Hey babes! So, I've already posted this story on here before, but I took it down the other day. Not because I no longer wanted it available, but because I wanted to edit certain parts of it. I'm uploading stories from here onto my Ao3 account, and when I was going through my stories on here, I realized I had some mistakes and inconsistencies in this story. So that's why I'm re-uploading it.
If you've already read it, you don't have to read it again, unless you really want to. Not much is different, it's still the same story line, I just tweaked some things around.
Also, canon divergence. The big HYDRA reveal thing never happened, so Grant isn't HYDRA. Basically, season 1B never happened.
Now then, enjoy!
"Tell me what I want to know, Agent Ward."
"I'm not telling you anything," Ward says harshly, his wrists struggling against the rough ropes holding him to the cold metal chair.
"You see," the mysterious man says, "that is not what I wanted to hear." He steps towards Ward and stoops down so he's looking him right in the eyes, "I think you'll change your mind though."
"Why would I do that?"
The man stands up straight and paces the room once more, "Because I have your girlfriend." He walks over to a table holding a single laptop, and lifts the lid, turning the screen so that Ward can see it.
As he looks at the screen, he feels as if his heart stops. He sees Skye, bound to a chair by her arms and legs. Her head is down, but he can tell that she's still alive.
"Go ahead," the man says, "speak to her. She can hear you."
"Skye?" Ward says, looking directly at the screen. He sees her head shoot up and look around.
"Grant?"
"I'm here, Rookie. I'm in another room, but I'm still here."
"What do they want?" he can hear the pain and fear in her voice.
"They want information from me."
"Don't tell them, Grant! Don't tell them anything!"
A man steps into view on the screen and raises his arm, letting it fall across Skye's cheek.
Grant pulls at his restraints, wanting to lunge at the man in front of him. "Don't touch her!" he yells.
"Tell us what we want to know, and we won't hurt her."
"I'm not telling you!"
"Oh really?" the man says. He pulls a small device out of his pocket and taps a few buttons. Then grant sees a man walk into the screen again, holding a long stick in his hands. He sees the stick light up and the man touches it against Skye's body. He sees her head fall back as she cries out in pain. He can see her face clearly now, covered in bruises and blood.
"Stop!" Grant shouts. The man removes the stick and he sees Skye go limp in the chair. The man in front of him stoops down to his level again. "I'll tell you."
"That's what I thought." The man gives him an evil smile. "Now, tell me how I can get into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mainframe. Without hacking, I don't want to draw any attention to myself."
"Use my information. Username is my first and last name, all caps. Password is what we think Skye's birthday is."
"How romantic," he says sarcastically. "When is her supposed birthday?"
"January 18, 1988. All numbers, no spaces."
The man smiles again, "Perfect. That's just what I needed."
Grant relaxes slightly, "Now let her go."
"Ummm, no. I don't think I will."
"But I told you what you wanted to know!"
"The thing is, you took forever. And I'm not too keen on waiting."
"What are you going to do to her?"
"This." He presses a few more buttons on his device and Grant turns to watch the screen. He watches as the man electrifies Skye again, and he hears her scream out again. The man pushes the stick into her side even harder, causing her to scream out even louder. The man pulls the stick away and then quickly shoves it back into Skye's side. Then he pulls it away and throws a punch across Skye's face, hitting her square in the jaw. He can see blood trickling down her mouth, and tears falling from her eyes.
"Now this," the man in front of Grant says, "this is what happens because you were being uncooperative, and taking too long to tell me what I wanted to know, and simply because I hate S.H.I.E.L.D. and anyone affiliated with it." he pulls out his device once more and presses a few more buttons. The guy on the screen reaches into a case on the floor and pulls something out. Walking up to Skye, he holds it up and Grant gets a good look at what it is. A gun.
His eyes go wide and he screams out, "No! I told you what you wanted to know! Just don't do this!"
"It's too late, Grant."
He presses a hand to his ear and speaks, "Do it."
Grant's head flies back to the screen, just in time to see the man pull the trigger.
"NO!"
Grant sits up quickly in his bed, sweat dripping from his body, breathing heavily. He rubs his hands down his face, sighing deeply. Glancing over at his clock, he takes notice of the time. 2:37 AM. Again. Sighing once again, he drags himself up out of his bed. Pulling on a pair of sweats, and a plain white t-shirt, he exits his bunk. Making his way down the hall, he stops in front of her bunk. Well, it used to be her bunk. He just stares inside the room, staring as all of the memories of her come rushing back into his head. He sees her smile, he hears her laugh. He remembers their first kiss, their first time, the first time they said 'I love you', all the times they repaired one another from another mission. So many other things they'd never be able to do.
It's been like this for the past two months. Every night he has the same nightmare, reliving that awful moment over and over. Then he wakes up early in the morning in a cold sweat, and goes to her bunk. And he just stares; he can't help but stare. Every night he hopes that it's all just an awful nightmare, just fake. He hopes that when he goes to her bunk, she'll be there, safe and asleep. But she never is.
Stepping away from her bunk, he continues down the hallway until he reaches the spiral, metal staircase. He walks down the stairs into the cargo bay, heading straight for the punching bag hanging from the ceiling. It's the last part of his routine, working out his frustrations. He stands in front of the punching bag, getting into his ready stance. Then he swings, his fist making contact with the punching bag. He takes swing after swing, hitting the bag as hard as he can. With each swing he takes, his mind flashes back to that day. He keeps seeing her limp, lifeless body being held in his arms as he talks to her, trying to save her life. But he couldn't. And he's hated himself everyday because of that.
He's not sure how much time has gone by when he hears footsteps on the metal staircase. He doesn't look up, just keeps on punching. He's ignoring whoever it is that's coming down the stairs, focusing all of his thoughts on his punches.
"It's been two months." Grant stops punching and looks up to see Agent Phil Coulson standing on the staircase, one hand on the rail, staring at him.
"You think I don't know that?" Grant says, maybe slightly harsher than he should have. "You think I haven't been counting the days since she's been gone? You think I haven't been having dreams of that day? Hoping that just once, just once, it'll all be a horrible dream. That I'll just wake up one day and she'll still be here. With that messy bed head she has every morning, and that smile she gets when she's finally figured out how to do something properly while training, and her determination to learn everything she can. It's all gone! She's never coming back!" he throws another punch at the bag before falling to his knees.
"I won't tell you that it's easy, Grant," Coulson says, still from his spot on the stairs. "But it gets easier."
He scoffs, "It gets easier? Losing the love of your life gets easier?"
"Over time."
"Whatever," Grant says, turning away from Coulson, messing with the wraps on his hands.
"Fine then," Coulson sighs, realizing his isn't going to get anywhere at this point.
Grant listens as Coulson's shoes hit the metal steps as he makes his way back upstairs. He sits there for a moment longer, unable to really move from his spot. He keeps thinking back to her, all of the time they spent together and all of the times they will never get to spend together.
Standing up from his spot, he moves back in front of the punching bag. There's no way he's going to be able to get back to sleep now, so he might as well finish what he started. He throws punch after punch at the bag in front of him, images flashing again. He just wants it all to stop. He wants it to get easier. He wants to forget.
So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
And yes, I know that canonically in the show, Skye's birthday is July 2, but this isn't exactly canon to the show. So yeah.
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!
