Epilogue Chapter Six

Within a month of starting at our new job, Grant and I were leading our own group. We welcomed new adventurers every day, and we were in charge of keeping them safe and giving them the experience of a life time. Jumping out of a plane three times a day kept us from ever being bored. Six months since being hired, and we were both flying higher than ever. Literally.

"Alright, we've just got the one group today," Grant noted as we got ready.

"You gonna tell me yet why it was so important that we leave early today?"

"Nope. Guess you'll just have to wait and see."

"Ugh. Fine." I sighed. "Okay, here comes our first and only group. Ready?"

"Ready."

I turned to greet our crew of adventure seekers, trying to ignore my curiosity about whatever Grant was up to.

"Hey guys! Welcome to Pacific Coast Skydiving! Who's ready for the adventure of a lifetime?" I asked.

The crowd of people cheered, and Grant joined us with a stack of safety gear.

"Alright, before we go up, we need to go over some safety stuff. Fun as this is, it's no joke, and the best way to have fun is to be safe," I continued.

Grant took over the briefing while I went to make sure the pilot was ready. After years of practice with me, he had the mentor teach-y thing down.

When I got back to the staging area, Grant had just finished helping everyone suit up.

"Alright, are we all ready in here?" I asked. Grant gave me a thumbs up as all the tourists nodded. "Great! Then LET'S GO!"

Everyone cheered and we headed for the plane. Our job was always easier when none of the customers were being forced to jump by friends or family.

We got up in the air quickly, and I could see the ocean out of the plane's window. We were over the drop zone.

One of the other instructors opened the plane's door, and I leaned over to Grant.

"This job never gets old!" I yelled over the wind.

"This was definitely one of the best ideas you've had."

I smiled, then turned to link up with the person I was jumping with. She was young, and she looked beyond excited.

"Is this your first jump?" I asked.

"Yeah!"

"Are you excited?"

"Hell yeah!"

"That's awesome!" I laughed. "Maybe one day you'll be doing my job!"

"Oh my gosh, that'd be a dream come true!"

"Dude, go for it! Keep practicing, the world needs more skydiving instructors! What's your name?"

"Angelica!"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Samantha!"

"Nice to meet you too!" She smiled, and then it was our turn to jump.

"You ready?"

She nodded eagerly, and we leaned forward until we were falling through the air.

"Woohoo!" I yelled. The wind ripped the words out of my mouth, carrying them away. The air rushing past on all sides was the only sound you could hear when you jumped, which meant I couldn't hear any of the first-time jumpers screaming.

Judging by their faces though, they were yelling at the top of their lungs and having a blast.

We fell for a while, then finally, I pulled our chute. The noise of the wind died down, and I could hear Angelica scream-laughing.

"That was amazing!"

"I know right! Trust me, you'll never get tired of that rush."

We floated gently down, and I landed us safely on the beach.

"Wow," said Angelica, a huge smile still on her face as I unhooked our parachute. "That's the most amazing thing I've ever done in my life."

I laughed. "Isn't it? So, you still think you want to be an instructor?"

"Definitely!"

"Great! Maybe I'll be jumping with you someday."

She laughed. "That'd be cool. Thanks for taking us up!"

"Sure thing! Best job in the world."

"For real. Have a good rest of your day!"

"You too!" I smiled and waved as she headed off with the rest of her group, and she returned the gesture.

"You made another new friend?" asked Grant, coming over to stand next to me.

"Yup. Her name's Angelica, and she might be doing this job with us one day."

Grant smiled and shook his head. "Making friends and recruiting? You don't waste time."

"Nope. Now let's go! I've been dying to find out what's so important that we're leaving the best job in the world early!"

"Be patient, Slater," said Grant, taking my hand and starting for our car. His voice sounded funny when he said it though, so I squinted at him. He didn't look at me, but I couldn't tell if the reason was casual or suspicious.

"Can you at least give me a hint?" Grant shook his head, so I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Guess I'll just have to be surprised."

****************

I was definitely surprised.

Grant and I went around the city for the rest of the day, doing a bunch of my favorite things. We window-shopped puppies, had a picnic in the park, then rode bikes and got ice cream. It had already been the perfect day when we got home for dinner, and my curiosity was killing me! I'd already double checked that I hadn't forgotten my own birthday.

"Okay, you won't tell me what all of this is about, but will you answer one question?" I asked.

"Depends on what the question is."

"What's for dinner?" I asked, grinning and jumping up to sit on the counter.

"Fresh salmon, caesar salad, and butternut squash."

"Oh my gosh, that sounds perfect! Just like everything else today! Can you please tell me what all this is about?"

"Maybe I just want to have a special night," Grant said, dodging my question and distracting me with a kiss. I smiled.

"Alright whatever..." I gave up, and watched Grant get the fish from the fridge. "You know, that's one of the perks of living here. We can get nice, fresh fish literally anytime."

"Yeah, that's the best thing about living here," Grant teased.

"Oh shush. I said it was a perk, not the best thing."

Grant smirked and started prepping the fish. I hopped off the counter and leaned over his shoulder.

"Need any help?"

Grant shook his head. "I've got cooking covered. I just need the skillet."

"Great." I pulled out the skillet and set it next to Grant, then hopped back up on the counter. "I'll be moral support then."

"Cooking moral support?"

"Yup."

"How does that work?"

"Great job drying that fish, you're off to a great start. You'd kill at Iron Chef Gauntlet."

Grant laughed and shook his head. "Is this going to keep up?"

"Oh yeah! Nice job with the seasoning, that's flavor good enough to Beat Bobby Flay."

"Thanks Slater."

****************

"You're cooking the fish so well, you're really bringing the heat in this Cutthroat Kitchen."

"Okay, now you're pushing it."

****************

"Oh. My. Gosh. The plating. You'd win Chopped."

"Go sit down," Grant ordered, failing to hide his smile. He picked up both our plates and brought them to the table, and it looked delicious.

"Thanks Grant. It looks amazing!"

"You're welcome. And I know, I heard you compare it to Chopped."

"Yeah, that's high praise!"

Grant paused, then looked up. "I'm starting to think we watch too much Food Network."

"Pft. That's crazy talk."

"Whatever you say." He paused and poked the fish with his fork. "So Slater, I've been thinking...

"We've been living here for a while, and we found a job that we can actually keep. I love the life we've built, and I love you."

I smiled and put my hand on Grant's arm.

"I love you, too."

Grant returned my smile, although it looked a little off, and continued.

"Since I met you, I've been happier than ever before. You help me see the joy in life and look at things beyond the mission. You know me better than anyone else, and I want to share everything with you. I love you more than anything in the world, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Grant took a deep breath, moving to kneel beside the table. My hand shot to my mouth. Was this actually happening?

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes! Grant, of course, yes," I exclaimed, barely managing to wait for him to finish the question. Tears streamed down my face as I fell to the floor and hugged him. We'd come so far from my first day at the academy, and no matter how hard some of the road had been, I wouldn't change a thing.

"I'm so relieved you said yes," he sighed when we finally broke apart.

"I'm so glad you asked!" Grant smiled, running his hand down my arm to hold my left hand and slip the ring on my finger. I smiled at the sight.

Grant wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to my feet with him before kissing me. In that moment, I knew we were right where we were supposed to be. And there was no place I'd rather be than here, with my fiancé.

************

After Grant proposed, everything seemed to go by in a blur. We called Coulson and the team to tell them, and to let them know that we were officially making our retirement permanent.

That doesn't mean we didn't get to see the team anymore though. We made it clear we wanted them to visit at every opportunity they got, and they took us up on the invitation often.

They had a lot of drama and problems going on with new and old teammates, so Grant and I decided to postpone the wedding until everyone could come. It didn't feel right to do it without our closest friends who had become family.

Finally, the day came. Simmons and Daisy (that's what Skye was going by now) were both my Maids of Honor, and Fitz was Grant's Best Man. Coulson fulfilled the duties of Father of the Bride, and May took over duties of Mother of the Bride—I don't think any of us predicted her tactical training being used for wedding planning, but it was definitely a good use!

After the ceremony, we all danced and laughed until well past midnight, just enjoying being in each other's company. Yeah, we all still had problems, some of them pretty big, but for a few hours, we could forget about that and just be a family.

When it came time for the bouquet and garter toss, Grant and I had a tactical plan in place. We gave secret hand signals and aimed for Fitz and Simmons, and of course we were successful. The matching blush on both their faces was adorable.

All of our friends came to the wedding, including Cole, Chris, and the new members of the SHIELD team (who were awesome, by the way). But, as the party died down, it was just the original seven of us left, sitting on a balcony looking out at San Diego.

"I'm glad you guys finally got to this point," said Daisy absentmindedly as we all watched the sunset (yes, we'd been awake that long).

"Me too," I sighed, squeezing Grant's hand.

"Took is long enough," he laughed.

"Yeah, and hopefully there's a few more couples who'll be following us soon," I added, giving Coulson and May, and Fitz and Simmons the side eyes.

All four of them looked mildly embarrassed, but Daisy grinned from ear to ear and mouthed I'll work on it.

We sat like that for a long time, just enjoying being together. The team would have to leave soon, to deal with all kinds of problems, but none of us wanted this moment to end.

Finally, as the sun came all the way up, Coulson sighed.

"We have to get going."

"Yeah."

Still, none of us moved for another minute. Then Coulson stood. He was director now, so he had to set a good example.

"I'll miss you guys so much," I said, standing to pull each person into a bear hug.

"We'll miss you too," agreed Simmons.

"But don't worry, we'll make sure to keep in touch," added Fitz. They'd grown up so much, but they still completed each other, even when speaking.

"You've always made a great team. I know you're only gonna get more impressive," said May with a smile, giving us both a hug. She'd really started changing too, coming further and further out of her emotional shell.

"Keep him in line Samantha," joked Daisy. "And don't get too crazy on your honeymoon."

I face palmed and turned bright red, which made Daisy laugh like crazy. True friendship.

Finally, I got to Phil.

"We'll meet you inside," said Grant, walking off the balcony with the rest of the team. He knew how much like a dad Phil had been to me, and I appreciated him giving us a minute without the rest of the team watching.

"I'm so proud of you," said Phil, pulling me into a hug. I started crying into his shoulder, but they were happy tears. "You've come so far since I first met you, but you're still the same good person you were when you started."

"Thank you for recruiting me, and seeing whatever you saw. I am where I am because of you. You're like a dad to me."

I wasn't sure, but I thought he might have been crying a little. These people were my family, and I loved them so, so much.

"Promise me you'll come visit all the time," I said as we broke apart.

"I promise."

"And promise me you'll start dating May soon."

Coulson laughed. "We'll see."

We walked back inside together to rejoin the rest of our family. Grant and I waved as Coulson, May, Daisy, Fitz, and Simmons left; we knew they'd be back soon.

For now though, it was just me and Grant, together forever, against everything else. And that was perfect.