A/N: Thank you for the people who read, favor and follow this fic. Especially I want to thank the people who take the time and effort to write a few words. I really appreciate it. Let me assure you that it makes all the difference in the world.

A/N2: Still trying to recover from the last episode. Still feeling like I got punched in the face by May. Doing what I can to survive by writing a new chapter. Hope you'll like it.

Please tell me what you think.

And then there was the third time...

Seventeen hours. Seventeen long hours with no sign from the team. She sits in front of Coulson's desk watching him coldly. He taps on the desk with his fingers, probably as anxious as she is. Well… actually... there's no way he's as anxious as she is because she feels like reaching over the desk and strangle him with her bare hands for allowing this to happen in the first place. If Coulson would have realized what she's planning on doing to him if Ward doesn't show up soon... then he'll be as anxious as she is.

"It's still early" he says, sensing more than seeing her violent anger "it's a complicated assignment, we knew there might be delays." She only raises an eyebrow at him skeptically, making him lean back in his chair with a sigh "he'll be fine, May" he tells her reassuringly. She watches him pointedly, imagining him exploding into thousand pieces. Yeah, he's fine… well, he'd better be!

It was supposed to be just another stop at the Hub. But almost as usual, it ended with another member of their team in a compromised position. She swears, she starts to suspect that Coulson is nothing but a big softy who can't say no for the life of him. They arrived at the Hub a few days ago, dropping off a rogue agent they happened to find in the outskirts of Nairobi selling S.H.I.E.L.D modified weapon to suspicious men in stolen SUVs. They captured him, and gave him a courtesy ride to headquarters for a little less courteous interrogation. It was supposed to be a quick little stop, just handing him over, trying to explain as much as they can his numerous injuries. Well, what can she say? The stupid guy thought he'll out runt them and she had to throw him off a building just to make sure her opinion on the matter was clear... A day of refueling, another few hours to renew their supply, only when they were just about to leave agent Hand showed up, all smiles – well, at least she thinks she was smiling, it's really hard to know with this one. Anyway, the woman just stepped in, barricaded Coulson in his office for half an hour and asked for a volunteer for a special extraction operation. She volunteered first. Of course she did. She'd done thousands of these ops in the past, and the agent in charge of the operation had a familiar name, so she thought she could trust him. Unfortunately, there was an issue with the new software they downloaded to upgrade the plane mainframe, and Fitz needed her help to make some adjustments to the special features they'd introduced, so she stayed, and Ward was more than eager to take her place on the team. He can be such a pain in the neck like that sometimes…

He took off two days ago. According to the initial plan the extraction team was supposed to be back in the Hub last night. They are now precisely seventeen hours and twenty two minutes late, with not even a single communication to indicate that they're still alive. Seventeen hours and twenty… three minutes since the recovery team was waiting in the rendezvous point in vain. Now they're already deep into the contingency plan, and of the two alternative extraction times, one had already passed, and the other is due in one hour... she frowns with frustration, Coulson is right, it was a complicated op, and she knows firsthand that it still probably doesn't mean anything. He must be fine; she's probably overreacting. Probably the entire team will be there in the next location as planned, and there's nothing to worry about. Yes, he is absolutely, categorically fine. He'll be here soon, all smiling and smug like he always is after a successful operation. And he should, she tells herself, he should absolutely be satisfied with himself as much as he can, because when he finally comes back all alive and well, and unharmed she is going to fucking kill him!

Two hours later he is back. Shows up at the cargo door, all dusty and tired and looks like something the cat dragged in. The rest are all over him immediately, hugging and laughing and clapping his back. And he does look smug, trying to hide how exhausted he is… She stands at the bridge, looking down at the rest of them, trying to collect herself when a great wave of relief almost knocks her off her feet. It takes her a few long minutes until she can order her legs to move and to walk down the stairs to greet him with the others. Coulson is already there, shaking his hand and asking a few questions about the operation and the team's status.

"It was… complicated" he sighs, dropping his backpack on the floor, and wiping his forehead. She purses her lips when she sees a long cut covered with clotted blood along the side of his neck "I'm still expected at the debriefing" he says, cringing when Simmons is already at him, moving his shirt gently and trying to assess the damage "I asked them to make a stop here just for a second…" he says quietly "I wanted to…" he looks at her questioningly for a fraction of a second and she can definitely see how tired he is. She nods once, her face closed off, but her eyes shine softly. Yes, she knows why he came, and she's grateful.

"You can't go now" Simmons cries "you're hurt. I need to examine you first."

"I'm fine" he pushes away from her gently, fixing his filthy shirt "I'm fine" he reassures them again, quietly, looking at her for a second too long when he says it.

"Well" Coulson says "better finish with this as soon as possible. You should go to the debriefing and answer their questions. You were so late; I can't see how we'll be able to get out of here today anyway. We'll leave tomorrow morning. It's good, this way you'll have some time to rest and recuperate. You can report to the Hub med bay and spend the night on the premises. Wheels off 08:00 tomorrow."

"Yes, sir" Ward leans over to pick up his backpack and do as he's told "thank you, sir".

"I'll give you a ride" she declares, making a swift move to pick up the backpack before he can reach it. He looks at her questioningly, a faint smile on his lips, she frowns when they all look at her "just look at you, if I'll let you drive when you're so exhausted like that you'll smash up the van and we'll be stuck here for days."

He is released to his assigned room almost three hours later. The debriefing took hours; he nearly fell asleep on his feet. For crying out loud, he thinks to himself as he's making his way out of the debriefing room, the god damn operation was a success, and it still took ages. Just imagine how long it would take if we'd failed. There's no sign of her anywhere. He looks at the waiting room, in the small empty lounge… nothing. He sighs with frustration, he was really hoping she'd stay. When she dropped him off at the operation center she said she might stick around for a while, and see how it goes. He glances at his watch; it's almost one in the morning. He wonders if he should call her… She'd probably back in the plane already, no reason to wake her up for… well, basically nothing… They have an early lift off tomorrow, and she'll start her day early, like always, to make sure everything's ready. He tries to block the bitter taste of disappointment when he realizes the next time they'll have some alone time together might be in… well, weeks…

He locates room number 715 that was assigned to him at the end of the corridor. He slides his badge on the key pad and opens the door. He curses quietly when his hand meets nothing but wall, roaming in the dark when he can't find the light switch.

"Ward?" her sleepy voice comes from inside the room, almost making him jump. He can hear the sound of the sheets moving and then the bedside lamp is switched on and he sees her sitting in the bed, rubbing her face tiredly, squinting and the bright light. He only smiles, a wave of happiness washes over him when he realizes she'd waited. "You look awful" she grumbles, looking at his disheveled appearance "you should get in the shower…" He just closes the door behind him, makes three long strides until he reaches the bed "what are you…?" her question is swallowed by his hungry kiss as he crashes his mouth on hers.

Her initial surprise is quickly transformed into a sweet surrender. She's kissing him back, her hands go to his hair, as she's letting herself drown in the knowledge that he's there, alive, and unharmed. "Okay agent" she smiles, when he lets her breathe again "settle down, now." He looks at her with a glint in his eyes and she can't help the broad smile that is spread on her blushing face "you really are extremely filthy" she informs him jokingly, messing his hair lovingly "go to the shower now, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere…"

By the time he gets out of the shower it's almost half past one. It's late, and the hot water makes the exhaustion catch up with him at last. He walks slowly towards the bed, still naked, drying himself up with the towel and sits down beside her on the bed.

She moves over, making some room for him, and he smiles softly at her silent gesture, sending his hand to stroke her hair slowly.

"Lie down" she says quietly, after a few minutes that he just keeps sitting there, watching her with a faint smile on his lips. He leans in to kiss her, and she lets him, for a second, before she cuts the kiss short, gently. "You're tired" she explains when she sees the pout forms on his face "you should lie down and go to sleep."

"It's been weeks since we…"

"Lie down, Ward" she whispers, sending her arm to turn off the light. He moves slowly, his muscles are sore and heavy, and lies beside her, feeling how she rearranges herself around him, fitting herself against his shoulder. He's asleep even before his head hits the pillow.

She wakes up to a weird and unexpected sensation. Her operative instincts on high alert as she's raising her head sharply, trying to force her still half asleep body to process what's going on…. Oh… oh… oh wow… her breath hitches with surprise and she tries to stifle a loud moan of pleasure, as she's realizing what he's doing. She props herself on her elbows, and throws her head back with silent surrender "oh god, ward" she groans. He grins at her smugly from his position at the foot of the bed "oh… yes… yes…" She arches her back, her legs stiffen around him, and he puts his hand on her belly, letting the wave of bliss wash over her. When she recovers, she looks back at him, a dazed look in her eyes, and he takes it as a good sign as he moves up to kiss her.

"Good morning" he whispers urgently, before he moves his lips from her mouth to her neck.

"Yes it is" she smiles, reflexively moving towards him, allowing him a better access to the sensitive skin behind her ear "are you all rested and… god, yes… down there" she murmurs "all rested and recuperated?" she asks a little breathless when he continues with his ministrations.

"Good as new" he stops and looks at her, smiling broadly.

"Good boy" she says, kissing him with a smile.

"A boy?" he says, somewhat insulted.

"A very good boy" she promises earnestly, kissing him again with everything she's got.

Before he knows what hit him she'd already flipped them over. He finds himself on his back, with his wrists secured forcefully against the head of the bed "keep them there" she warns, looking at him pointedly. One look at her determined expression indicates to him that he should comply. She has him quivering violently and begging for mercy in no more than ten minutes. She's mesmerizing, tantalizing, demanding of him everything he can give. He can feel how with every touch, every kiss, his usually high fences start to break. He looks into her eyes when she moves above him. By the way she looks at him, responding to his trembling body in ways he could never even imagine, he thinks it's the same for her.

The sound of the telephone pulls them out of it, eventually. The sharp, piercing ring cuts into their consciousness violently, making her move away from him quickly, like she was burned. She jumps off the bed and runs into the bathroom, and he takes a few calming breaths, before he is able to answer.

"Yes sir" he sighs "I'm sorry… the debriefing, it was very long last night..." He looks at her worriedly when she steps out of the shower, somewhat more collected and moves across the room to pick up her clothes "no sir, I have no idea… I thought she went back to the plane after she dropped me off…" she purses her lips with anger as he tries his best not to lie through his teeth. "I'm leaving now, sir" he says "10 minutes." He hangs up the phone and watches her with disappointment "he's going to find out" he says quietly "it's just a matter of time."

She finishes putting her clothes on and tries to fix her hair as much as she can "let's hope he wouldn't" she says decisively without even looking at him "because as soon as someone finds out, it's over."

He stands up, and starts searching for his clothes when she says it, and hearing it makes him turn sharply towards her, and watch her in alarm. She looks straight back at him, without even a hint of emotion and he can't believe this is the same person who just spent the night with him, not to mention this morning "you can't be serious" he watches her disbelievingly.

She only walks towards the door, and opens it swiftly "get moving" she says dryly "I'll be in the car."