Well, here we are - the first chapter of our Christmas mini-fic. For those of you who requested a festive story, we hope you like what we came up with!

As always, thanks to all who read and review.

Consider this AU from Season 3 onwards.

Miracle on 084 Street

Part One

The moment was as close to perfect as Skye was certain one could get; red wine swirling around the belly of a large glass, empty dinner plates lining the kitchen table, and her bare feet resting in the lap of her boyfriend, who was industriously massaging away the last traces of a particularly hard day. The sigh of contentment slipped past her lips before she even realised it, and Skye beamed as Grant raised his eyes to meet hers.

"Happy?" he inquired, a smile present as he rose to his feet, preparing to toss another cut log onto the open fire.

"But exhausted," Skye countered, leaning back in her chair and then placing both feet back onto the floor. Her eyes took in the room over the rim of her wineglass as she raised it once more to her lips; dark stained wooden floorboards made more inviting by a serious of thick rugs dotted about, crimson couches scattered with throw pillows and a knitted blanket, and paintings of wild horses running free in the fields lining the walls. Skye really had to hand it to whoever had decorated the ranch - they had done an extraordinary job in turning a simple safe house into something that could almost be imagined as a home. It was Skye's favourite place to be of late, ever since Ward had introduced her to it following a mission a few months back. Ever since, the ranch had never been too far from Skye's mind, and she often found herself daydreaming about what it might be like to call the place with its acres of land and vacant barn, home.

Ward tossed the log into the hearth, narrowing his eyes as he surveyed the dying embers of the once roaring fire. With a deft flick of his wrist, a plume of vivid, orange flames flew from his palm, and the fire was once more raging in the grate. Skye smiled sleepily as she watched him pause at the mantle, his hand lingering over the ornate twists and turns in the oak whilst he stood momentarily lost in thought. It was two years since Ward had rejoined the team, after helping them to first track down an elusive Hydra base, and then launch a rescue bid to bring Skye home that had culminated in a literally Earth shattering fight at Afterlife; and a new life being unexpectedly thrust onto the Specialist, who had dared to defy Jiaying's wrath and found himself on the wrong end of a Terrigen crystal for his troubles.

Running her fingertip over the edge of the glass, Skye smiled softly, adding above the roar and crackle of the fire, "But, yeah, I'm definitely happy."

She could sense the smile on Ward's face before he had even turned to capture her gaze, and a genuinely elated look passed between the pair. Patting the vacant seat beside her, Skye placed her glass onto the coffee table and waited until Grant was dutifully sitting next to her again before she curled her feet up in order to stretch languidly into his open arms.

"I feel like I could sleep for a whole week," she lamented, humming contentedly as his fingertips traversed a familiar path through the strands of her long hair. His heart thrummed reassuringly beneath her ear, and she found herself coaxed further into the warmth of his body. "And that sucks... cos we're finally alone... no interruptions, no stupid missions, no tiny little beds and thin walls."

"You make living at the Playground sound like bunking with the seven dwarves," Ward chuckled, brushing a kiss against Skye's forehead as she giggled against his chest. One thing Skye had not anticipated when she'd first gotten to know the 'real' Grant Ward? He made jokes sometimes. And even more unlikely a fact? On occasion they could even be classed as funny.

"Coulson would be Grumpy," continued Skye, a wicked grin illuminating her features along with the firelight.

"Then who would that make May?" Ward pondered aloud, blinking rapidly in order to dispel such errant thoughts. It never served one well to mock Agent Melinda May; a fact that many a brave and highly stupid rookie at the academy had begun to discover of late, ever since the Cavalry had taken up a post there as an advanced combat instructor.

"Do we really have to think about work right now?" Skye inquired, letting out a low moan as her head dropped into the crook of Ward's shoulder. "I am done with all things S.H.I.E.L.D. related for at least eight solid hours. Preferably ten, but I'll take what I can get."

"Sorry," Ward lamented, an apologetic kiss pressed to Skye's cheek as an afterthought, "what do you want to talk about instead, baby?"

Skye shrugged, falling back into his arms. Grant folded his hands over her abdomen and Skye began to trace her fingertips over the back of his wrist, noting how he flinched as she ghosted over the scar barely visible against his skin, yet still apparent to her touch.

"I don't want to talk," she replied quietly, inclining her head and reaching her free hand up blindly to curl around his neck. She leaned up to brush her lips against his in an invitation for him to kiss her soundly, which of course he did. She giggled as his kisses created a path down her neck, and the breathy moan that escaped her moments later set Ward grinning against her skin.

"God, I love it here," she stated, "it's so quiet and cosy... and... I don't know, it feels like a home. Like it should be someone's home... a forever kind of home, you know?!"

Ward, preoccupied with forming a trail of kisses along the arch of Skye's neck, shrugged and raised his lips from his task only momentarily.

"Wouldn't know, not like I ever really had one of those," he stated, and there wasn't an ounce of self pity lurking in his tone, much to Skye's admiration. She often caught herself lamenting her own childhood in a less than becoming manner, and it was a habit she longed to break, if only to quell her own mildly superstitious fear that such practices prevented her truly moving forward to the future she deserved.

"Well, no, me neither, but I like to think we could still get a feel for what that is," Skye replied, wriggling in Ward's lap as he hit a particularly sensitive spot on her skin and paused to lap it with his tongue, "I mean, it doesn't mean we couldn't have it one day… right?"

Ward halted his advances, raising his head and then settling back against the couch, finding himself bothered by the shred of fear and self doubt he detected in Skye's voice.

Immediately, a frown settled upon Skye's lips, and she found herself assuming that her words had spooked him - or perhaps insinuated that she was including him in her plans for the future; which of course she secretly was, but that seemed to have hit a nerve with the former Specialist that was making her regret her throwaway comment.

"Oookay, so... this is awkward." Skye felt her cheeks burning a violent shade of red, and she began to hurriedly adjust her shirt, closing the top buttons that had managed to work their way open under Grant's questing hands. Turning to face her, he reached out and enclosed her hand in his own, moving it away from the buttons she fumbled with. She found herself meeting his gaze without really meaning to, and she noted that Grant appeared to be carefully choosing his words. Skye felt her heart begin to flutter ominously at the hint of something indistinguishable she found lingering in his eyes.

"I don't know if you're unsure of yourself or me," he began, "I get why you still may not trust me, Skye, but..."

He paused mid lament as a throw pillow hit him square in the face. He merely blinked once and then sighed, the faintest traces of a smile on his face as he turned his gaze sideways to his attacker, who seemed less than repentant.

"What the hell, Ward? Can you stop the whole dark, broody, Bruce Wayne routine? I thought you were freaking out about 'us'! You scared the shit out of me." Skye rolled her eyes as she threw herself back dramatically against the couch, relief playing across her features.

"I... I thought you were freaking out about 'us'," Ward admitted, clearing his throat and this time managing to duck when Skye aimed another missile at his head.

"No, never," she stated firmly, shaking her head for emphasis. She paused in order to drain the last dregs from her wine glass and, obligingly, Ward immediately moved towards the bottle in order to refill it.

"I just…" Skye murmured, turning her head away in order to gaze out of the screen door, where the sight of darkened, rolling fields and the occasional bird of prey wheeling overhead greeted her. "Sometimes, Grant, I wonder if people like us deserve happiness. If we've never had it in our lives because we just…"

"Hey," Grant mumbled, moving forwards and laying his hand against Skye's cheek. Her eyes shone wetly in the light and Grant frowned his displeasure before stroking her skin with the pad of his thumb.

"What's brought this on?" he coaxed, removing the glass from her hand and setting it down on the floor at her feet before he indicated for her to move into his waiting arms. Skye obliged, closing her eyes as she pressed her face into the concave of his clavicle.

She smiled as he brushed a kiss against her forehead, and she draped her arm over his waist to allow herself to cuddle as close as possible. In those moments, she found she was almost able to forget that a little less than two years before, they had been sworn enemies and her heart had felt as if it would be broken forever.

"I don't know, the season I guess," she admitted, glancing up as she asked, "you think my dad's doing okay?"

Ward nodded, resting his chin on the crown of her head. A distinct feeling of euphoria bubbled up from his chest as Skye pressed herself into his arms, sharing the warmth of her body with him. It was an unparalleled feeling to Grant, who had waited a lifetime to simply be loved.

"We could go and see him if you want to?" he offered, letting his eyes flicker closed at the feel of her palm sweeping slow patterns over his chest.

"No," she replied, almost tripping over the sorrow in her own voice as she explained, "I... I don't want to see him. Not like that. Not when he doesn't know who I am."

She paused for a moment and then groaned aloud, before burying her head in his chest. "Ughh! What is it about this sucky season?!"

As if trying to coax her towards happier thoughts, Ward nuzzled her cheek, wrapping his arms tightly around her. Her eyelashes fluttered against his neck and an involuntary shiver of pleasure coursed down his spine.

"It's not so bad," he disagreed, "this is our first Christmas together. Well, officially together, in a 'non sneaking around' capacity, anyway."

Smiling sweetly, Skye nodded her head as she conceded, "There is that, I guess."

"Oh you guess?" Ward repeated, hiding his smirk of amusement behind a mock indignant expression. Before Skye could respond, Ward poked her sharply in the ribs, eliciting a shriek of mirth and a high pitched giggle that echoed around the living room.

"Okay, okay," Skye relented, managing to fend off Ward's further attacks with both hands, "I promise, I'll try to cheer up and not totally ruin the holiday season for everyone else."

Settled once again into his arms, she smiled at the sensation of his lips dragging soft kisses across the line of her jaw, and she reached behind her absently to stroke her fingers through his hair.

"So... what do you want for Christmas?" he enquired, his breath suddenly hot against her lips as he gently bumped the tip of his nose against hers.

"I don't know," she answered with a shrug, her fingertips stroking the back of his neck. A wholly teasing smirk tugged at her features. "I mean, I would say 'surprise me', but... historically..."

She winced, pretending to ponder the past only long enough for Grant to catch up with her allusions. Ward rolled his eyes, his expression deadpan and somewhat mildly infuriated, which only made Skye grin harder. The sudden light that flashed into life within her brown eyes did not go unnoticed by Grant, who felt his interest piqued along with a faint sense of trepidation.

"Oooh hey, what about a pony?" Skye enthused, nothing about her excited expression indicating that she was joking even remotely.

"Skye, I know we've revisited our childhoods tonight but…" Ward began, wincing as Skye elbowed him swiftly in the ribs, a scowl working its way across her features.

"Hilarious," she drawled, shaking her head at Grant before gesturing to the masses of open fields and plains that stretched out as far as the eye could see beyond the windowpane. "I am totally serious. I could keep it here, you could teach me to ride, and maybe we could make this place more of a permanent base. It'd be the perfect excuse."

Chuckling, Ward shook his head as he inquired with an arched brow, "Why do you assume that I know how to ride a horse?"

Skye snorted, her tone derisive as she tossed back at him, "Oh please, your entire family was practically gold plated. Of course you know how to ride… and fence, and probably ballroom dance, and all that other rich, white boy stuff."

"You're lucky you're cute, China," Ward retorted, his lips twitching in obvious and poorly concealed amusement.

"Hey, you asked me what I wanted," her mouth set into a tight line, and Skye shrugged for effect, eyelids fluttering momentarily closed as he kissed her affectionately, his hand cupping her cheek so that he could caress her skin with his thumb. "What about you? What do you want? What's on Grant Ward's Christmas list?"

Her eyes narrowed a fraction, the light and jokey mood suddenly disappearing as Grant peered down at her with an expression of obvious adoration.

"You," he murmured, holding her gaze effortlessly, "only thing I've ever wanted is you."

Skye smiled, stealing a kiss before she declared, "Naww, that's sweet, Ward, but so boring. Come on, there must be something you want?"

He gaped, contemplating the question for only a moment before he shook his head, "Nothing. There's nothing I want. This is it... this is all I've ever wanted, right here."

Head tilted, Skye regarded him dubiously, moving to sit astride his lap in one fluid motion that appeared to take him by surprise.

"I know I'm the gift that keeps on giving, but you've got me, okay? Okay?" she widened her eyes to convey her point - that Ward needed to stop second guessing the reason she had elected to give him another chance - only content when he nodded in agreement.

Her palms swept across the muscles of his chest before she looped her arms tightly around his neck. "When you were a kid, what was it you wanted Santa to bring you? Come on, what did adorable little mini-Grant want more than anything?"

Avoiding her question, Ward firmly shook his head, "I really can't remember. It was a long time ago, Skye."

Not buying his sudden memory lapse for even a moment, Skye instead offered her own reply. "Every year, I'd write a letter in secret. The nuns were surprisingly not so big on the whole Christmas thing... and I'd sneak it into one of the fireplaces at the orphanage, I don't know, guess I saw it in a movie or something. Anyway, I'd always ask for the same thing..." she trailed off, a slightly melancholy air overcoming her before she managed to shake it off with a wry smile, "a family and a home. A real one. And every year, I'd be disappointed. And alone, and I guess... unwanted. Okay, so now you've heard my sad and pathetic story of woe, what did you ask for? GI Joe battle cruisers? Optimus Prime? Tiny Tears?"

She felt a triumphant pang of delight shoot through her when Ward rolled his eyes and finally seemed poised to reply.

"A family," he answered almost shyly, avoiding her gaze as he added to clarify, "a real one. Like the ones I saw on TV shows, I guess."

Realisation suddenly dawning, Skye winced, recalling the endless files she had read on Ward's tragic and all together hideous childhood of abuse and neglect.

"Oh. Yeah. I... Wow." A deep, weary sigh rattled free from her body as she offered him a smile that conveyed emotions only he could decipher, "Guess we make quite the pair, huh?!"

Ward gently gathered Skye into his lap, his arms encircling her in an embrace that they both so desperately needed in that moment of reverie. They remained silently locked in each other's arms whilst the seconds bled into minutes, only the roar and crackle of the fire to punctuate the quiet.

"I'll see what I can do about the pony," Ward mumbled into the crown of Skye's head, "but you may have to settle for a goldfish, okay?"

Skye laughed and pulled his arm tighter around her waist, sighing in almost contentment as she allowed everything about him to invade her senses. Slowly but surely, the stresses and strains of the last few weeks began to ebb away. His lips ghosted her ear as he lowered his head, and she smiled at the welcome sensation of his stubble against her sensitive skin.

"For what it's worth... you're not 'unwanted' any more," Ward assured her, adding almost hesitantly, "and I love you."

She turned in his embrace and cupped his jaw in her hand, peering up to hold his somewhat hesitant gaze.

"Right back at ya," she murmured softly, and his eyes practically shone with the kind of happiness that rendered you breathless; a far cry from the world weary and battle hardened Grant Ward that Skye had come to know, love, loathe and, somehow, love once again.

The couple started, jumping apart a number of inches when the phone trilled from its perch on an end table positioned next to the couch. Groaning, Ward reached around Skye's back and seized the offending handset, stabbing at a button with a growl before raising it to his ear.

"This better be good," he intoned into the receiver, his eyes locked with Skye's as he spoke. However, before her steady gaze, Ward's irritation at the disruption seemed to melt away, and she noted how he sat up straighter, purpose igniting in his eyes as he listened to the caller. It could only be Coulson.

Skye's sigh was soft and barely audible, but she set about fixing the buttons on her shirt and beginning to clear the plates into the kitchen sink, already sensing that their time at the ranch was drawing to an abrupt close. She shot one last, lingering and fond look out of the kitchen window and allowed a smile to permeate her expression of disappointment. The stars were out in full force, blinking out a staccato rhythm against the pitch night sky.

Skye felt Ward's arms encircle her waist before she managed to sense his presence behind her, having not even noticed that he had stopped speaking in the adjoining room.

"Mission?" she guessed, her tone sounding almost accusing.

"Not entirely sure yet," Ward answered, perhaps a touch of amusement or something thereabouts colouring his voice.

"Alright, what craptastic, super important S.H.I.E.L.D. business is gonna ruin our night this time?" Skye huffed, pouting even though she felt apologetic kisses being pressed against her neck. "It better be good because I was planning on us spending at least the next 24 hours naked, hot, and sweaty."

Ward practically growled at the visual her words conjured, and he pulled her closer, pressing himself against her back as he promised huskily, "Rain check... I promise."

"Yeah, yeah," she groaned, turning around and wiping her hands on a clean dish towel before she regarded him expectantly. "Alright, so what is it this time? Pretending I care for a second."

Folding his arms across his chest, he blinked as she stretched up on her toes and pecked him on the lips. He was briefly distracted by the gesture before he managed to reply, "Uh... they've got a 084 in custody."

A fleeting yet wholly enraged shadow passed over Skye's features, and she tapped her foot hard against the floorboards as she attempted to fathom why such a development warranted their moving literally from one operation to another without so much as a few hours down time between.

"Okay, but unless it's some funky Asgardian I-phone or a Vulcan selfie-stick, why do they need you and me to come in with zero 'hot sex' time?"

Ward paused, his mouth opening then abruptly closing again. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his head cocked as he regarded Skye, almost as though he was uncertain of how to proceed without infuriating her further.

"Come on, Grant, I'm getting crow's feet over here," Skye prodded, her annoyance mounting as she watched Ward in his apparent internal struggle with delivering the mission brief.

"Coulson thinks…" Ward began, falling silent and then shaking his head before continuing, "that is, S.H.I.E.L.D. have in custody…"

Skye arched an eyebrow, hands drifting to her hips as she watched Ward become mute again, before scratching his forehead as though genuinely puzzled.

"Ward, now you're making me nervous," warned Skye, her voice adopting a slight edge that affirmed her statement.

"Santa," Ward blurted out, one hand rubbing the nape of his neck fretfully.

Narrowing her eyes, Skye inched forwards, certain she hadn't heard what she thought she had just heard. "I'm sorry, what now? Because for a crazy second there, I thought you said 'Santa'."

Ward cleared his throat, looking so much like the young, socially inept S.H.I.E.L.D. agent she had once met some four years earlier that Skye had to fight the urge to throw her arms around him and hug him. He rubbed at his jaw absently, avoiding her impatient gaze, which he could feel pinning him in place.

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger... again," he chanced a misguided smirk, before once more clearing his throat as he found himself met by the impassive and wholly pissed off expression that painted his girlfriend's pretty face.

"Don't push it, Ward," Skye said sourly, one finger jabbing at his chest to punctuate her point. Ward held up both hands in surrender, managing to stave off a grin at the last possible second.

"A S.H.I.E.L.D. team picked up the 084 just outside of Alaska last night," Ward revealed, leaning back against the nearest kitchen counter and crossing his arms in front of his chest, "it was detected by USAF radar hurtling through the sky at a sustained rate of around five times the speed of sound."

"That's impossible…" Skye breathed, her eyes widening as she raised one index finger towards the ceiling and added, "or, I guess, not so impossible."

Ward puffed out his cheeks and let out a slow breath, "I don't know. Looks like they tried to intercept the… craft... but there was… an unexpected landing..."

"It crashed," Skye supplied dourly, now essentially pouting at the loss of the evening of peace, companionship, lazy embraces, and Earth-shattering sex that she had been anticipating for a number of days.

"It crashed," Ward allowed, "and it seems the.. uh... the... inhabitant of the uh... the craft... knows a lot about... well, everyone. He also appears to be wearing a red velvet suit."

"You have got to be kidding me. They want me to find out how 'Santa'," she paused in order to supply air quotations, "hacked the S.H.I.E.L.D. mainframe to put Coulson on the naughty list? What do they need you for? You gonna torture old Saint Nick until he gives up the location of his workshop?"

"What? No! I am not water-boarding Santa," Ward gasped, appearing visibly appalled at the suggestion.

Skye let out an infuriated growl, beginning to stomp towards the main bedroom, where she and Ward had earlier dumped their weapons trunks and kit bags, not even having found time to so much as unzip them.

"Fine!" she yelled, the sound of slamming closets and muffled banging reaching Ward's ears and causing him to wince.

He somewhat impressively managed to maintain his composure though, even when Skye shouted through the mist of her rage and flurry of gathering belongings, "Let's go interrogate freaking Santa Claus."