they trusted one another, he would do anything for her and she would do anything for him. If this wasn't love then there was nothing else it could be.
"Skye..." Coulson started to say, but as soon as he said her name, Skye didn't give him a chance to continue.
It was a moment of impulse. A split second of adrenaline. Maybe a bit of both. Or something else entirely... a need that Skye felt and wanted. She arched her back up and wrapping both arms around his neck, placed a kiss on his lips and closed her eyes, wishing that time would freeze then and there. What she hadn't thought of was Coulson breaking away almost instantly and sitting up, taking her with him; the hands on her waist didn't move as he continued to hold her but Skye didn't know what had just happened.
"I... I didn't... I shouldn't have done that." She blurted out, not waiting to hear what he had to say. Skye felt an ache growing in her heart, maybe she'd been wrong?
"No. I... I'm sorry about that Skye. I just... didn't want to rush into anything... are you sure you want this?" Coulson knew that his reaction might have confused Skye and even though her kiss had caught him off-guard, he didn't want her to think it was a mistake. For either one.
"I do. And... do you want this?" Skye found herself staring into those bright blue eyes of his and saw her fear vanishing when she truly noticed the way he was watching her.
"I do." Without another word, Coulson bent down to brush his lips against Skye's as he kissed her back.
There was nothing more in this world he could have ever asked for; the training had definitely paid off indeed. In that moment, it was just the two of them. Skye and Coulson. Coulson and Skye. Together.
So... reviews? xD