This story is a sequel to my previous SHIELD fic, "The Mercenary". If you want an enhanced reading experience then it helps to go read that. Otherwise, here are the important points you need to know for reading this story.
- Fitz is still comatose
- Simmons and Triplett are not-quite-together
- Coulson has recruited several new members to SHIELD 2.0, and is working with other members such as Sharon Carter on the down low.
- SHIELD has apprehended Bob Kaminsky of HYDRA.
With that out of the way, let's get started on the next adventure!
If you could ask Ward what he missed most about the outside world, it would be the fresh air.
When you were outside, and could sense the unfiltered air around you, everything made sense. You could tell be the smell where you were, and what your surroundings were. The slightest whiff of oncoming rain or snow would help you plan ahead. Everything was being moved around by the breeze and the wind, and specialists like Grant Ward could use what the wind carried to turn any situation to their favour.
Part of him grimaced at the thought that something as simple as fresh air had been boiled down to cold, plain strategy in his mind. He honestly did not want to be outside this cell because he missed feeling the breeze brush through his hair and calm him, or because the smells were so much better there than in here. It didn't matter to him, even though he knew that feeling such a way was distinctly inhuman. Skye had called him a monster, and every day he believed it more and more because he did not feel an ounce of remorse for what he had done to his team any more. The only thing he regretted was that he was not a good enough agent to avoid getting caught and thrown into this prison.
It wasn't even an important prison like the Fridge or the Raft or anything that SHIELD had previously maintained. Those had been destroyed in the civil war. No, this was a simple state-run incarceration facility reserved for your run-of-the-mill terrorists. It spoke volumes to Ward: he was not a threat. He was not the danger he had thought he was. He was not important. Garrett had made him feel important, but he was dead now.
After everything that had happened, the one thing that Ward had made progress on was how he felt about John Garrett. The man he owed everything to. Well, he still did - without Garrett, Ward would not be the sociopathic, emotionless, cold-hearted being he was today. And he hated him for it. He would kill Garrett if he was still alive. Instead he had to be content knowing that he had been taken out quite painfully.
A door opened in front of him and the two guards leading him through the prison nudged him forward. A man in an expensive suit sat on the other side of a glass wall. The guards motioned for Ward to sit in the chair and he obliged. He relished the chance for any order to be given him. In a way the prison lifestyle suited him. Ward picked up the phone and the man on the other side did the same.
"Grant Ward?" the man asked.
"Yes." Ward rasped the affirmative. His throat still felt like it had been snapped in two when he spoke. He had May to thank for that.
"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Justin Baldwin. I am your court appointed lawyer, seeing as you are in no position right now to afford one." Ward chuckled, a dry, wheezing noise. Mr. Baldwin didn't seem to notice. "That's a new scar since I saw your photo." The man gestured to the side of his own face. On Ward's face, that area was marked by a thin, jagged line running from his temple to the edge of his jaw. Ward nodded.
"Have you ever been in a prison, Mr. Baldwin?" he asked.
"Not as a prisoner, no. But I've heard of the activities one can partake in that result in those kind of wounds."
The particular activity that Ward had been involved in was a mess hall brawl that started when a rather patriotic inmate had declared Ward as a member of HYDRA and tried to tear his face off. Ward responded in kind, and in the end the hospital had more trouble patching up the first prisoner than they did with Ward.
"Your trial starts tomorrow," Baldwin continued. "I'm sure you're well aware off the deals that you have been offered?"
Ward nodded again. "I am. Though I thought that somebody would have told you that all of the HYDRA agents that I was aware of have already either been apprehended or killed." Which was true - after all, he had been closer to Garrett than HYDRA as a whole, so he never exactly went to any weekly club meetings or anything.
Baldwin shrugged. "If that's what you want to go with then it's your choice. I'm just here to make sure you get the best defence possible."
Ward smirked. "And why is that! Why would you help a domestic terrorist like me? Did they tell you how many people that I killed? That I wounded in the name of SHIELD? Did they tell you that HYDRA started as a group of very angry Nazis? Did they tell you that I was a monster?
Now it was Baldwin's turn to smile. "All that and more, Mr. Ward. But I didn't mind. And do you know why?" He leaned in close to the glass. "Because by the end of this you'll either be serving life in prison or serving the death penalty. Both of which I wholeheartedly approve of." The lawyer stood up and turned around, but he called back loud enough for Ward to hear behind the glass.
"I'm not afraid of monsters, Mr. Ward. See you tomorrow in court."
"Why are they giving him a trial?" Chelsea Kamiya asked to the others at her table. She sat between her two friends, the Sutton twins, at a table surrounded by other recent SHIELD inductees. They had all completed their training that morning - if you could call the bare minimum they were being taught training - and were celebrating in the mess hall. At least, that's what they had meant to do, but word spread quickly through the playground that soon their highest ranking members would be heading to court as witnesses in Grant Ward's trial. And when you spend all hours of the day living in a secret unofficial SHIELD base with next to no contact with the outside world, gossip was the most entertaining thing in the world.
"Like, they caught him at the Cybertek factory, with Garrett and the other Centipede soldiers," Chelsea continued. "They have piles of video evidence. Why are they wasting time on going to trial?"
"They probably need to just because of due process," stated Alex Sutton from Chelsea's left. "Otherwise he could claim that his constitutional rights are being violated, and they'd be in a whole other mess."
"It may not even be about the trial, either," responded Chris Sutton. "I bet they're hoping he gives up something about the other HYDRA agents out there. Nobody knew about Paula Allen, so there could be hundreds of other sleepers waiting out there."
"I bet they're hoping more that somebody from our side slips up," piped Barbra Beaumont. "I hear that the general guy, Ross, is gonna be at the trial too." Everyone at the table grimaced. They had heard how badly General Ross had wanted to put a stop to team Coulson during the fallout of the HYDRA resurgence, and even though they had never seen the man they already had an intense distaste for him.
"I heard that he slept with somebody on the team." Everybody looked to the voice with surprise. Diego Silverman, one of the quietest of the new level-ones, barely spoke unless he was spoken to.
"Who, Ross?" Chelsea asked with surprise.
Diego shook his head. "No, Ward. I overheard a snippet of a conversation from some of the higher-ups."
"Who was it?" Chris asked excitedly. "Was it Simmons? I bet it was Simmons."
"I don't know who it was. I just heard them say 'she slept with Ward'. That's it."
"It was probably Skye. I hear her talk about Ward a lot," said Barbra.
"Say, what else do you guys hear when you eavesdrop on your superiors?"
The rookies at the table turned to look at Skye, who was looming over them with a stern glare across her eyes. They all murmured excuses that failed to impress Skye. "I suggest you get back to work before I report this to director Coulson. After all, there are still some things that need to stay classified. Understand?"
The table nodded, with quiet "Yes ma'am"s floating through the air. They sat frozen in their seats until Skye cleared her throat, which set them off running. Once they were out of the room, Skye sighed and sat down. Soon after she was joined by Simmons.
"Is it just me or did you seem especially May-esque just then?"
Skye rolled her eyes. "Well I have to earn their respect somehow. I'm only superior to them by one level know, and I only reached level-two because of technicalities. Also, the last thing I want is for unsubstantiated rumours to be spreading through the ranks."
"You're not really in a position to talk about rumours, Ms. I-think-Koenig-is-a-robot."
Skye chuckled at that. "I'd rather be famous for that than for my relationship with the traitor."
Simmons frowned and clasped her hands together. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Skye shook her head. "I've spent that last five months just talking about it. I wish I could just do something about it. Get rid of all these feelings and emotions I have over him, or forget that he was ever a part of this team."
Simmons nodded. "I feel the same way sometimes. But then again, he did help us out a bit. I mean, I wouldn't be hear today if he hadn't stopped me from plummeting into the ocean."
"Yeah, and Fitz would be hear if Ward hadn't sent you plummeting back there," snarked Skye. She instantly regretted it when she saw the wave of sorrow flash over Simmons' face. "Oh no, Jemma, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."
Simmons sniffled and waved her hand "No, it's - it's fine. I went to see him this morning, I...had my little cry about it. Standard procedure."
Skye nodded. "How is he?"
"His vitals are all the same. Which is preferable to them being worse than before, I suppose, but..." She inhaled deeply. "Never mind that now. Are you nervous about testifying?"
Skye shook her head. "Not really. All I have to do is say what a dickwad Ward is - in more professional terms, of course. The only thing I'm concerned about is Ross being there, trying to throw us under the bus."
"We were cleared of all charges of treason, they told us that when they summoned us," Simmons responded. She was the one who had received the communique from the outside world, requesting the presence of the arresting SHIELD agents at the trial to ensure everything was recorded properly.
"Yeah, well, we're still exactly the biggest celebrities at the moment." Skye crossed her arms on the table and slumped forward. "I hope we get a good lawyer at least."
Off to a slow start. Fear not, the action will pick up soon enough. Like last time, bonus points for spotting immigrants from the comics-universe! And don't forget to favourite and review!
