A/N: So, I'm not going to bother you all with my sob story. To be honest, after all the things that happened since I last published I forgot all about this story, but I have to say I am really glad I found it again because I feel so, so bad for leaving you guys in the dark. I can't apologize enough.

Secondly, as always, thank you for your reviews, they mean a lot to anyone who writes a story, but right now, they have come to mean so much more because I don't think I would have been able to get the motivation to pick up and finish this story if I hadn't seen those reviews first. So, thank you.

And finally, here is the last chapter. I have no idea how you're going to feel about it. It's been a long time since I wrote the previous chapter (as you all know) and I have no idea what I had in mind for finishing this story back then – I definitely should have written it down. So, I hope you like it, but if nothing else, I hope you enjoy the final outcome.

So, *deep breath* without further ado…

(I do not own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Relief flooded her body as she took in the sight of Ward, her rescuer, holding her captor at gun point. She felt a small smile tugging on the corners of her mouth as she watched the scene unfolding before her, she didn't even care how much her face was screaming out in pain – it was worth it.

But then something changed. It was the tinniest, most insignificant detail but she noticed it all the same. The tension in Richard's shoulders dissipated, only slightly, but enough to set off the alarm bells in Skye's head. Why was he relaxing? Did he want to die?

But then she noticed that something about Ward was off too. The hatred in his eyes had transformed into something far more sinister, for the first time ever, Ward looked cruel. Despite the amount of times her partner had been possessed or controlled, not once had Skye ever seen him with a look of cruelty about him. Anger, or hatred, yes; but cruelty? Never.

At least not until now.

"Ward?" she breathed, barely more than a whisper. "What's going on?"

For the first time since he burst through the door, Ward looked in her direction. That look alone was enough to make her wish she had never said anything at all. This was not Ward, it couldn't be. With the panic in her chest starting to take over, she forced herself to really look at him -the sinister look in his eyes was now intensified by the arrogant smirk planted on his face; he hadn't even bothered to answer her question, instead he lowered his gun. Away from Richard.

Instantly, Skye had to resist her urge to throw up. This was wrong, everything was wrong. Ward, who wasn't Ward – who couldn't be Ward, had taken to looking at her as though he enjoyed watching her suffer; whilst Richard, on the other hand, who had always had that look about him, had begun another round of his infuriating (not to mention creepy) chuckling.

"What's the matter, dear?" Richard taunted. "Not that man you were expecting?"

Skye barely even heard him; she didn't care about him right now. She had to figure out what was wrong with Ward. Did they capture him too? Had they already brainwashed him? No. Ward was stronger than that. He would never be converted so easily, she'd lose her mind long before he would…

Then why was he acting this way?!

"Ward?" she tried again, with a little more force. "What's wrong with you?"

Ward let out a snort, "What makes you think there's anything wrong with me?"

"Because I know you, Ward. And this… this is not you."

As she spoke, she tried desperately to get him to meet her eyes, anything to snap him out of whatever was messing with his head right now. But he didn't. Instead, he turned back to Richard, the two of them sharing a knowing look – a look of two people enjoying a hilarious inside joke.

"You know what? You're right. There is something wrong with me."

Skye's heart began to sink further into her stomach. It didn't matter that his words were exactly the ones she had wanted to hear, the way he had said them was nothing but wrong. He was mocking her.

"And you know what else?" he continued, "I think I may have just figured out what that something is."

Without warning, he closed the gap between them, coming to stand before her, his hands now gripping both arms of the chair she was bound to. As much as she had wanted to seem fearless, Skye recoiled at the motion. She didn't want to be anywhere this imposter. This wasn't her partner. She refused to believe it.

"I think…" he whispered to her, "I think it's being married to you."

He spat the final word at her, as though it had poisoned him, and she was helpless to stop a small gasp from escaping her.

With that, he backed away from her, laughing slightly to himself. Skye could feel the tears beginning to make their way down her face; even though, in her heart, she knew that Ward, the real Ward, would never say these things to her, she had no control over the affect his words had on her emotions.

"Aw, there now," Ward began to soothe, his voice dripping with false sincerity. "There's no need to cry about it…" He reached out a hand to cup her cheek, roughly wiping her tears. The touch in itself was enough to make her gag.

Out of the corner of her eye, Skye noticed Richard smiling broadly, thoroughly enjoying himself, clearly amused at her form of suffering. She had been in the process of fathoming her deadliest glare when Ward yanked her face back in his direction, forcing her to meet his cold stare.

"Skye," he sighed, "I think we should break up."

His voice was tinged with laughter as he continued, "I just… I just don't think this is going to work out." With every word, he moved his face closer to hers; he was close enough now that she could feel his breath on her cheek.

"But don't worry," he went on, "I've got a plan that will make the separation so much easier for the both of us."

Still helplessly bound to the chair, Skye could do nothing as Ward began to reach behind him. Instantly, she knew exactly what he was planning to do. She had seen him perform that motion a thousand times before. He was reaching for his gun. The same gun, that not two minutes ago, was pointed at Richard.

Desperately, she began to pull at her restraints, even though every part of her knew there was no escaping what was about to happen. Her breathing had become louder as her tears began to fall harder. This was it. She could feel it. She was going to die, really die. And Ward was going to be one to kill her.

With no other options, Skye screwed her eyes shut, hoping that when she opened them again something would have changed. It didn't work, she could see the barrel appearing from behind his back, making its way closer to her. She tried again, only to get the same result. There was no way out.

She looked on in horror as Ward brought his gun up to her forehead, never hesitating for a second, his finger already poised over the trigger.

"You know what they say, Skye. "Till death do us part…"

And before she could say or do anything else, he pulled the trigger. And everything faded to black.

Skye gasped as she lurched up from the bed, a strangled cry escaping her; there were still tears running down her face. Ugh. She was so sick of having that dream. She hated it more than anything in the world, but unfortunately for her, it seemed to have nothing better to do than visit her every night.

After finally getting a handle back on her breathing, Skye began to wipe the moisture from her face with her hands. It was then that she felt his strong arms encompass her from behind, cradling her in his warmth.

"The Masterson dream again?" he whispered softly in her ear, his gentle voice serving to soothe her even further. Still not trusting herself to speak, she nodded, leaning back into his embrace.

Ward let out a sigh; she knew that he was just as sick of this nightmare as she was. He had told her once that he had a Masterson dream of his own – only his was a bit different. It was something that they talked about every now and then, but for now, he did nothing more than tighten his hold on her and lie back down, bringing her with him.

She could still feel the dream floating around somewhere in the back of her mind, but she pushed it aside and focused only on him: his body, his breathing, his smell… everything. He was her anchor.

For weeks now, they had been going through this routine. They would go to sleep, and then, without fail, the dream would come to haunt her before she would wake up as a complete mess. He was always there though; he would bring her back from the edge of terror and make her feel like herself again, like she was still in control.

As much as she would have loved to rid of herself of her constant nightmare, Skye would never be able to bring herself to regret taking on the Masterson case. Because she had been right, going in there had been the right thing to do. Together, she and the rest of the team had rescued the six couples that had been reported missing, as well as five others. Even better, as far as she knew, most of them were well on the way to a full recovery. The majority of them had already managed to get their memories back. Their real memories, not the Masterson ones.

The Masterson Leaders had all ended up in some S.H.I.E.L.D. prison somewhere, and were now paying heavily for their crimes. In her own opinion, Skye thought they had gotten off easy, but as long as they weren't out in the world hurting people and destroying lives, she could live with that.

And naturally, as evidenced by the man she now shared a bed with, the Masterson case had given her the best thing that had ever happened to her. Grant Ward. Of course, they had been headed this way since the beginning, not to mention that it was still early in their "courtship", but neither of them had any insecurities left. She loved him, and he certainly had no problem saying "I love you" to her every other day. There was no questioning that they were both in it for the long haul, and there was certainly no stopping them. Not from the moment that Ward busted into that cell to save her.

"What are you thinking about?" he whispered to her softly, his voice still somewhat cloudy with sleep.

"Us" she whispered back, unable to keep the smile from her voice.

"Oh really?" He sent back, a playfulness creeping into his tone. "And what exactly does that mean?"

Fully grinning, she turned back to face him, "Well, I was thinking about how much I love you…"

"Hmm… I'm listening." His eyes may have still been closed but she could see him struggling to contain a smile of his own.

She continued, her nightmare from earlier all but forgotten, "…and I was thinking about how much you love me…"

"Go on…"

"…and how we're both awake right now…"

At that, he opened one eye to look at her. "Really? Again?" His tone was one of mild annoyance, but she knew better.

"Well, if you're not up for it…" Still smiling, she turned away from him once more only to have him pull her back towards him as he simultaneously shifted out of the way whilst pressing her back into the bed, his body now covering hers.

"I never said that…" he smirked before bending to kiss her, playful laughs erupting from both of them at the joining of their lips.

As she began to lose herself in his arms once more, Skye couldn't help a small fluttering in her chest as a thought occurred to her: who knew, if things kept going like this, then maybe one day they could find themselves at a white wedding of their very own...