I don't own Agents of SHIELD nor will I ever. No copyright infringement intended.
Fifteen year old Grant Ward sat at the table as he awaited a visitor - something he had been informed by his parents' lawyer he would never get again. They had washed their hands of him and he had nothing left. He still didn't regret his actions - Christian had hurt their little sister quite badly and he couldn't let that stand. And as per usual, his parents covered up the abuse and nobody believed him when Grant tried to tell them. He felt like a piece of shit, someone who'd never be able to escape this life. And he was stuck here for the time being so he couldn't really picture a future anyway. And what the fuck did this visitor want? He sighed and stared down at the table. He felt it shake as his apparent visitor sat down. "Hello, Grant. It's nice to meet you."
He refused to look up. "What do you want?"
"I'm here to make you an offer. Please look up at me. Can you do that?" Victoria Hand questioned.
He looked up at her and glared. "Who are you?"
She smiled at the teenager despite the scowl on his face. "I'm Agent Victoria Hand, and I'm here to help you get out of this place."
"Yeah, how? Are you the fucking FBI or something?" He had enough of this bullshit and just wanted to be left alone. It was what he deserved.
"Kid, you and I are going to get along swimmingly. And why the fuck did I just say swimmingly?" Victoria shook her head. "Anyway, no, I'm not with the FBI. I work with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, otherwise known as SHIELD. I want to give you a chance to be the good man I know you can be."
"Lady, I don't know why you think I'm a good fit for this SHIELD but you've got the wrong person. I've never been a good man and never will be." Grant couldn't believe this. Who the fuck did she think she was?
Victoria sighed. "You're shit out of luck because I'm not going to give up on you. It is up to you whether or not you take my offer but I can make sure you have a better life. You won't ever have to worry about that abusive bastards you call a family again."
"And what about my brother and sister? I'm leaving Thomas and Rose alone with them," Grant told her, starting to wonder if he really should take her up on this offer. It seemed too good to be true, though - nothing ever went right in his life. He felt partially to blame for most of it, however.
"We'll make sure that your siblings are safe. SHIELD and I refuse to let them stay in that house any longer. We're going to make your parents an offer they can't refuse and they'd be fools not to take them up on it. Grant, there are no ulterior motives here."
He considered her for a second before tentatively asking, "But where would I go?"
"You'll come live in my apartment. My girlfriend will be pretty excited to meet you." Izzy would probably be mad at first but she'd come around, especially once she knew the full story.
Grant stared at his hands for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do and panicking just a bit. Victoria waited patiently, hoping to be able to convince the teenager that she wasn't about to give up on him. Finally, he stopped stalling and looked at her once more. "I'll go with you," he agreed with a touch of fear in his voice.
About to grab his shoulder to squeeze it, Victoria thought better about that action and beamed at him. "You're not going to regret this at all. Come on, pick up what you have, change out of your clothes, and let's get the fuck out of here."
His grin was forced but a still excited Grant bobbed his head. "Sounds good to me," he shyly replied.
After flying on a quinjet, an amazed Grant ignored his nausea (thanks, motion sickness) and stared in amazement the entire trip to D.C. They made their way to Victoria's apartment just half an hour later. "Izzy may or may not be home right now - she was out on a mission last time we talked but that was a while ago." Victoria unlocked the door and wasn't shocked when she saw Izzy eating dinner at the kitchen table.
Izzy looked back and forth between the two of them for a few seconds before finally breaking the silence. "Who is this? Did you bring home another stray, Vic?" she teased.
Victoria rolled her eyes and went to answer but Grant got there first. "Grant Ward. Nice to meet you, Ma'am."
"Don't start on that ma'am shit. It makes me feel old as hell but it's nice to meet you too. I'm Isabelle Hartley but you can call me Izzy. Welcome to your new home!"
Izzy was taking this a lot better than Victoria thought she would. Most likely because she understood why this was happening. "We'll need to get you set up at some point, Grant, but for tonight, you can sleep on the fold-out couch."
A dog suddenly flew out of the main bedroom and ran straight towards Grant. "Hi, big guy. Who are you?" the suddenly delighted teenager asked.
It was the most life Victoria had seen out of the boy since she met him, and she was forever grateful the dog had woken him up a bit. "This is Buddy. We adopted him a few years ago. I'm surprised how well he's taken to you - he usually hates strangers."
Grant leaned down and started petting Buddy. "That's okay - I do too. Guess that means we'll get along just fine." He laughed when the dog started licking him.
With Grant's attention draw elsewhere, Izzy drew Victoria to her side and kissed her girlfriend. "I want to be mad at you but I can't. Guess we've adopted a kid!"
Victoria snorted as she leaned against her. "I guess so!"
"Tell me about our life-changing news before you bring a kid home, will ya?" Izzy playfully shot back.
"Will do."
And the new family of four settled in for their first night together.
When Grant graduated from the Academy, Victoria and Izzy couldn't stop shouting in excitement. "You two are embarrassing me," he complained with a smile on his face.
"That's what we're supposed to do as your parents, Grant Douglas. Don't test us," Izzy told him as she wrapped her arms around both him and Victoria.
His beam could have lit up the hallway and let out a breath as he tried to prepare himself for what he wanted to say. He choked and went with something easy instead. "I can't believe I'm a real SHIELD agent now. This is fucking surreal."
"You did it, and we're so proud of you, baby. I always knew you could so don't ever doubt yourself. Like I said the day I met you, you're a good man." Damn it, why the fuck why was she tearing up? Victoria hated emotions.
"I think you broke her," an amused Izzy told their son.
Grant patted her shoulder and then finally worked up his courage, tears forming in his eyes. "Thank you for believing in me, for finding me that day. I love you both." He choked then, having never been able to say the words before.
Izzy and Victoria both started crying then. "What the fuck," Izzy sobbed.
"I don't know why this is happening either. But we love you too, Grant. Don't you ever forget it." Victoria wiped the tears off her face and the three of them hugged.
"You'll get started as soon as possible. Congratulations, Agent Ward." Damn it, Izzy didn't want to cry again. Fucking parenthood.
That's when someone strolled up to them. "Hello, Agent Ward. I'm Jeffrey Mace and I'm looking forward to working with you." The two of them shook hands and then they all talked for a little while about lay ahead for Grant. He soon departed and left them alone again.
When SHIELD fell, Grant tried frantically to get in touch with his mothers. It took Izzy six hours to finally call him back. "I'm on a ship, of all things, but I'm safe," Izzy assured him.
"You're sure?" he pressed, his hands shaking.
"I'm sure. I'm making my way back to D.C. and I'll meet up with you at our safe house. Take care of yourself. I don't want you to die."
"Have you heard from Hunter yet?" Last he knew, the mercenary was out of the country but it didn't hurt to ask.
"Not yet but it'll be fine. I"m not going to give up on anything yet. Call me as soon as you find Vic, okay?" Izzy couldn't shake the bad feeling overtaking her but she tried to blame it on the shitstorm they were currently stuck in.
"I will," Grant promised before they hung up. He made his way to the Triskelion, amazingly still standing after the events of the day. Chaos reigned as he went inside and bodies lay everywhere. Fear gripped him as he ran up to Victoria's office. He found her on the floor, bloodied and in pain. "Grant?" she moaned.
"Oh fuck." He dropped to his knees and grabbed her hand. "Mom?" he asked, not realizing what he had just said.
She smiled and then started choking, blood dribbling out of her mouth. "I wish you hadn't found me like this. I didn't want you to see me die, but I'm glad you're here. I'm so glad I found you that day. You are not a bad man, Grant Douglas. You're good and I wish you'd see that."
"Please," Grant begged as his whole body began shaking.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. We'll get you to a hospital and they'll fix you right up." God, Grant couldn't believe this was happening.
"Tell Iz that I love her." Victoria's breath rattled in her chest, and Grant felt like throwing up. Why was this happening? Why was everything falling apart around them?
"Mom, please," he tried again just as her eyes closed for the first time. He rocked back on his heels and started sobbing.
He wasn't sure how much time passed but eventually Jeffrey found him. "Grant, we need to go. Hydra's overtaking the building."
"My mom," was all Grant could say.
"I'm sorry, kid. But we need to get out of here," Jeffrey gently told him.
"I'm not leaving her here." The glazed look in Grant's eyes worried Jeffrey.
"We're not going to, bud." He picked up Victoria's cold body and pushed Grant out of the building. They made their way to the safe house.
Izzy showed up less than half an hour after they did and stared in horror at her girlfriend's boyfriend. "No!" she cried out.
Sitting on the floor next to the couch, Grant's body shook with sobs as Jeffrey unsuccessfully tried to calm him down. "Mom," he choked out.
Izzy's knees buckled and Jeffrey helped her sit down next to her son. Izzy drew Grant into a hug and they grieved for Victoria together.
Grant joined the Resistance and went undercover with Hydra. Less than two months into the new job, Hydra ordered him to pick up someone trying to hack into their servers. "Hey, what up?" the girl asked.
Grant stared at her, unimpressed. "We're taking you in."
"Good. I have some questions I need answers to. I'm Skye. Who the fuck are you?"
Grant rolled his eyes. "I'm Grant Ward. Nice to meet you, I guess. Let's go." He scowled at Skye and then led her into a car.
"I want to know what this girl wants. Find out," Melinda ordered.
"I will." But instead, the two of them battled it out and it ended with Skye joining Hydra. "I just want to find my parents," she explained to him over drinks one night.
"My parents were abusive," Grant admitted, not sure why he trusted her enough to open up to her. "Victoria Hand found me and saved me. She died when SHIELD fell, and she always thought I could be a good man. I'm not sure I believe her, even now, and it makes me feel guilty. She was my mom, you know? I haven't seen my other mom in a long time. I miss her. It hasn't been the same since Victoria died."
She put her hand on his. "I'm sorry about your mom. And for what it's worth, I think you are a good man," Skye replied.
He looked into her eyes and the two leaned forward at the same time. They started to make out, and from then on, they were inseparable. Grant and Skye fell head over heels in love with each other and it was them against the world. Grant felt guilty for not telling her that he was involved with the Resistance (he thought maybe she had her suspicions, however) but he couldn't risk exposing them or her safety, especially once he found out she had the Inhuman gene.
Then the world flipped upside down when Skye changed overnight and he discovered that this world somehow wasn't real. "It feels real," he told Skye (who kept insisting that he call her Daisy but he pretended he didn't hear) after her rescue.
"I know, and you're a better man in this world. It's going to suck to have to leave you behind," she reluctantly admitted as she waved her arms around and the lights suddenly shattered. "Fuck." Shockingly, her Framework powers were different - instead of controlling vibrations, Skye was now telekinetic.
He laughed. "I'm sorry about all of this. I can't believe I murdered my mom in the other world." Grant had fallen apart after Jemma coldly informed him of that fact. It had been a staggering realization.
"I tore into Jemma for telling you like that and made her promise not to do it again. I really appreciate you helping us, by the way," Skye told him.
He shrugged. "It's what I do," Grant told her, waving her off. He was dealing with a lot - Jeffrey's death was still heavily weighing on him, and the grief kept creeping up on him at inopportune moments.
"So, you ready for this, Director Ward?" Skye asked. Jeffrey's death had saddened her but she hadn't been able to stop laughing upon being informed that as his second in command, Grant was now in charge of the Resistance.
Grant shivered. "Fuck, that was weird." He then looked up at her. "You may not be my Skye but I just want to tell you that I love you anyway, and I'll do anything to make sure you and your friends get out of here."
Acting on instinct, Skye leaned up and kissed him. "Thank you."
He blinked. "Did you just Star Wars me?" he asked, cracking up.
Skye rolled her eyes. "Oh my God, you fucking dork." She liked this Grant Ward and understood why her other self had fallen in love with him.
Her world crashed down on her one more time when Grant took a bullet (shot by Fitz!) for her to the chest. "I'm sorry," he murmured, stroking her cheek as sobs overtook her.
Unsure of why she was crying, Skye could only hold his hand as she watched him die. "Don't be sorry."
Jemma watched from a distance, unsure of why she was so upset. "I'm tired," Grant confessed.
Skye felt a little numb. "It's okay, Grant. I love you," she whispered to him, knowing in her heart that it was true. He smiled at her right before his eyes closed for the final time.
It wasn't easy but the team made their way back to the real world, and Skye finally grieved for both versions of the man she loved and lost. Surprisingly, Jemma offered comfort first since she had spent the most time with Framework Ward.
Weeks later, Grant Ward's eyes flew open and his hand flew to his chest. Even though his shirt was still soaked with blood, the injury had disappeared. And when he stumbled onto a door of all things, he opened it and stepped into a new world.