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“Ward!”
Skye frowned, curling her hand into a fist to pound against the door. “Ward! Open up!”
“I’m busy.”
“Ward!”
The door opened a crack, just enough for his head to poke through. “What?”
“Gram sent me to get you. It’s lunchtime.”
“Not hungry yet. Tell Gram to save me some.”
“O –” the door closes in her face, “-kay.”
She rubs at her nose.
xxx
Skye pushes past him, heading straight for his desk. She knew something was up, Ward’s been acting weird, all anxious and jumpy every time either she or Gram came near his room. She lets the chair spin, looking around, nothing was out of order. Everything in its rightful place.
“What do you want?” Ward repeats.
“Company.”
“For what?”
“I’m bored. Wanna play Battleship? I’ll let you win,” her forehead wrinkles slightly, “twice. Maybe.”
Ward rolls his eyes. “No thanks.”
“Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
Skye shakes her head, “Nothing. Chess?”
“No. You just move random pieces.”
Skye pulls the chair with her feet, pushing the curtain aside. It was raining heavily. “This sucks. Can we please do something? Like watch a movie?”
He’s about to answer when Skye suddenly jumps to her feet.
“What are you doing?”
“Really? That sound – I think it’s coming from,” she says, looking under his bed, “Weird. Oh! There – you hear that?”
“Nope. I think you’re just tired.”
“I’m fine.” She insists, looking around the room.
Ward intercepts her as she moves to the closet, “It’s nothing. Probably the computer.” She’s about to tell him it was off. “Go pick a movie. I’ll be there in a bit.”
“But –”
Skye yelps when he grabs her by the arms and lifts, dropping her just outside his door. “Popcorn,” he says, “go make popcorn. 5 minutes tops.”
For the second time in two days, he slams the door in her face.
xxx
Skye scrunches her nose, batting away whatever it was bugging her. She didn’t want to be awake at an ungodly hour during the holidays. It better not be Ward, he was always coming up with stupid ways to do so; the latest was the ridiculous clock that sounded like a fire alarm (needless to say, Coulson was not amused).
“No.” She protests, trying to tug her blankets. “Go away.”
He’s persistent. “Ward!” She yells, sitting up.
Her room is empty. Weird. Skye doesn’t let her guard down, peering over the edge of her bed. Nothing. She’s about to go back to sleep when something jumps into her lap, causing her to jerk backwards, hitting her head against the headboard.
“Ow,” she rubs at the spot.
Holy crap. There was a puppy, looking up at her with huge round eyes and a lolling tongue. It rubs its head against her stomach, pawing at her blankets, whining.
“Hey, little” she lifts the dog, “guy. What are you doing here?” She scratches behind his ear. “Are you lost?”
He didn’t have a tag or collar but he did look pretty healthy. Someone’s been taking care of him.
Skye pushes away her covers, tucking the dog in her arms as she pads through the hallway. Ward’s door is ajar, she knocks anyway. “Ward, look – whoa. What happened?”
His normally neat-verging-on-sterile bedroom was in disarray and Ward looked frazzled. He turns to dismiss her and freezes.
“Ward?”
“How’d you find him?”
“He came to me. Wait, do you – oh my God. This is why you’ve been so freaked out – you’ve been hiding a dog –”
“Lower your voice. Get in,” he hisses, pulling her inside. He surveys the hallway before closing the door, locking it. “You can’t tell Gram.”
Skye scoffs. “Why would I tell her? She’ll make us get rid of him.”
“Exactly why I’ve been keeping everything on the down low.”
“You are not cool enough to say that.”
“Where’d you find him?”
“What’s his name?”
“Buddy.”
“That’s kinda boring.”
“Hey, I found him, I name him.”
“Fine.” Skye rolls her eyes, lifting Buddy into the air before letting him nuzzle her nose. “What if he’s someone’s?”
“I checked. No posters or anything.”
“He still could –”
“It’s been three days. If they haven’t noticed he’s gone,” Ward says, taking Buddy from her, “they don’t deserve to have him.”
“We should still check.”
xxx
They waited until Gram left to the grocers before going from door to door, looking for Buddy’s owner. It took them a good hour to cover the entire neighbourhood but if it eased Skye’s guilt and they could keep Buddy, Ward didn’t mind one bit.
“We should get him a collar.”
They’re in his room, Skye lounging on his bed with Buddy as he continues his search on the internet on how to take care of dogs.
“Nothing flashy or stupid.” Ward warns. “Or pink.”
“And a tag.”
“Put a Captain America shield on it.” He says absently. “Coulson would love that.”
“That’s genius! He’ll let us keep Buddy for sure!”
“I was kidding.” He knows it’s a lost cause, Skye would’ve stopped listening by now. “Where are you even going to find one?”
“If there’s a will, there’s a way.”
He doesn’t doubt it. And if the Captain was all it took to tip the odds in their favour, he had no problems with that. “We’ll go out and look tomorrow.”
xxx
“Skye.” Ward says, pulling her into the study, “I can’t find Buddy.”
“He was with you!”
“I know.”
“Gram’s home.”
“I know.”
“And,” Skye groans, “you want me to be the distraction. What do you want me to do? Break something?”
“Distraction. Not get us grounded and possibly killed.”
“How much time do you need?”
“I’ll give you the signal when I’m done. Just do what you do best.” Ward adds at her expectant look, “Talk.”
Skye punches his shoulder. “You suck.”
Ward pushes her into the living room where Gram was seated on the couch. “Hey Gram.” Skye says. “You’re looking gorgeous today. Did you do something with your hair?”
“Yeah. It looks very – uhm fluffy.” Ward’s voice is muffled.
Gram turns her head, Skye immediately stepping into her view. “Gram, I was watching this documentary yesterday –”
“Have you fed your dog?”
There’s a loud thump as Ward emerges from under the dining table, “Dog – what – uh – there’s –”
“No dog!” Skye assures.
“No. Nope. No dog.”
“No. No. No.”
“Did you see a dog, Skye?”
“No.”
“Do not lie to me.” Gram raises the cup, sipping daintily. “Do you think I wouldn’t notice a dog in my house?”
She lets out a little whistle and Buddy comes bounding from the shelf under the entertainment unit, straight onto her lap. Skye and Ward exchange a look as Buddy rolls over onto his back.
“Gram, we can explain,”
“I know you’ll think its Skye’s fault but it’s not.” Ward gives her a pointed look, Skye closes her mouth. “I found him. She didn’t know until yesterday. He doesn’t belong to anyone, we checked.”
Gram’s lips purse as she rubs Buddy’s belly, “His things are in the kitchen,” at their bewildered expression, she adds, “His water bowl, I already bought food and it seems that he likes the biscuits.”
“Grant, you will have to install a door for him. And make sure that he is housetrained.”
“You’re letting us keep Buddy.” It sounds like a question. “Is this real?”
“Ow.” He rubs at his arm where Skye’s pinched him. “What the hell?”
“Did that hurt?”
He glares. “Yes.”
“Just to check that we’re not dreaming or anything.”
“I’m going to use the alarm on you tomorrow. Extra loud.”
“I’ll tell AC.”
“You’re not supposed to sleep past noon.”
Gram clears her throat, “I am letting you keep Buddy. But you will have to convince Phillip and Melinda when they return.”