Chapter One (Choices Define Us)
'You know, choices define our everyday lives. They even can determine who we turn out to be. Sometimes it's hard to choose what to do, and we don't know what that choice will lead us to.
But you make a choice anyway, hoping for the best. That's what we all do. One choice can save your live while the other one can lead you straight to the grave. One can mean you success while the other can be your failure. But people make daring choices everyday.
One person may make the choice to become a hard-working student and obtain a good job, and they'll end up living a good life. While another person may choose to lead a life of crime, committing various crimes to obtain success. Sometimes that works, but most of the time it doesn't.
Everyone chooses either to be good or evil. Some people choose to forget what's behind them and start a new life. Or they let that past drive their motivations and lead them straight to failure. That's what I did.
I chose to blindly follow a psychopathic maniac just because I thought he saved me from my childhood hell, but he just pulled me straight into an even bigger one. I thought I owed him everything, so I chose to follow him for years, even after he had dumped me in the woods for five of them.
That should've been my first clue to run. But no, I didn't see that. I continued on, even when he got me into SHIELD and I became a pretty high up agent. I was still with him, allying ourselves with Hydra. And when it came time to choose sides between him and the people I could basically call my family, I chose him.
That one choice almost got me killed, and when it was all over, I was sent straight to jail for it. But now I'm out, for some mysterious reason. I was thought dead in an explosion that rocked the prison, but some unknown stranger saved me.
For a while I didn't know why this guy, whoever he is, saved me. But now I know he was giving me a new chance at life and the choice to try and make up for everything I have done, even if that means I have to avoid the law time to time.
I don't care to meet him, because the last guy that 'saved' me ended up being a psychopath. But I still wish to know why he's giving me a second chance.
I was pretty much responsible for the release of the inmates in the Fridge, but now I'm trying to round them back up. But now SHIELD's on my tail, and I'm afraid of what is going to happen next. If I get caught, hell, I don't even want to think about that.
But I'm making the choice now, I'm going to redefine who I am and try to fix what I have done.'
(About Two Weeks Earlier.)
Ward groaned, peeling his eyes open. His body was sore in every place imaginable. He struggled to sit up in the bed he was on.
He took a quick survey of his surroundings, 'This isn't my cell.' he thought. 'Where the hell am I?'
It was true, last thing he remembered was being in his prison cell and then a blinding flash of light and then he was here. And 'here' was a simple log cabin, he thought. And he was in a small bedroom.
'Explosion.' he thought. 'There was an explosion. But how did I get here?'
He got his feet on the floor and saw that there was some kind of note on the table next to him. He picked it up and began to read.
'Grant, I assuming that's your name, if you are reading this that means you're alive and survived whatever the hell attacked the prison. There are supplies in a backpack near the bed and there's a car outside. I suggest you leave and find you somewhere safe. And you better take up a fake identity or something, 'cause you don't want to be running around using your own name at this point, but I'm sure you're labeled as deceased. In the supplies there is some cash and even a credit card if needed, and use the name on that. If you're wondering what to do at this point, you should make the best of your life. I know what you've done in the past, and now's the chance to make the choice to change it all.
Best wishes, a friend who wishes to remain nameless.'
"What the hell?" Ward muttered.
Who was this guy? And why did he/she want Ward to do better? Of course Ward had been thinking in the past year he had been locked up if he had the chance, he would make the choice to turn everything around. But why did this person want him to do just that?
Ward shrugged and got up and found the backpack. He was still skeptical, but he should still take this stranger's generosity for granted. Inside was clothes, food, and other various material. Ward now noticed that he was wearing clean clothes, not his prison uniform. And it was actually pretty normal, just a pair of jeans and a shirt. A jacket and a pair of boots lay nearby.
He found the cash, only a few hundred dollars, and the credit card. The name on it read Chris Novak, but of course that didn't mean anything. That was just a made-up name. But he took the stranger's advice and thought he should start using that alias until he could figure out what to do.
He put on the jacket and boots, grabbed the backpack and went outside of the cabin. The cabin was in the wood right off of a small side road, probably leading into a town. He found the car, nothing fancy and place the backpack inside. Even more supplies was in the car, but not much.
The keys were already there.
Ward was hesitant though. Who the hell was this guy and why was he being so helpful. The last guy that came to 'help' him was Garrett, and that just led him straight to jail. But he decided, maybe he should try to make a new life and make everything right, no matter who this mystery man was.
Maybe he was trying to give some help. Ward had enough time to think while locked-away and he knew this is what he wanted to do, try to be a better person.
Author's Note: I don't own AoS, Marvel does. Trying a new fic idea, and I hope this works better than the last. This is basically a vigilante Ward trying to become a better person by rounding up the prisoners he released. This is about a year or so after the s1 finale. Coulson has managed to build up a small SHIELD in that time, as you will tell. But still SHIELD is still a big policing force. I hope you will enjoy this. Keep reading and please review! ~AwakeAndAliveSpartan.