A.N: So in case you don't follow my Twitter, my friends and I have decided that we want Steve Lund to play Thomas Ward on Agents of SHIELD. And just recently, Brett Dalton learned of our fan casting and even approved by giving us a campaign slogan to get Steve on the show. It was epic. It also inspired me to write my first Thomas/Grant fic. Right now, the only thing we know about Thomas from within canon is that he was thrown into a well as a little boy. We don't know if he survived (although I really hope that he did) or what happened to him since. The show has only had other characters talking about him. So technically, this version of Thomas Ward is my interpretation of the character and how I picture him in my head. He's the protagonist of this story and it will be told in his POV mostly. There's a lot of bonding going on in this first chapter but don't be fooled... it's pretty tense for them since they haven't really seen each other in almost two decades. I hope I do the Thomas we've envisioned in our heads justice. And here's hoping the show casts Steve Lund to play him one day. We're hashtagging #SteveForThomas over on Twitter and you guys are more than welcome to join! :-)

He was in traveling through West Africa on the day he heard the news from around the world. He'd been smuggling diamonds across the border of Sierra Leone when he looked up at a television in a bar playing CNN in English. The news anchor was giving their audience all the gory details of how the Wards died in a tragic fire. They called it a murder-suicide.

His parents were dead. So was his oldest brother.

They didn't have any suspects but Thomas would be lying if he said he felt any kind of sympathy or sadness over the death of his family. As long as his sister wasn't in the fire, he didn't care that the monsters who'd tortured him growing up were all dead.

It wasn't until two weeks later that he found out that his other brother was alive and apparently a wanted criminal with ties to Hydra. Ironically, he'd been given the dated newspaper with Christian above the fold to wipe his own ass. Walking further into the jungle with a smug grin, curiosity got the best of him and he read the headline about the other Ward no one knew about. Grant was out there. And he was on the run. He hadn't seen his brother in almost two decades because he'd been told Grant was dead. His parents had told him and his sister that Grant had killed himself in juvie before they could press any charges against him. Deep down, he knew it had been a lie but he never had any proof that that his brother was alive. Thomas still wiped his ass with his dick brother's face before deciding it was time to go home.

Finding Grant was surprisingly easy. Once he knew of the ties to Hydra, he knew who to ask for information. Apparently, his brother had quite the reputation. It didn't take very long for Thomas to track his brother to Mexico. Making contact was a bit more difficult. Before Thomas could reach Grant, SHIELD had found him and recruited him for something. That mission didn't last very long because it wasn't long before his brother ended up half way around the world in Spain. And this time, he was alone. The woman his brother had been traveling with was no longer at his side.

Thomas approached his brother in the seedy bar and took the stool next to his. Grant barely acknowledged his presence while he stared at a worn photograph in his hand. Thomas signaled the bartender, pointing at Grant's drink. "I'll have what he's having…"

Grant looked up at his new companion, his eyes widening a little.

"What's the matter, big brother…" Thomas smirked lifting the glass to his lips. "You look like you've seen a ghost…"

Everything happened quickly after that.

Grant had pulled out a gun from behind him and pointed it right at his head. Thomas turned a smug expression on him.

"Is that anyway to greet your long lost brother?"

"What are you doing here, Thomas?" Grant asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Thomas glanced at the photo. "She break your heart?"

"She's dead…" Grant mumbled.

"Oh," Thomas frowned. "Sorry… I take it she meant something to you."

"Answer the question, Thomas," Grant took the safety off his gun. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Looking for you actually," Thomas gulped down the rest of his drink. "We need to talk. Come on bro… I've got a safe house nearby."

"You think I'm stupid enough to follow you?"

"I think you're desperate for some company right now and who better than family, right?" Thomas shrugged before nodding toward the exit. "Your call…"

Grant watched his brother walk out of the bar before glancing down at Kara's photo in front of him. He gulped down the rest of his drink before folding the picture and placing it in his jacket pocket and walked out of the bar, turning to find his brother leaning against the wall.

"I knew you'd make the right call," Thomas grinned, standing up straight. "Come on… you and I have a lot to catch up on… like for starters… how you finally succeeded in burning those sons of bitches to the ground…"

Grant walked into the cheap motel room with confusion etched on his features. He glanced around the disorganized room and crossed his arms in front of himself. "I thought you said you had a safe house…"

"I did," Thomas shrugged before falling back on one of the double beds in the room and folding his hands behind his head. "This is safe and my temporary house. Safe… House…"

"This is a motel, Thomas."

"You super spies and your technicalities," Thomas stretched comfortably before sitting up to lean against the headboard. "I've been sleeping in a tree for the last few weeks so this is definitely an upgrade for me."

"Where were you exactly?" Grant sat on the other double bed, facing his brother.

"Sierra Leone…" Thomas answered. "Cape Town before that."

"Doing what?"

"Nothing you'd be proud of…" Thomas cracked a small smile. "Not that you have any room to judge considering what you've been up to."

"I did what I had to do to survive," Grant clenched his jaw.

"We have that in common."

Grant frowned making his brother sigh in frustration.

"What are you even doing here, Grant?"

"I'm not sure what you mean…"

"I saw the skinheads." Thomas chuckled. "Are those your new friends?"

"I don't have friends," Grant answered. "They're all dead or they hate me."

"So who were they?"

"My team."

"Please tell me you're joking," Thomas laughed. "I'm pretty sure I've met a goat with a higher IQ than those fools combined."

"Did you come all this way to insult me?"

"I came all this way to knock some sense into you."

"Haven't you heard?" Grant chuckled. "I'm the villain of the story… this is what villains do."

"Who's story?" Thomas asked.

"My story."

"Grant, you were never the villain of our story… Christian was… and our parents… and they're dead. You made sure of that. What else are you after?"

"Closure."

"The hell does that even mean?"

"Kara is dead and everyone at fault has to pay… including me."

"Is Kara the brunette in the picture?" Thomas leaned forward watching his brother intently. "You loved her?"

"Love has nothing to do with it, Thomas."

"You didn't answer the question…"

"It wasn't about love… it's about what she lost because I failed. I failed her."

"Grant…"

"I should go," he stood and walked toward the door of his brother's motel room. "Coming here was a mistake…"

"If you change your mind," Thomas called out to him. "I'm leaving in the morning. I want you to come with me."

"To Sierra Leone to be merc smuggling diamonds?" Grant turned back toward him and smirked when he saw his brother's wide eyes. "I can read your type and Sierra Leone is known for their blood diamonds… it wasn't hard to figure out what you've been up to…"

Thomas chuckled. "You were always a lot smarter than they gave you credit for… But no… I'm going home… We still have a sister I haven't seen in a few years and I'd like for you to come with me."

"I can't go home, Thomas…" Grant shook his head. "Haven't you heard? There's a price on my head. SHIELD wants me dead."

"We can lay low and figure it out. Just think about it… I really don't want to leave you here with the three stooges you've decided to take on as your team… They're dumb enough to get you killed by accident."

Grant cracked a small smile and shook his head before opening the door to walk out. "I can take care of myself."

"I know… just waiting for you to realize that for once you don't have to…"

Grant stopped in front of the open door for a second before stepping out of the room. Thomas watched him leave a laid back on the bed for a few minutes before getting up to lock the door and get ready for bed.

The next morning, Grant knocked at his door with a pillow case carrying his belongings slumped over his shoulders and a grim expression on his face.

"Fine, I'll go with you."

Thomas had made some unsavory connections over the years but it still cost him a lot more than he thought it would to smuggle his brother back into the states.

"Do you even know how much that diamond was worth? I mined that rock myself!"

Grant shook his head with a laugh. "Thank you?"

Thomas growled at him. "You owe me. Big… I'm going to think about it and it's going to be the biggest favor you've ever owed anyone…."

"I somehow doubt that," Grant glanced down guiltily. "So do you have any safe houses around?"

"You're the spy," Thomas scrunched his face up. "I thought you'd know of a place."

Grant rolled his eyes before shaking his head. "You're lucky that I do."

That's how they'd ended up in a cabin in Wyoming completely out of the way of civilization.

Thomas walked into the cabin and let out a low whistle. "How'd you know about this place? It's incredible!"

Grant smiled smugly. "I built it when I was a kid."

Thomas turned toward him in shock. "Is this where you where when you went missing?"

"I lived out here for about five years… then I spent another five in the Academy at SHIELD. I brought Kara here before we left to Mexico."

"Why?"

"I got shot four times," Grant shrugged. "I needed to recover and this place was safe."

Thomas nodded in understanding. "So no one knows about it?"

"Everyone that does is dead, except you now."

"Good," Thomas gave him a tight smile. "Did you by any chance learn how to hunt while you were out here because according to my GPS the nearest food supply is a lot further than I'd like…"

Grant rolled his eyes. "You got lazy when you left to Africa."

"You love me."

"I barely know you… I almost killed you that night at the bar."

Thomas laughed. "We both know you didn't have it in you to pull the trigger…"

"You want to test that theory, little brother?"

Thomas turned away from him, stretching out on the couch and closing his eyes. "Wake me up when dinner is ready, will you? The flight was longer than I would have liked."

Grant shook his with an amused grin. He dropped a heavy quilt on his brother's head who was pretending to sleep on the couch on his way to the door.

"Thank you!" Thomas called out as Grant slammed the door to the cabin behind him.

They'd been living in the cabin for a week. They'd made the trip out to Massachusetts to visit their sister but things hadn't gone as planned. She'd been fine with Thomas showing up on her doorstep. Seeing Grant was too much though. She'd heard a lot about him from the news and they hadn't painted the best picture of him. Thomas made her promise to not tell anyone they'd been there before the two of them left.

That was three days ago.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"What happened?"

"My sister hates me," Grant shrugged. "Just another name to add to the list of people who do…"

"She doesn't hate you… She just doesn't know you…" Thomas frowned. "Give her time to see what I see."

"And what do you see?"

"My big brother."

Grant smiled softly.

"Tell me about her," Thomas leaned forward feeling the heat of the fire they'd built to cook their dinner.

"About who?"

"The girl who's name you mumble in your sleep."

"Kara?" Grant asked.

"That's not who's name you say in your sleep…" Thomas shook his head. "Skye?"

Grant sucked in a breath before shaking his head. "She's nobody."

"The way you say her name it doesn't sound like she's nobody…"

"And how exactly do I say her name?"

"Like it hurts," Thomas answered with a shrug. "Who is she?"

"She's the one who shot me four times."

"Ah…" Thomas nodded in understanding. "So she's on the list…."

Grant gave him a shrug.

"Did you love her?"

"Thomas… Drop it."

He lifted his hands in surrender. "Fine… consider it dropped… for now."

"Thank you."

"But you will tell me," Thomas shrugged. " You'll see."

"What makes you so sure?"

"You keep forgetting that I'm the only person still alive who knows the real Grant Ward. You'll tell me when you're ready."