Daisy's first reaction was that she was wet. Really wet. In a mere second of being transitioned into a new life she was dunked in sudsy, warm water. Just before inhaling she broke the surface again, gasping. Her hands clutched the side of what appeared to be a white bathtub.
    She processed where she was, taking in her surroundings. A white shower curtain covered the rest of the room. She slid it open and observed the bathroom. It was neat and very modern, neutral colors splashed across the room. She found it oddly comforting.

   A sound of a phone vibrating caused her jump. The small black device almost went unnoticed on the bathtub's divider. With a slippery hand she grabbed it. There was a text.

   'Wake up your boyfriend. We're being called in.'

   Boyfriend? Daisy's brow furrowed as she looked around, clutching the phone in her hand. Suddenly, opening her eyes to find herself naked in a bathtub felt way more vulnerable than relaxing.
The idea of a boyfriend became more of a bee sting than a fairytale for Daisy. However...
This was an alternate reality, she supposed. Anything could have happened.
   Thoughts twisted back to sandy hair and a smile she'd grown to care for. It brought back memories of afterlife. Her heart sunk and grew cold in her chest, his last words to her surfacing up in her mind as well.

   She got up carefully, throwing on a fuzzy robe that hung on a silver hook. Her soaked feet felt a small rug before touching cool tile. From the bathroom's doorway she saw a bedroom.
   She leaned against the wall, finally noticing the body burrowed under a thin comforter, the slow rise and fall of it's breath proving that it was, in fact, someone sleeping. Her boyfriend.
   "Lincoln?" She whispered. Hopeful. Shocked.  A smile bloomed nervously on her lips. It felt foreign after everything that happened in the past twenty-four hours. She approached him slowly, quiet as to not wake him.

Something felt off, wrong. She dismissed it. Maybe it was because she was currently in a completely flip-flopped universe, so the ominous feeling of, well, whatever she was feeling could only make sense.

Then she saw him more clearly.

His hair was black and stuck out in odd directions. Dark stubble framed his jawline.

Grant fucking Ward's face was peaceful as he slept on, unaware of the massive panic attack clawing through Daisy's chest, threatening her with a scream wanting to leave her mouth.
She took a few gulping breaths of air. Fists clenched, she stood stock still, watching her ex snore soundly, arm curled around a bundle of the white bedspread.
Before she freaked out further, she needed to think first, she decided.
It would be idiotic to attack him out of no where. The best way to approach this would be to play along until the opportunity was right. But for now...

Daisy thought of the text. It's time to go to work.

Softly, Daisy shook him awake, her mind going a thousand miles per hour. She couldn't believe this was happening. That of all the things that could have been happening, she was currently stuck in an alternate universe with her ex lover who was originally supposed to be dead on an alien planet, only to end up being possessed by an alien creature and then finally exploding on an air craft.
So, not really where she thought she'd be headed back when she was a mere hacker living in a van.

"Ward," She whispered. A little harsh, at first. She lightened her tone. "We've been called in."
"Hmm?" He hummed, eyes slowly opening. She almost forgot what Ward had looked like before he was 'Hive'. When he was controlled by the creature, his hair was cur short and neatly combed, and he was clean shaven. Now, his hair was longer and messy, scruff surrounding a small smile that appeared on his lips.
"Skye," He sighed. He reached out and softly tucked her hair behind her ear, resting a hand on her cheek. She made sure not to flinch as she felt the warmth on her skin. A mix of nostalgia and bitterness swirled in her stomach and rose up like bile in her mouth. She also tried to dismiss the oddity of being called 'Skye' again.
"Hey," she smiled, staring into the brown of his irises. She tried to not falter, not a single stutter allowed. Her friends needed saving. "Get your ass up."
"Fine," He huffed, grudgingly removing his hand. Pushed the covers off him and stretched, scratching his fleece pajama bottoms that hung low on his hips.
It wasn't only weird that Ward was alive, and the fact that he called her Skye. Daisy had always remembered how he woke up right at 5:30, a drill that seemed forever embedded in his head. Checking the phone, it was already 10:00. He must've broke the habit.

   He finished changing into black jeans, boots, and a plain black shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
   "How colorful," she retorted. He rolled his eyes, smirking all the while.
   "Don't judge my black colors. Besides, you need to get changed too."
   She suddenly felt cold and more exposed than ever, even with her robe tied tightly around her frame. His eyes went into that look of concern he always had, the one where his eyes widened slightly and his eyebrows turned upwards. She had always thought that it reminded her of a lost puppy.
   He approached her slowly. "Are you okay?" He asked gently, resting a hand on her arm.
   "I'm- fine," She said, very unconvincingly. Nice job, Daisy.

   Instead of pressing further, he just made a small frown, letting go of her arm. "I'll make us some coffee. Is that okay?" She nodded gratefully, being sure to smile enough so that (most of) his doubt would wipe away. When he left and closed the door, she breathed a sigh of relief. It would have been way too weird for her if she had to change in front of him.
She put on dark jeans and a blue plaid shirt. It reminded her so much of providence that her heart ached a bit. She did miss the days where she was blissfully unaware of everything going on.
She dried her hair and stuck it up in a ponytail, running a hand through the dark strands. Having long hair had become a foreign idea to her. It was almost comforting.
Quickly applying some makeup she left the room, closing the door behind her and walking into the kitchen. They appeared to be in a apartment, since the kitchen and living room were open-concept right when she entered the space. Not a space, actually. More like her 'home'.

If she could even learn to call it that.

Ward was bustling around in the kitchen, scraping scrambled eggs off a pan onto two plates, alongside some bacon. She breathed in the smell, and it was kind of amazing. Besides the fact that she was starving, Ward appeared to be a good cook.
She never had a boyfriend make breakfast for her. Despite being freaked out over just about everything that was happening, it was oddly touching as well.

"Breakfast is served," Ward grinned. He slid a plate over the island Daisy was sitting on. It was connected to a beige marble counter with white wooden cabinets. It was so domestic-y and unlike anything she was used to. But even despite the aroma, her stomach was stuck between empty and full, and after feeling like she could eat anything, at the end there was no appetite to be found. She nibbled on a piece of bacon but left the rest of her plate unscathed. Ward noticed, and she noticed that he did. Another frown like the one she saw in the bedroom had made an appearance.
He ate his breakfast quietly, and she could see thoughts turning in his mind. She wished she could take them out of his head, all the false memories too. He wouldn't remember her and she could just go on her way saving everyone and finding Simmons. But removing whatever virtual creation implanted in Ward's brain was just about as possible as plucking the stars out of sky.

Trying for a bit of normalcy, she cleared their plates, rinsing and sticking them into a dishwasher, a nice one at that. This place must have been expensive, she thought.
She heard a jingle of keys as Ward grabbed them off the small hook by the door. A leather jacket hung on a hook and after starting the dishwasher she took it, slipping it on and swinging the door open.
Just as she was about to go outside Ward grabbed her arm. Not forcefully, but firm enough that she turned around in surprise.
"Are you certain you're okay?" His other hand reached for her other arm as he pulled her closer.
"I-I'm fine. Just a bad headache, you know?" She smiled weakly. His eyes roved around her face, searching for more. She prayed to god he'd find nothing. And she didn't even believe in god.
"Okay," he said slowly, "but if you need anything...."
"I'll tell you," she closed her eyes briefly and nodded along.

She could see through his guard, she learned how to after all that time spent by his side. No reassuring smiles could confirm that he wasn't going to be worried or frustrated that something could be wrong.
"Good," He said. He almost let go, almost relieved her of this conflict that battled through her brain and heart. He instead leaned down and kissed her. It was light and chaste, and shot her nerves to hell.

Because above everything, she had forgotten the feel of his lips on hers.

His broke away, their dance left unfinished; after all, they had work to do. But he looked at her, still with eyes like searchlights, however this time he drank her features in like it would be the last time he saw her.
"I love you," he breathed. She knew he must've said this before. They wouldn't have first said it here, if anything. This was a casual place, only another doorstep they walked through.
But he said it with so much meaning. She knew that somewhere in all that falseness, he must've promised himself to love her every day, even in the oddest of places.

Her heart clenched, and for some reason tears wanted to come even though they didn't exist. They can't anymore.
"I love you too," she whispered, her hands smoothing over his chest.

They stood there like that, longer than they should have, because as she mentioned before, they had a text to act on.
But for that little while, nostalgia took over, until with finality she broke away and followed him into the car.

•••

Hey I'm back!
It's been forever.

If you (somehow) didn't notice, I dropped out of writing this fanfiction for a bit because my hope for skyeward had begun to fully die out, causing me to lose inspiration. It didn't make me ship them any less, but my desire to write about them definitely decreased.
I was kind of waiting for it to come back, so I would write some drafts and delete them and all that jazz.
But somehow life decided to bless me with more canon skyeward that I thought was gone three seasons ago, so hallelujah. I shall show you this meme so you can understand my excitement:

.... anyway, I'm excited to be back, and I hope you'll enjoy his!

Please comment and vote, tell me if I've made any spelling or grammatical errors, and let me know if I should make a part two!

:)