I don't own Agents of SHIELD nor will I ever. No copyright infringement intended.
Warnings: Some emotional abuse.
Grant did not want to face his family again but he sucked it up and pretended like everything was okay, just as he always had. He should have realized that faking his parents and Christian's deaths would come back to bite him in the ass sooner or later but stupidly chose to ignore it. It had worked out (somewhat) well for him in the past. Besides, they were only passing through on their way to the next safe house and had only requested a visit to see where he worked. And hey, at least he had the team by his side even though most of them were still furious with him.
Skye stood on her tip toes to kiss her boyfriend, grinned, and then ran her fingers through his thick hair. "I'll kick their asses if they start shit," she promised.
His body shook with laughter but he stopped the instant the car pulled up to the doors. Two of the Koenigs - Greg and Tim - pulled the bags off their heads as soon as they got out. "Well, that was disturbing!" sniped Linda Ward.
Her husband rolled his eyes. "We know what we getting into when we agreed to this, Linda."
She glared at Douglas. "I didn't agree to being blindfolded, Doug."
Christian looked like he was ready to murder both of them but he ignored them and strolled up to his younger brother. "You look good, Grant." And then he pulled him in for a hug.
Grant cringed and didn't relax until Christian let him go. "It's nice to see you again." Although he and his older brother had worked through their issues at the well, Grant couldn't trust him, not after everything he had been put through (abuse, the voice of his therapist reminded him).
Thomas and Rose - whose deaths had been faked later so Hydra wouldn't go after them once they realized Grant had turned on them - looked around awkwardly. "Can we get this tour started, please?" Rose politely requested.
"The sooner we can get out of here, the better," chimed in Thomas.
Coulson greeted them as soon as they came in. He didn't exactly like or trust Linda, Douglas, or Christian but he wanted to see how the Ward family interacted with each other (and he was supposed to give a report to Grant's therapist later). "It's nice to meet all of you. I hope you find today's tour fascinating."
"You look like a dork," Rose teased Grant before they started walking down the hallway.
"Between the bad puns and his love for history, he is one. I'm Agent Skye, your brother's girlfriend," she explained.
Christian nodded approvingly at Grant, who ignored him. "My son, the murderer, has a girlfriend? How quaint." Linda looked both unimpressed and scandalized at the same time.
Skye itched to punch her but Grant touching her arm pulled her back. She would not hurt him like this just because the woman who called herself his mother was pissing her off. "He's a specialist so it's kind of his job description." Skye realized Linda was talking about his actions for Hydra but she deliberately misinterpreted the comments just so she could see how the older woman would react.
"And what an interesting job it is. I had high hopes for you, Grant Douglas." Douglas looked disappointed as he took in the Playground.
"Come on, Father, he's a government agent," Rose pointed out. "That's a pretty amazing job if you ask me."
Skye and Grant both appreciated what she was trying to do and she gave Rose a thumb's up when no one was looking. Rose returned it with a smile. "This is our headquarters, where we do all our work."
Linda didn't like Skye so she decided to get right to the point. "Are you a gold digger? Because I'm sorry to tell you this but Grant was disowned after he set the fire that nearly killed our Christian. He has nothing."
Skye was so pissed she nearly started an earthquake but she refrained because it wasn't worth it. "Grant has his own money and I love him. That's why I'm with him."
"You've done pretty well for yourself." Douglas frantically tried to change the subject because his head had already started pounding and he didn't need this aggravation.
That's when Jemma joined him. "I'd love to take you on a tour of the labs. Isn't science exciting?" she gushed.
A bored Linda only sighed and followed the others into the lab. "I'm Fitz. It's nice to … um, meet you."
The jolt of guilt that went through Grant when his friend stumbled over his words wasn't new but it rose up a little with his family in close contact.
"So this is what we're paying the government for? Or used to, anyway. I could think of better uses for my money." Linda sniffed.
Jemma and Skye exchanged furious glances that went unnoticed by Grant but not Rose. "Science was always one of my best subjects in school so this is fascinating." Rose hoped changing the subject would work because she could tell how quickly this was falling apart and that Grant looked like he was about to come apart at the seams.
"You don't have to worry about it anymore since we're privately funded at the moment," Grant muttered through gritted teeth. He couldn't deal with this, with seeing them all at once. It was sending him right back to the horror that had been his childhood.
"You were always worthless anyway so why should I be surprised that you still are?" Linda questioned, sighing deeply.
Even though she was still so furious she could barely stand to be in the same room as Grant, Jemma's mouth dropped open. "He is not useless! He is a good man who made some terrible choices and is trying to fix his mistakes." She was surprised to find she meant that and noted to herself to tell him that once these horrible people were gone.
Skye chose not to react when Grant grabbed her hand and wouldn't let go. "You're fine," she reassured him.
"I'm a better person now." He had to reassure himself of that or Grant wouldn't believe it.
"We should continue the tour," Coulson said. Deep down, he was secretly wishing that Grant actually had killed these people that day so they didn't have to be stuck with them for years. He wasn't sure how any of the Ward children had survived the hell they had gone through if this was a fraction of their experience.
Jemma followed them out and didn't quell the sudden urge to protect Grant from his family. She'd step up to the plate and help him any way she could.
"Seems stifling in here," Douglas suddenly commented, looking around with distaste.
"It's actually pretty big. Nice to meet you. I'm Bobbi Morse." Bobbi caught them all off guard with her sudden appearance as Fitz also bounded up to them after Jemma hastily sent him a text telling him to join them.
Grant couldn't deal with all of this and knew he had already started to spiral again. It felt like he was on the edge of falling into the abyss and that he wouldn't be able to make his way out of rock bottom again. Why had he agreed to this when Coulson approached him? He should have said no and moved on with his life. "Bobbi's one of our best agents."
"Probably better than you." That came from Linda and Skye finally snapped.
"What the fuck is your problem? What is the matter with you that you feel the constant need to deride your son? Do you even care that he was kidnapped and abused by a psychopath for fifteen years? He went through hell because of you and Christian."
Christian went to defend himself but he backed down when Rose shook her head. "Mom, what do you have to say to that?"
It didn't even phase her. "Honestly, it's his own fault for burning down the house. And he's a murderer so he got what he deserved."
And all of Grant's insecurities came rushing back like a tidal wave. And with her expressing everything he had thought of himself before, he felt like it was true. "Can we please just let this go?" He needed the fucking tour to be over so he could hide in his bedroom for a few days and pretend the outside world didn't exist.
"Let's go!" Bobbi tried to play off Linda's comments cheerfully but she could tell no one was buying it.
"I like this place," Thomas admitted, hoping a subject change would help ease the tension.
Rose hated that she had been forced to spend this much time with her parents and Christian and hoped Director Coulson could send her somewhere else next time so she didn't have to put up with their shit. "I could spend hours here," she marveled.
Grant's feet felt heavier and stuck in place every time they continued to walk down the numerous hallways.
"Are we going to see the bedrooms?" Linda inquired.
Jemma's eyes widened when Grant immediately tensed up and froze. Oh fuck. Oh fuck no. "Those are off limits since they're private quarters," she jumped in.
None of the others except for Bobbi noticed. "We'll help Ward and make sure this doesn't traumatize him further," she whispered to Jemma.
"Good." She was not going to let these horrible fucks destroy Grant any further. He didn't deserve this.
Skye leaned up and pressed a kiss to Grant's forehead. "You are amazing."
He didn't feel amazing - Grant felt like shit actually - but he appreciated his girlfriend trying to help. He didn't deserve her or the team and never had. "Thanks. You're the amazing one."
Skye let out an oomph when she realized the other Wards had stopped. "A little warning next time!" she snapped.
Ready to wrap the tour up to get these people the fuck off his base, Coulson smiled at them. "Do you want to tour our cells? There are currently prisoners there."
"We should sneak down to Vault D for some sex later," Skye teased Grant, hoping to make him left.
"I'm right here!" Fitz hissed.
"Let them make their 'secret' sex plans, Fitz." That came from Bobbi who shrugged when they stared at her.
"You and Lance like to fuck in cars," an amused Jemma pointed out.
Bobbi floundered to find a response to that and eventually gave up. "Eh," she shrugged.
"Can you refrain from discussing this in front of us?" Linda glared at them all.
"I thought it was funny. Lighten up, Mother." Rose loved her some sex jokes and needed to breathe. She definitely needed a life away from them.
"Let's go already." A frustrated Christian blew out a breath and wondered how Grant was doing since he was close to losing it himself. His sweet, sensitive brother had never been able to handle their family very well and that's one of the reasons he had gone after him in the first place. He regretted it now but couldn't take back his actions.
They all filed down the steps. "This is pretty interesting," Thomas said once they laid eyes on the cell.
The cracks in Grant's mind only continue to widen by the minute so he struggled to find a response and couldn't come up with anything. "I enjoyed my time down here," he lied.
"This is where you were? Nice digs?" Rose tried but the joke didn't land.
"Why don't we visit the kitchen next? It's where we eat most of our meals!" Coulson hurried them back upstairs and headed towards the kitchen.
May took one of them look at them all and rolled her eyes. "Why did your tour bring them here, Phil?"
"For several reasons." But he didn't elaborate and she really didn't care so she let it go.
"Melinda May. I'm going to the gym." And then she walked away.
"Woman of few … um … words." Fitz didn't blame her at all for getting the hell out of dodge because he wanted to do the same but Jemma refused to let him escape.
Coulson ushered all the Wards through the rest of the base and then sent them packing. "Enjoyable. I hope to never repeat the experience again." Linda glared and then got in the car.
"Son, I am proud of the man you became despite your checkered past." Douglas smiled and then joined his wife.
"Okay, big bro, I hope to hear that you and Skye are getting married soon because I want an invite to the wedding. She's good for you." Rose held in her gasp when Grant unexpectedly hugged her.
Thomas struggled to come up with something to say before he decided to just go ahead. "Grant, you're my big brother and while I understand that Christian put you through hell, I can't forgive you for what you did to me. I'm sorry."
Grant teared up before he could stop it and just nodded in response as his voice broke. "I understand, Thomas. No big deal." He still blamed himself so it was no wonder Thomas did too.
"Now we can move on." Thomas waved and followed Rose into the back seat.
"We're your family and you don't need them." Skye wanted to rip the smug smile off Linda's face but she refrained for Grant's sake. He needed her and right now, he was her priority.
"Baby, they're the worthless ones and don't know what they're missing. You're ours and no one can take you away from us," Bobbi told him.
He blinked at her and wiped the tears off his cheeks. "You're about the same age as me, Bobbi."
"That doesn't matter. You need us and we're here for you." Bobbi smiled at Grant. "As long as we're around, no one is going to hurt you like they did today. Aside from Rose, the rest of them can go fuck themselves."
"She's right. They're the ones with the problem, not you." Jemma hoped she was helping but she could tell they weren't getting through to him.
"I'm going to take a nap because I'm pretty tired. I'll see you all later." Grant didn't intend on leaving the bed for a long time but they didn't need to know that.
"I'll join you soon." Skye winked but he didn't laugh like he usually did as he left and that worried her. Her bangs blew up when she let out a breath. "Fuck, he's spiraling again." This wasn't unusual but she didn't like it when he was this lost in himself.
"We'll make sure that Ward knows we love him." Bobbi wished she hadn't held back on punching Linda like she wanted to.
"They aren't welcome back here again." Coulson didn't want them to take another step on this property after today.
"Good. Now I need to figure out a way to cheer up my boyfriend. Do you think I can do it with earthquake puns? He enjoys making them." Skye didn't want Grant to think he deserved what had happened to him today because he didn't. He wouldn't see it that way, of course, and she once again cursed John Garrett for breaking him even further.
"Tell him we're here for him if he wants to talk." Jemma needed a distraction and to figure out a way to tell Grant that she forgave him.
"I'll play poker with him," Fitz offered.
Skye smiled. "Thanks, guys. He'll appreciate that later when he's not spiraling."
She hurried to her room - the one she and Grant had been sharing for months - and was disappointed to find he wasn't there. So she skidded across the hall and opened the door, not surprised to find him facing the wall. "Hey, babe. You okay?"
"No," he reluctantly admitted. He had vowed to never lie to her again so he hated himself even more for his honesty.
She curled up beside him. "I know you aren't but you're going to be."
"I'm a monster and a weak, worthless piece of shit who never did anything right."
Skye gaped at his back. "Grant, look at me." She shook him until he turned to face her.
"I love you, Grant Douglas Ward. And I'll never lie to you either."
Grant sighed. "Nobody chooses me, Skye. They just get stuck with me."
"That's not true. We chose you. And Bobbi's going to mother hen you to death as soon as you let her. You've been through a lot and I know you're scared but you don't have to be."
Grant burrowed into her chest and Skye started rubbing circles on his back. "I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize for anything, babe."
"I love you, Skye." He never understood why she had given him another chance but he was thrilled and thankful she had.
"Just remember pieces solving a puzzle, okay? Our family forms the puzzle. You are safe and you are loved, Grant," she told him. And Skye would keep repeating those words until he believed them. Grant didn't have to worry about this happening ever again - they'd all make sure of it.