A/N: And here we have the final chapter of Smooth Seas. Many thanks to the FF and AO3 communities for feedback and support, especially Prawn Crackers, Silverspoon, Bellapaige88, Lily1986, astridv, Salkri Kachemench, Mariavc, Bloodrose101, Wolf's Edge, MYWINTERFIREFLY4, Zaffie and Amanda.

I recently joined Tumblr for all things tumblish, you can find me there under TortiQuercu, should you so desire. :)

Melinda May liked Iowa. It was sunny and green and there were lots of places she could stand and see forever, but never another soul. It suited her well.

They'd headed north from the airport in Waterloo in silence. She drove along an unremarkable highway for a while, before turning off towards a river. They followed alongside the sparkling blue waters for some time, the road eventually turning to gravel and then to dirt, dust kicking up in big dry clouds under the wheels of the pick-up truck. They seemed quite firmly in the proverbial middle of nowhere when May pulled the truck over at the end of a long drive.

She cleared her throat and looked her passenger squarely in the eye. "Well, this is it. Welcome to Bremer County, Iowa…. home of the Morrow family."

Former Agent Grant Ward stared out his window at a mailbox, partly tucked under some broad trees by the driveway. "Morrow," he repeated, his voice unsteady. "The Morrow… family?"

May's lips were tightly pursed. "It's been over a year, Ward," she said as if that should explain everything, but then felt an unexpected twinge of guilt as his face fell. She sighed. "Family. Angela Morrow, her daughter, Hope, and her grandson. Alex.

His face scrunched up in confusion, and May smiled faintly. "Hope is her adopted daughter, a friend of a distant relative…. on the Barton side, or so I'm told."

Realization dawned on Grant face like a beacon. "Hope," he breathed, and May nodded encouragingly. "And… Alex?"

May nodded. "Alexander Ward Morrow, he just turned a year old, actually. They send photos and postcards sometimes to Clint… he shares them with Phil and the team. It's kinda nice."

Was Ward shaking? He felt like he was shaking. He continued to sit, possibly shaking, staring at a metal mailbox with "MORROW" stencilled on it… out in the middle of nowhere, Iowa.

"Ward," May continued softly. "I… I wanted to apologize."

His attention shifted to her, his face puzzled. "Apologize? For what? Jesus, May, I'm the one who fucked everything up for all of us."

"No, that's… you had a mission, Ward. I get it… even if I believe you chose the wrong side. What I'm sorry for is hating you for it. After all our talk about not letting our emotions get the better of us.. I did anyway. The bottom line is that you gave up everything precious to you in order to fix things, with no guarantee you'd survive, and I respect that. I'm sorry I didn't understand that sooner."

Ward blinked at her several times before shrugging. "Okay. I forgive you….? But really, May… trust me on this, but no matter how much you hated me, I hated myself more. And rightfully so. Any anger you had was well-placed."

"I don't like that it consumed me. I shouldn't have let it happen."

Ward chuckled. "There's a time I would have agreed with you. Feelings… feeling something was a choice, I used to believe that too."

"You don't anymore?" she asked with a delicately arched eyebrow.

"No, not at all. Something crazy and impossible happened."

"Skye."

"Skye," he nodded. "Skye happened, and I fell utterly and hopelessly in love, totally outside of my control. Threw my whole universe into chaos, so it's okay… I don't begrudge you your hate. I felt the same."

May stretched her fingers out from the steering wheel. "Well, speaking of chaos… Angela is expecting you. She wanted to meet you first, before telling Skye. She is predictably hesitant and suspicious. You're not the only one in love with that girl. Remember that."

"I'll be on my best behaviour," he promised. He opened the truck door and swung a small duffel bag from the back. "Are you waiting here?"

May nodded. "Yep. I'll be here. Take your time… it's been a long year, no need to start rushing now."

The gravel crunched under his boots as he slowly proceeded up the drive. There was a broad meadow, filled with wildflowers, blowing gently in the breeze. The meadow eventually gave way to a huge, grassy green yard and a pretty white farmhouse. In the yard was a red swing set, a slide and a sandbox, and in the sandbox was a blond woman in a gingham dress…. and his son.

Even at this distance, it was obvious. The sturdy little boy had a head full of glossy black hair and a jaw that managed to somehow seem square even in his sweet round baby face. He was sitting, legs spread, whacking a pile of sand with the utmost severity and a plastic shovel. Ward stood in the drive for several minutes, gaping at the boy, before the woman noticed him and gestured him forward.

The baby looked up at Ward as he approached, his expression of grave concern almost bringing Ward to laugh out loud. Upon closer inspection, the blond woman was stocky, in her fifties, radiating feelings like "warmth" and "wholesome" with a slight hint of "hurt this baby and I'll bludgeon you to death with a garden rake". Ward approved of her instantly.

"Grant Ward," she stated with a cautious smile as she extended her hand.

"Yes, ma'am," he shook her hand warmly. "Ms. Morrow, is that right?"

"Call me Angela," she nodded. She exhaled a deep breath and propped her hands on her hips. "Well, then. Let's take a look at you. Good grief, there's not much doubt, is there?" She glanced down at the baby and chuckled. "He's a mini you."

Grant followed her gaze and met his son's serious eyes. The pit of his stomach seemed to go into free fall and the air was sucked out of his lungs. Alexander had Skye's eyes, comically large in his head, but everything else about him screamed "Ward". He wondered if the little boy knew, as he chose that moment to bust out a perfect cupid bow smile and laugh. Ward's heart dissolved.

Angela grinned. "That's a good sign! Would you like to hold him? Come here, Alex." Before Ward could comment, Angela had scooped the baby up and stepped to his side.

"I've… um… I've never held a baby before," Grant admitted nervously. Alex reached out with his plastic shovel and slapped his father's arm with it. Grant's eyes widened… it seemed like an unnaturally powerful smack from a toddler. "Did your mother put you up to that?" he asked the baby suspiciously.

"Ha! He's got a strong arm, this kid," Angela chuckled. "Comes from both of you, I guess. I've watched Hope tuck a calf under one arm like it was nothing and drag a sofa up the stairs by herself…. drives me crazy, that girl."

Ward boggled at her, incredulous, trying to imagine Skye carrying a cow of any age, when Angela took his moment of distraction to thrust the baby into his arms. His heart nearly stopped and he froze in panic.

"Guh," said Alexander, smacking Ward again with his shovel. "Bah bah bah. Buh!" he shrieked joyfully and got in a few more hits with the shovel before Angela intervened.

"That's enough, Alex," she said sternly. "No hitting! Ouch!"

"Uh," said Alexander.

"Wow," said Ward, staring at his son in amazement. The little boy squealed and wiggled. Ward shifted his hold on him, finding to his surprise that he was kind of enjoying the experience. Alexander was tender, warm and smelled like fresh-cut grass and sunshine. He brushed his hand over the baby's head, marvelling at how soft Alex's jet black hair was. Ward smiled broadly at Angela. "He… he's kinda perfect, isn't he?" he beamed.

"Pretty much, yeah," the older woman smiled back. "Sleeps through the night, giggles through the day and healthy as a horse. He's a solid 29 pounds, which isn't so much of a mystery now. Hope never mentioned you were so tall."

"That's because I'm not that tall compared to her," Ward murmured. "I might have the height advantage, but she looms larger than me in every other way."

"Hmmm," Angela replied, her expression serious. "Well I won't argue with you on that one, Grant. You should take Alex inside, he's had enough sun. You'll find Hope in her office, probably. Just go in through the back door and listen for all the computers. I should warn you, though… she didn't know you were coming today. She… umm.. well, she doesn't even know you're alive."

Ward's face darkened. "What? How could no one tell her?"

Angela looked away awkwardly. "Well, it's complicated. We didn't know how it was all going to play out, once you re-appeared a few weeks ago. Clint and Phillip thought it would be best to find out where your loyalties lay before saying anything. I agreed with them, it was unanimous. I don't want Hope to get hurt again." She looked back at him, her eyes burning. "I trust that's perfectly clear with you, Grant. I will not allow you… or anyone… to mess with my daughter and grandson."

He was still grimacing when Alexander reached out, grabbed one of Ward's fingers, shoved it into his little mouth and began to gnaw with great abandon. Ward yelped.

"He's teething," Angela smiled.

"Yup, I caught that," he winced. He pulled his finger back and gave his son a hard look. "You shouldn't do that, Alex," he said. "You have no idea where my hand has been."

"Gah!" cheered Alexander.

"Haha, you're a natural," Angela laughed. "Go on, let Hope know you're alive. If you use her baby as a shield, she probably won't kill you."

He grinned and walked slowly towards the back of the house, bobbing Alexander up and down gently (to both of their great amusement).

"Where's Mommy?" he asked Alexander solemnly as he pulled the back screen door open.

"Mah!" shouted Alex.

"That's the one," Grant agreed cheerfully. "Brown hair, brown eyes, light of my life?"

"Mah!"

"You're clever like she is, too, I see. Shhh…. let's listen, like Grandma said. Uhhh… is that Grandma? Or maybe Granny or Gramsy or.. um... Nana…?"

"Nah! Nah nah nuh."

"Well okay, then. So let's listen….." he raised his finger to his lips and cocked his head to the side. He waggled his eyebrows at the baby in his arms, earning him a charming bout of laughter. Despite Alexander's giggles, he was still able to pick out a steady, low hum of computer fans from a room ahead. He moved quietly through the kitchen and down a hall towards the faint noise.

The office door was pulled close but not shut. Just as Ward raised his hand to push it open, Alex began a lengthly babble.

"Mah! Mah! Buh buh buh duh."

The door swung open and there she was, her back to him as she sat in front of the same laptop she'd always had. "Hey Mom," she began before turning around. "I'm about to go fix the fence, do you want me to put Alex down bef…"

She swivelled in her chair and there he was. Standing there, in her house, like it was no thing… white V-neck t-shirt, blue jeans and dusty boots he had neglected to remove at the door. Staring back at her with wide-eyes, mouth pressed into a worried line, holding her son, their son, close to his chest. The room began to spin and she thought, in a detached way, that it as a lucky thing she was already sitting down.

"Skye…." he began, "… or Hope, or whatever I'm supposed to call you… are you okay?"

She closed her eyes and tried breathing steadily, in through her nose, out through her mouth.

"Mah!" squealed the baby.

She opened her eyes again, but the vision hadn't changed… Grant Ward was still standing in her office, looking at her with an increasingly concerned expression.

"Ward…?" she croaked back at him.

He smiled at her, and oh God her stomach was doing flips and she wasn't sure if she was going to be sick or pass out or maybe just….

"Oh my God, Ward!" she exclaimed, leaping up off her chair and flinging herself towards him, causing him to scramble to shift Alexander and catch her at the same time.

"Ooof!" he grunted with a chuckle as she wrapped her arms around him. She buried her head into his chest, beside their son. He sank his free hand into her hair and crushed his lips against the top of her head. "I told you," he murmured. "I told you that coming back to you would keep me going."

She looked up at him with tears streaming down her face, but a wide smile.

Alexander patted her wet cheeks thoughtfully. "Mah mah."

She laughed and kissed her son lightly on the nose. "Look, Alex! Daddy is here."

Ward leaned down and softly pressed his lips against hers. She sighed happily, and his heart soared. "I'm here," he whispered. "I'm sorry it took me so long, but my mission is complete... my last mission. Can I stay?"

"You'd better," she growled.

"Yah!" agreed Alex.

The Morrow family laughed.

She heard his boots crunching on the gravel long before he arrived beside the truck. When she heard him pause, she lazily opened a single eye into the bright Iowa sun, and sat up in the box of her pick-up truck.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up," former Agent Grant Ward said apologetically.

"It's fine," replied Melinda May with a smile. "So. I see you're back, but your duffel bag isn't. I take it things are going to be okay?"

Ward smiled, brighter than the Iowa sun. "He's beautiful, May," he said in a voice filled with awe. "He's the most beautiful little boy in the world."

May slid over to the tailgate and hopped down from the truck. "I'm going to agree with you on that. Like I said before, Clint gets pictures sometimes. That's his... aunt's sister's grandson... or something. I dunno, I was never great with families. But he's an awfully cute little guy. So, are you staying?"

"I am," he said. There was relief in his voice, relief that sounded like the unburdening of years of torment and pain. He held his hand out to her, she took it curiously and he gave it a brisk shake. "I'm Ward Morrow, pleasure to meet you. Thanks for everything... I'm in your debt, truly."

She gave him a wry smile as she pulled the truck keys from her pocket and deposited them into his other hand. "Why don't you hang on to the truck? Seems like something a country man such as yourself might find useful."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" he asked, perplexed. "How are you going to get back..."

His question trailed off as the purr of a shiny black Corvette Stingray appearing far down the dirt road caught his attention, a flash of red behind the wheel. He chuckled.

"It's fine," Melinda May nodded sagely. "Looks like my ride is already here. Well, it's been real, Mr. Morrow. You'd better get back to your family... tell your wife we miss her."

"I will," his voice broke, but only slightly.

May nodded and began to walk back down the road. After several steps, Ward realized with surprise that she was humming a familiar song. He chuckled, and softly began to sing along as he returned back up his driveway.

"Country roads,

take me home

to the place

I belong.

Country roads,

take me home."

FIN