I don't own Agents of SHIELD and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Warning: Violence and abuse
After his somewhat spur of the moment choice to abduct Christian, Grant took off towards their old rebuilt home to find the proof of his brother's crimes he buried all those years ago. After picking the lock, Grant tied the unconscious man up in a chair. He paced back and forth for a long time, at a loss about his next step, when Christian made the decision for him. He groaned and his eyes fluttered open. His head snapped up and he immediately glared at Grant. The sudden, unwanted fear immobilized Grant.
A chuckling Christian just shook his head. "So you decided that kidnapping me was in your best interest after kidnapping me. Grant, you make some fucking shitty choices all the time, don't you? I'm still flabbergasted by your complete and utter stupidity and I don't know why."
Grant's body convulsed as anxiety and agitation swept through him. Playing this by ear left him completely unprepared for this chain of events. Terror rooted him in place as he faced his older brother. "I'm sorry," he whimpered.
"Your apologies mean jack squat, little brother. You're still as worthless as ever." Christian enjoyed the look of apprehension that flashed across his face.
Grant didn't and couldn't respond as his voice failed him. How could he deny it, anyway? Garrett always believed the same anyway so of course it was true. "You're going to pay, Christian," he finally responded.
He rolled his eyes. "I've never been afraid of you, kid. You're nothing to me – to anyone – so I don't know how you even became Hydra and killed some innocent people. I'm proud of you for that, though. At least you weren't a whining, sniveling baby while you did it. Too bad that's not true now."
Grant seized the tiny bit of courage he still had left and spat at him. "Fuck you!"
"You never learn your lesson, do you, Grant? Perhaps I should have left you to drown in that well, not poor little Thomas."
He screamed, dove towards the chair, and started punching Christian. "Don't you ever talk about him or Rose again!"
Unfortunately for Grant, toppling the chair loosened the ropes and Christian freed himself and began fighting back. This caught the specialist off guard and although he was stronger than his older brother, Grant couldn't move now that he was literally face to face with him. "What are you going to do to me? You failed again when you tried burning down the house because I escaped. That wasn't part of your plan, was it?"
Grant started coughing when Christian kicked him in his stomach. He rolled over and dully stared at the floor as his brother continued to kick him. He curled up in a ball but that pissed Christian off more – the senator squatted down and punched him in the face. "Stop," he pleaded.
"Stop," Christian mocked. "Thomas and Rose aren't here to go running to Mommy and Daddy Dearest anymore, Grant. Not that they ever really cared about you."
"Didn't care you about either," he choked out. Christian made him regret it when he aimed another kick at his abdomen. Grant spit out blood and turned over onto his back. His gaze turned to the ceiling. This was nothing compared to what Garrett did to him (to make him stronger) but he couldn't help the terror that overwhelmed him. He watched as Christian stepped out of the room and wondered if he should run but knew that would only serve to piss his older brother off more so he stayed there. Grant's eyes widened when Christian appeared over him with a knife in his hand.
"It's time I teach you another lesson, little brother."
Grant broke. "Please don't," he pleaded. "I'm sorry, I'll be good."
Christian couldn't believe his brother's audacity. "You were never good and everyone knew it. Why do you think little Rosie and poor Thomas haven't called since news broke of your involvement in Hydra? They don't give a shit about you."
He knew that was the truth and didn't deny it. "Tried to save them," Grant gasped.
Christian advanced on him and then hauled Grant up to his feet. "You know, I should have called 911 and told them about you but this is better. This way, I can have some fun with you before I 'bring you back into custody' and then put you on trial. You're going to die, Grant, executed for your horrendous crimes. The trial is of the century will get me re-elected."
Grant glared at him defiantly and refused to say a word. He bit his lip to hold in a whimper when Christian lightly drew the knife across his left cheek and blood welled up. He couldn't let him win but his silence only made his brother angrier. "I can fight back now," he bit out.
Christian made him immediately regret his act of defiance. He grabbed Grant's head and pulled it closer to him. "Not from where I'm standing," he hissed. "Now, are you done talking back?"
He nodded and wisely didn't say anything. Grant folded in on himself when his brother let go of his head and wrenched his right wrist. He let out a cry of pain – although he had a high pain tolerance, the action caught him off guard. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again." That had always worked before so it would work now, right?
Grant was wrong. He ignored the throbbing pain in his wrist and focused on Christian when he started speaking again. "How much did you tell your former team? I managed to convince Coulson that that the well was a lie and told him about the screwdriver."
"You forced me to do that," he responded.
"Yeah, but our parents didn't believe you. They never did, and that's why you eventually ended up in military school. Too bad that didn't stick."
Grant looked around the room, trying to find an escape route so he could find the evidence he buried but realized with a sinking hope that it wouldn't work. There was no way out of this. His shoulders slumped and he stared at the floor but his head snapped back up when Christian stuck the knife in his side – not too deep but it still caused pain. Blood stained his jeans. He regretted the decision to kidnap his brother but it was too late now. He'd just have to figure out a way out of this and hope for the best but how could he? Nothing had ever worked out in his favor.
Christian grew tired of Grant's silence and dragged the knife down his brother's left arm. His blood dripped onto the floor and the puddle grew as it continued to plop down. Grant could barely feel anything now because he withdrew into himself just like he had always done with his parents, Christian, and Garrett (but he wasn't like his family. He only wanted to make him a man). "Stay right here."
A lightheaded Grant swayed on his feet as he applied pressure to his various wounds. The bleeding slowed a little but he knew he needed medical attention. With his brother gone, the terror cleared and he started thinking straight again. He found balance again and ran towards the door. He opened it and started bolting towards the well but tumbled down when a gunshot echoed across the clearing. Grant wasn't shocked when he looked down and noticed Christian shot him. Refusing to give up, he slowly started crawling towards his destination. "You're never going to make it!" Christian shouted. He watched in his curiosity as his younger brother continued to advance across the yard.
"Got you," Grant mumbled about five minutes later. Ignoring the agony enveloping his entire being, he started digging a hole with his hands. He shouted in triumph when he finally found his proof – a box filled with pictures, videos, and Rose's diary that she gave him right before he left for military room. His happiness didn't last too long before Christian walked over and kicked him.
Grant curled up into a ball. "You're going down."
"Wrong but nice try. This isn't leaving here because I'll make sure of it." Christian smiled at Grant and sent a chill down his spine.
"You won't get away with what you did to us, Christian." He cried out in pain when Christian aimed another blow at him. Grant couldn't be terrified of this monster anymore, not when he had the proof to take him down.
"Maybe we should play another game. Remember when you used to hide in Rosie's room so I wouldn't sneak in? How you failed nearly every single time and paid the price too? You never learned your lesson and that's why you were in jail and I'm a senator. I know how to get what I want and you never did."
"You're a sick fuck, Christian." This time, Grant anticipated the blow and refused to give Christian the satisfaction when his brother twisted his other wrist and broke it. He thumped his head in relief when sirens started sounding. His back-up had finally shown up. He couldn't move so he held onto the box with his waning strength as the shock started fading from his system.
Christian plastered a fake smile on his face when Coulson stepped out of the car. "Mister Coulson, I am so glad you're here. My poor, mentally ill brother kidnapped and tortured me. You have to help me."
Coulson glanced at Grant and then looked back at Christian. "Seems to me like Grant is injured and needs medical attention while you don't have a scratch on you. Why is that?"
"I refused to let him hurt you. I should have called the police but he terrified me into not doing so."
"Lying," Grant mumbled as Skye crouched down next to him and started discerning his numerous injuries. "Shot," he informed her.
"We'll get you help," Skye promised and she awkwardly patted him, making sure to avoid a spot that would injure him even further.
Christian ignored them. "You should have made sure I was safe the instant you knew he escaped, Mister Coulson. This is unacceptable."
Coulson snorted. "Who do you think help him escape, Senator? We put him in the most basic handcuffs we had when the high-tech ones would have worked well. I didn't trust you and for a very good reason. Skye has been looking into your entire political career and has found a lot of interesting and most important – illegal – things. You will be going away for a very long time. Your sister and other brother have agreed to testify against you relating to other matters too."
Christian's gaze darkened. "Did that little fucking bitch run her mouth again? I knew I should have done something about that a long time ago. And Thomas? Well, that bastard's always been on Grant's side."
Although she was still a little wary of him, Skye grabbed Grant's hand and held onto it as they waited for an ambulance to arrive. They'd transport him back to the base once he was more stable. "You're going to be just fine," she soothed. "Please don't go to sleep."
"It's okay. You don't have to pretend anymore," he murmured.
She stared at him in confusion. "Pretend?"
"I know you hate me, Skye, and I don't blame you. Thank you for pretending to care about me for a little while before everything with Hydra happened." His eyes started to flutter close but she lightly slapped him in a panic, unwilling to do more damage. Grant's eyes opened and he glared at her.
She snorted despite the situation. "Sorry, Ward."
Christian sputtered in outrage as Coulson ordered him to put his hands up in the air. "My lawyer will make sure you never see the light of day," he threatened as Coulson cuffed him.
"Your threats don't work, Senator Ward."
Skye nearly started crying when the ambulance pulled up. "I'm going to follow him to the ambulance," she informed Coulson.
He nodded and ushered Christian to the SHIELD van. Lance was waiting for him in the back and waved when he saw the senator. "So you're the bastard that wants to take us down and is an abusive bastard. We found your wife and she didn't talk, by the way. She's too scared of you but she's in a safe place now."
Grant slipped into unconsciousness as soon as he was set up into the ambulance. Skye refused to let go of his hand the entire trip and reluctantly stayed at the entrance when the doctors whisked him away to be examined.
He awoke hours later to find her next to his bed. He blinked for a few minutes before his mind cleared. "Where's Christian?" he asked when fear suddenly gripped him.
"He's in Talbot's custody and the news already knows about Senator Christian Ward's corruption and illegal activities. He's done for. And combined with the evidence you buried, and Thomas and Rose's testimony? He'll never see life outside his jail cell again."
Grant couldn't even find it in him to feel relieved about this. Crying was a weakness but he couldn't help the few tears that unwillingly escaped from his eyes. "Thank you for believing in me even though I'm not sure why."
She shrugged. "You're welcome. And I'm still so fucking pissed at you, Ward, but I can see that you're trying to make this better. So you will keep your promise as soon as you heal – I'm sure this will blow up in our faces but that's par for the course."
He laughed. "That's comforting." Skye's happiness was infectious and he loved her so much but was slowly starting to understand they couldn't be together (yet, at least, but he was willing to try harder to earn the team's trust back again).
Skye sobered a few seconds later. "And I'm going to make sure you get the help you need. Mack and Jemma realized that Fitz needs a doctor and you clearly need a therapist so one will be assigned to you as soon as you're back on the base. And please talk to whoever it is, for me?" She knew it was low to use his feelings for her against him but Skye knew Grant would be against the idea otherwise.
Grant nodded. "Of course."
"But you have to get better for you and no one else, got it?"
"Of course."
An interruption came in the force of Lance. "Coulson says we need to get the hell out of dodge so sorry, mate, but you're going to leave this place far sooner than you should."
"Was there a problem with the insurance I created?" Skye frowned.
Lance shook his head. "They recognized our patient from the photos the media dug up. Coulson's stalling them now but we should get out. Bobbi and May are waiting for us."
Skye and Lance helped him stand and then forced Grant to sit in a wheelchair as they sneaked him out of the hospital. They created a space for him to lay down in the van so he wouldn't be uncomfortable.
Grant Ward had been through hell today (all his life) but for the first time in a long time, he knew that he didn't have to stay at rock bottom. Even after everything he had done – the betrayal, murdering innocent people, and other stuff he didn't want to think about – the team (his team again eventually, hopefully) was still willing to help. He didn't understand why but he'd make sure they wouldn't be disappointed.
And maybe – if they were willing – he could see Thomas and Rose again. He wasn't sure he could face them but was willing to try. And at least he'd never have to see Christian again.
Redemption was a long and winding road and Grant was only at the start line but that was fine with him. He would make up for his sins any way he could. He realized he'd most likely always be a monster but he didn't have to live like one anymore. But for now, all Grant needed to think about was recovering from the injuries his brother inflicted on him.