Cold and Hot and Something Else

Disclaimer: none of the characters are mine, but belong to Marvel™.

Cold

Grant Ward feels cold, and not just because of the grazing wound on his shoulder – he had been shot before, he can handle it. He feels cold because the last time he was shot in the shoulder, it had been Jemma Simmons, not Kebo, and the circumstances were far different. (Plus, Simmons was a good deal prettier than Kebo.) Back then, Grant Ward actually had...friends. He had – or pretended to have – a dream, and it was a good deal better than what he had now. Back then – everything was clear, black and white, and Grant Ward...had a place to belong. He misses S.H.I.E.L.D. He misses Sk- Dai- he misses Kara Lynn.

He misses them all.

Feelings are a weakness. Grant Ward has feelings, it seems, and thus he is weak. Lance Hunter – of whom he had thought previously as some asshat cowboy – is a stronger man than he is, a better man, and that hurts. John would have chosen Lance over Grant if given the option, giving Grant just a full measure of his disgust.

Grant Ward was once a proud man, a specialist of S.H.I.E.L.D., too. He thought of himself as a ruthless killer, an assassin, even. He once thought that he could go toe-to-toe with S.H.I.E.L.D., even. He was wrong. He had lost everything so far, and all that he has left are Hydra, such as it is, and that mainly consists of Kebo (the Cavalry or even Lance Hunter can take Kebo down on a bad day; Hell, von Strucker Junior did that – on a bad day) and Werner, who may be competent, but-

But his report of taking out Andrew Garner had been rather garbled, and that is not good. Ward really requires clarity here, so he will have to talk to von Strucker Junior in person, hurt or not. If the latter is to become a leader, he will have to learn about strengths and weaknesses and how to deal with both of them... but this is not really about them, him and von Strucker. It is about May and her husband. May's husband is dead, May will not forgive, and Ward does not want to face her. It is not that he cannot defeat her – he can, it is just that he...does not want to.

It is all about those annoying feelings, see? Whenever he sees May, he thinks of Kara Lynn, for May wears her face (sort of). He also...he does not know, but he does not want to fight May because she is May, because he...because she...

Because she once helped him after the whole incident with the fucking Berserker staff and he repaid her most viciously, and while the whole Lorelei situation was not his fault, everything else was.

It is a painful thought. Ever since the whole mess with Morse and Kara Lynn, Grant Ward had no doubts about himself – he is a coward, fit only to crawl through the darkness, but even the coward can have regrets, and feelings, it seems...

The fact that Grant Ward feels cold has nothing to do with the fact that it is the middle of autumn outside.

I have been living a lie. I am empty inside.

/

Hot

The ride, or rather the flight back to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s HQ is tense, to say the least. Melinda May may be a cold-hearted woman, but Phil Coulson is not – neither cold-hearted nor a woman. (...) Plus, whatever his own feelings towards Andrew had been, he is also professional enough, and magnanimous, to keep them in check.

"Hunter," he slowly speaks to the other man. "I believe we need to talk."

Hunter nods his own gaze dark – darker even than before, when he honestly planned to walk into Ward's Hydra HQ by himself. Melinda finds herself thinking that she should have allowed him to do this – Grant was ready to let Andrew go; Hydra might have killed him, but Lance's choice was the one that had caused it all-

"...your behaviour is inappropriate," she hears Coulson speak. "This is just the repeat of what you tried to do with Creel. S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't work like that; we're a team-"

"Director," Hunter growls, "stop. Let's talk about teams." He pauses, and half-turns to face May. "Cavalry? I apologize to you, as one person to another, as one man to another – take your pick. But as an agent or whatever ranks this crazy place has? No, I do not."

There is a pause as the others stare at Hunter as if he had lost his wits – and maybe he has. Melinda says nothing – she just watches him, and Hunter slightly flinches, before turning back to Coulson. "And as for you – sir," he says, clearly implying something else, something other than 'sir' and nowhere as respectful, "let's be clear. Ward and Palamas were harmless, had no opportunity to hurt Bobbie, until you brought them to your HQ. What did you expect to happen, in the end? The two of them would repent and have their personalities replaced? If so, why the fact did you have a cyborg on hand? You did not trust them, but you tried to use them. Ever heard of the concept 'don't touch it if it smells'? Well, you touched them, it is reeking, and I found myself in the position of your janitor, it seems. Fair enough. I will fix the mess with Ward, for he is a murderous asshole, but after this? If you do not want me to work for you, then we are done. If I wanted to work for a heartless, brainless sod, I would stay in the employ of Her Majesty – and perhaps it is time that I did so."

Slowly, Lance Hunter turned around, and walked towards the hatch, for the flight was over, and the plane was back in the hangar. No one really tried to stop him, and not just because smoke appeared to be coming out of his ears. "Bloody sods," May, for one, heard him mutter. "Don't know just who they are – another agency in the US, the land of agencies, or some sort of a national park for superhero rejects."

"Well," Coulson turned to May himself, but the Cavalry was not listening. Rather, she was watching Lance Hunter leave with narrowed eyes (by her standards). There was disgust in her gaze, but also something else: resolve. Lance Hunter, for better or for worse, was her best bet of finding (or rather – re-finding) Grant Ward and stopping him. Thus, she was going to work with the Brit – at least for now. And then, once Grant Ward was gone? It would be Hunter's turn to go.

/

Something Else

"Alisha? Can we talk?" Daisy asked in an uncertain voice, as the redhead looked back at her, in an even more miserable way.

"They're dead, aren't they?" the multiplication woman asked in a small voice.

"Yes," Daisy nodded. "We, we will catch the man who did it. He calls himself Lash, and-"

"And I want to help," Alisha said in a firmer voice. "Please. I was a commando, once, in the Israeli military. I can help."

"I don't know," Daisy confessed. "It's not that I don't trust you-"

"You don't have to trust me," came a firm reply. "I don't ask to be a part of this," she indicated S.H.I.E.L.D. in general in a broad swipe of her arms. "But I want to help. That man, that ogre, it has to be stopped. I want to help."

Daisy grew thoughtful. The latest disaster against Hydra, one that involved Andrew Garner dying, had reached her by now too. Thus, she was rather somewhat reluctant to get yet another revenge-obsessed person into the agency proper; but-

But Daisy had to admit that she did not like to use someone, anyone, blind either. Coulson and May seemed to be on board with this sort of thing, but Daisy herself? Not so much.

"How about this?" she asked instead. "I'm putting together something of a super-hero team, the Caterpillars. They...they will not be glamorous, not like the Avengers, but they are aimed at helping and protecting people with gifts, such as the InHumans. If you honestly want to stop Lash, then you can be on this team, but you will have to work along S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and abide to S.H.I.E.L.D. rules-"

"Ok, but only until Lash – or whatever his name is – is dealt with," Alisha replied firmly. "Then...we'll see."

Daisy thought about this long and hard. She thought about her early missions as Skye, she thought about Coulson, and her mother, and Lincoln, and others. She thought about other things, including both of her former SO's, and made her decision.

"I agree," she told Alisha. "Welcome aboard."

And the two women shook hands.