One Last Chance
Disclaimer: none of the characters are mine, but belong to Marvel™.
Ward
Grant Ward is a miserable man. He had lost a very important part of himself, a part that he did not even know about, and it hurts. It hurts so very badly, for he is alive, and Kara Lynn is dead, and there is nothing that he can do about it, no one in particular that he can kill to make it better – to make Kara Lynn feel better, for she is gone, to make himself feel better, for the same reason.
It hurts, and Grant Ward wants that pain to go away, to leave him numb in the heart, in the soul. He can do that only by killing someone else...but in all of the time that he had spent undercover in S.H.I.E.L.D. he had grown disenchanted with killing people in general, and he never understood the time-honored Hydra tradition for killing people for fun in particular. Grant Ward doesn't want to kill people, he wants...what? Revenge? Closure? He is not sure, and that just adds an insult to an injury for his mental state.
Regardless, he is also aware of the fact that the Cavalry is in town, and so far he had made sure that she is not aware of him. He had also studied her and her ex-husband the doctor from a distance, very discreetly, but quite professionally too, and what he finds, just adds-on to his ever-growing confusion: Melinda May, the Cavalry, does not appear to be too happy either.
Oh, sure, with her mastery of facial expressions, cough, she is able to fool the other people she had been in contact with, but Grant had studied her specifically, he can tell what she is feeling, and right now? Melinda May is definitely not at her best. Of course, in her case, 'not at her best' means that she could defeat only 15 out of 20 men before taking a breather and bringing down the rest of them, but for her? This is not typical.
Grant isn't stupid; he had come here, to West Coast, initially to kill her husband, (or ex-husband, or not so ex, for there had been talk made about renewals of vows, though less so recently), and he is still toying with this idea, but he has to admit to himself that that is just that – toying, for he personally doesn't really like the idea of killing the man, and not just because it would serve no specific purpose, and Grant doesn't like killing for fun. Yes, he had come here to make Melinda May suffer, sure enough, but she is already suffering, so what is he to do? He could just leave, but that would be simply pathetic, so instead, he sticks to the remnants of his plan, and follows his ex-friend (and that hurts, for if he had chosen differently, they still would be friends, yet he couldn't betray Garrett, the man who had been his father in all but the name either), and observes her, and soon discovers something, or rather – somebody else.
More precisely, somebody else is tailing Melinda May – another woman, dressed professionally (but not in the usual meaning of the word – she is not a professional S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent, her regular day job is something else, yet she is trailing the Cavalry in the manner of S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than of anyone else), of an Afro-American descent rather than of Oriental, like Melinda May herself is; she is trailing the Cavalry, but doesn't appear to be too friendly disposed towards her.
Grant Ward was always a patient man, if not particularly smart. Ever since Kara Lynn died, however, he has been trying to become smarter (as she would have wanted him to be), and if there had been an occasion when some thinking is required, it is now. Rather than to confront either of the women directly, Grant goes to the nearest Internet cafe and logs into the S.H.I.E.L.D. website. It may sound easy, but it is because S.H.I.E.L.D.'s website is a joke, as far as websites are concerned; Grant may have been ousted as an agent of Hydra in real life, but in the web? He is still part of S.H.I.E.L.D. – he does not know whether to laugh or to cry whenever he goes online there.
In this particular instance, though, Grant neither laughs nor cries, but rather does something he did not do too often – research. He goes into the Index, and seeks the woman there first...and sure enough, he finds here there, too.
This is when things get interesting.
May
Melinda cannot sleep. Well, no, technically she can, but she does not want to – not this time, and not because of the nightmares.
Her nightmares are something else – not exactly nightmares, but bad dreams, during which she is old, infirm, stupid, wandering aimlessly through empty halls – perhaps of the Hub, or the Playground, or some abandoned dilapidated building, like some senile old witch, useless and discarded by everyone.
Melinda hates the idea of being abandoned – this sort of thing had happened to her, 7 years ago, and she has never fully recovered from it. The memory of killing that child, the memory of being relegated to an empty office – it doesn't quite hurt, not literally, but on some level? Yes it does. And her current situation aggravates this feeling of abandonment and uselessness even more.
Oh, sure, Andrew loves her, he cares for her, but somehow this had made it even worse, ever since the beginning. Andrew was always a smart, intelligent man, and Melinda always did feel slightly stupid next to him. Oh, sure, he was not as brilliant as Fitz and Simmons were, but he certainly was closer to them than Melinda was, and whenever she was with him, it...mattered. Oh sure, it was petty and unworthy of the great Cavalry, but it still was so. Whenever she was around Andrew, they just did not...click. The fact that Andrew was often – even now – involved in some scientific process or other did not help matters either.
Oh, true, Andrew did offer Melinda to be a part of it, but somehow, despite all of his words, Melinda felt that her part in this case would be of a secretary, or an office assistant, or something. She did not like that idea, and not just because of her professional pride as a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent – she just did not. Hence – she was not involved. Hence – she was often alone at night, alone, save for her nightmares.
Tonight, however, nightmares did not come – perhaps because she was not sleeping. What had come, instead, was an email message via the official S.H.I.E.L.D. email with information about a certain person (actually, a certain woman, if one was to be honest) – official S.H.I.E.L.D. information with a very straightforward subject – Do you know her?
Melinda May does. She also knows (within a reasonable margin for error) who had sent her the email, but she has to admit, that her less than top-notch condition, she would rather tackle the smaller, softer problem first.
Agent Alexandra? Here comes Cavalry.
/
On one hand, Andrew's office building is closed at night, what with the security guards and all. (Melinda finds it adorable). On the other – she does have a visitor's pass, so she could just call Andrew up to come down. On the third – she does not really want to involve more people than who already are involved in it, so in, unofficially, she goes.
Both Andrew and Alexandra are in their office, working. Or, rather, 'working', as the atmosphere is visibly tense between them (it was always tense, but Melinda has to admit to herself that she had misjudged the level of tension between the two of them by quite a lot), but tonight? The tension between them is so tense that it can snap at any moment...and Melinda is honestly unsure what she wants to do with this.
"Melinda!" To Andrew's credit he is surprised only for a few brief moments. "What a surprise! What are you doing here?"
"Andrew," Melinda nods towards him, before facing the other woman with the evidence. "Is that you, doc?"
To Alexandra's credit, she does not back down, but sits there, as tall and proud as the first time Melinda has seen her. She is good, but not that good, and Melinda sees the flash of fear in her eyes. She is both elated for it and disgusted with herself for this elation.
"...Yes, it is," the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agent (and yes, Alexandra is an S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and one with special skills too) admits. "What of it?"
"Did you honestly give me nightmares for the last few weeks or were they natural?" Melinda inquires of the other woman, feeling more like her old self for the first time since she left Coulson and Skye and the others behind. "This is your specialty as an Inhuman agent, are they not?"
Alexandra says nothing. Andrew, however, is genuinely indignant on Melinda's behalf. "Alexandra! How could you-"
"Andrew," Melinda interrupts him, for him and Alexandra having their confrontation over her was not why she was here. "Can you please tell me as to what about you're working here with her? Is it for S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"Yes," Andrew nods, confused. "Didn't you know?.. Phil told me that it was a part of the Theta protocol; I assumed that you were in the loop, just opted to sit this one out, since it is more scientific than field action at this point-"
"What's it about?" Melinda shoots out, before adding "please," like an afterthought. "Andrew?"
Confused now, Andrew explains. The Theta protocol is surprisingly clear-cut and simple, nothing too dubious or vague about it in Melinda's opinion..., which makes her being cut out of the loop only more embarrassing – the Cavalry does not get cut out of the loop, especially when it includes S.H.I.E.L.D. ...but coming here was the point, to get away from S.H.I.E.L.D., and Phil Coulson...and it didn't work. S.H.I.E.L.D. still followed, leaving Melinda in a fool's paradise, and perhaps not even that.
"Melinda?" Andrew spoke up, aware that she was keeping quiet for a long time.
"I'm sorry, I need to think this over," Melinda shook her head and withdrew. Behind her, she could hear Alexandra make some snide remark – again, Andrew countered it, and the two began to squabble. Melinda did not care – she really did need to think. She was not backed into a corner, she did have options, but so far none really appealed to her. She could stay with Andrew – between his own magnanimous and generous nature, and Alexandra's insecurities, Melinda suspected that whatever Alexandra had with her ex-husband was almost over, especially if Melinda stayed here, in the west, with Andrew – and S.H.I.E.L.D., either pretending that it didn't exist and she was just a spoilt doctor's wife, or still being a part of it, save that in this case she'd be subordinate to Andrew, not to Phil Coulson, which was still the same old thing, just in a different package, and not a necessarily better one...
Or she could go back to Coulson and try to mend fences with him. It too could be done, and done easily; Melinda, after all, was loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D., but after some of the more recent events – centered on that damned Theta protocol – she really did not want to talk to Coulson, not for real, not as they have done earlier this year, when he was still under influence of that alien goop. Back then, they had something special, something that was gone now, and if Melinda wanted to be in S.H.I.E.L.D., she should really stick with Andrew...even though this would be still the same old thing, just in a different package, and not a necessarily better one...
Annoyed at her life and her indecisiveness, Melinda slapped her leg, and her slap came against something hard – her cell phone from which the original SMS came.
Melinda thought some more. Grant Ward was a Hydra double agent who had made a fool out of her and the others, who almost killed Simmons and came even closer with Fitz, and who deserved die, simple and easy. He also had sent her the information about agent Alexandra and...gave her freedom to choose what to do next, for she seriously doubted that he expected her to gun the other woman in a fit of jealous rage...
Almost despite herself, Melinda sent an SMS to his own phone – we need to talk.
Why, came the reply few minutes later.
Because, Melinda snapped in writing before facepalming – yes, this will establish contact, yes indeed.
Very well, came another reply in a few more minutes, followed by a brief address.
Despite all that was rational in her life, despite her common sense and the other instincts, Melinda May got up and left, leaving Andrew behind with Alexandra.
/
Ward
It is dark out, for it is late, even though it is early summer now, and nights come late and leave early and are brief. It is a time for the sun – but Grant Ward seems to thrive in darkness, does he not? He tried to seek out the sun – and failed, causing a lot of misery behind. He tried again, with Kara Lynn – and failed even worse.
"Ward," Melinda 'Cavalry' May appears out of the darkness, and he can see that she has largely recovered from whatever that had bothered her earlier today. "Why?"
"Because," Grant shrugs, then catches the woman's eye and decides to elaborate. "Look. I will be honest. I came here because you were closer, because I am miserable, you are happy, and I wanted you to be miserable too. I wanted to kill your ex-husband or whatever his social status is in your life. But I didn't."
"Should I be grateful?" Melinda asks archly, but Grant plows on.
"I didn't not because of your gratitude, agent May, but because Kara Lynn wouldn't want me too – two wrongs don't make a right, you know? If only I listened to her..." he trails away. "And also because you're not happy. You are miserable here. Why?"
For the first time since he met her, Melinda looks slightly unsure of how to proceed, before making a choice: she sits down next to him and offers a smoke. Grant declines. Melinda does not take one herself, but speaks up instead:
"What do you know about the Theta protocol?"
"Little," Grant admits. "I still have sources in S.H.I.E.L.D., but none of them are close to Coulson at the moment. Ever since S.H.I.E.L.D. is back in the good graces of the rest of the world, it is trying to change its stance on the people with special skills – the Inhumans – and to change the public opinion in general. So what?"
Melinda pauses, before making a plunge. "Phil didn't trust me with this information, for I had chosen Gonzales over him-"
"Then shouldn't you be talking about it with Morse," Grant jabs with his finger in one direction (Melinda glances there, and sees some people, including Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter, who are trying to remain unnoticed by Grant Ward – yes, good luck with that, people), "or perhaps with agent Alexandra and her SO, Angelina Brand? They are good people, loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D.-"
"So am I," Melinda interrupts him. "I am loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. and to Coulson, yet Coulson, it seems, isn't loyal to me, and loyalty is a two-way street...something you never understood, apparently..."
"John...Garrett...he was a father to me in so many ways," Grant speaks up. "I thought about leaving him, for he was falling apart, but it would be wrong. I thought about it a lot, about trying to rejoin S.H.I.E.L.D., but it would not work, would it? S.H.I.E.L.D. – the one I knew, the one that Garrett got me in – it does not exist anymore, does it? You asked me before – why? I answered it, but in truth? I have no answer – I am rather lost now."
"And them?" Melinda asked quietly, jabbing her finger in the direction of Grant's 'entourage'. (Seriously, Morse and Hunter tried to follow Grant – it did not work, and still does not.)
"Something else," Grant shook his head. "It's not that I don't have options, it's something else." A pause. "What about you? Why are you here, right now? You should be somewhere else."
"Yes," Melinda nods. "I should be mending fences with Andrew, or perhaps with Philip, for I am loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. and so are they, after all." She does not sound very happy and makes no effort to get up, however. "Why did you call me? This wasn't your fight."
"You looked miserable – by your standards," Grant shakes his head. "Am there, doing that."
"You have no motive, no plan?"
"Plan... My last plan had me and Kara Lynn take Bobbi somewhere private, she and Bobbi would talk, Bobbi would apologize, Kara Lynn would forgive, the two of them would mend fences, we would return, and negotiate with Coulson something similar to what he has offered, but without T.A.H.I.T.I. – rather with a handler. This had been done before, you know, and both Kara and I were willing to cooperate." A pause. "Instead, Kara Lynn is dead, I feel that S.H.I.E.L.D. is free to fuck-off however it likes, and Morse is blonde enough to assume that she can work as carrot for Hunter's stick."
"...I'm missing something, am I not?" Melinda finally speaks, clearly reluctant and unhappy to share this revelation with Grant.
"Yes," Grant finally replies, before slipping a small note into her purse. (Yes, she is currently carrying a purse – considering just who she is, the effect is surreal.) "Look, let's assume that I've done you a favor. So, in reply, could you take some time in the future and visit Kara's grave? Could you, maybe, apologize for ruining her face and abandoning her, after Whitehall had her brainwashed? It is a small thing, maybe pointless by now, but if she was alive, she would appreciate the gesture. Just – maybe, some time in the future..."
"Why not now?" Melinda suddenly stands up, throwing Grant off the mental balance yet again:
"Now?"
"Yes – I'm guessing that you have a car or a motorcycle or something somewhere nearby, a means to get us to Kara Lynn's cemetery, so I could apologize to her as soon as possible."
Grant shoots Melinda a dark look, and though the latter is the Cavalry, she also takes a step back, for this is a very sore point for Grant – and it shows.
"Look," the Asian woman says quickly. "It's my turn to speak – I am on a voyage of self-discovery, so to speak. I came to Andrew – and I have discovered something unexpected, about him and about myself. I cannot say that I care about Kara Lynn as you did; I cannot say that if things were otherwise the two of us were friends, but I can apologize to her, if that is what you want. Maybe I will discover something new about myself there – and maybe you will too. Does that work for you?"
Grant nods, not trusting his voice. "...Yes," he finally speaks, very subdued and quietly. "Follow me..."
A short time later a large, metallic grey car vanishes into the night...
TBC
