Kara got up and started pacing and then from the there side of the room

'Its to do with brainwashing' She spoke softly. As if she was about to perpetuate a crime, but could not her stop herself from doing it

Grant whispered 'Yes and no'

She snorted. As if trying to bring levity to this situation would make it better

'Tell me'

And Grant started telling her his secret

'Its true that I was trained by Garrett. But it wasn't in the academy. At least not all of my training was there.'

Another drink of the glass. And then opening a new bottle and pouring it in the glass. Kara waiting patiently.

'Garret needed a weapon. Somebody to protect him from Shield, and if necessary somebody to protect him from Hydra…. I was 15 when I met Garrett.'

A slip of a drink

'I was… going through a rough strech'

Was that an earthquake he was feeling. What the hell. Suddenly as quickly as the earthquake had begun it ended.

Kara walked over to him. And sat down on the chair next to him and waited for him to finish

'I was in military academy, and my sister called me she was crying. She said things.'

Another slip of the drink at this his hands shook

'I hijacked the car travelled all night and when I reached home the house was in flames. I um well I took the blame for the fire. My family put a lot of pressure on certain individuals'

Another slip. He knew what Kara was thinking, of course they got him of. But maybe not. Maybe she suspected the truth. God knew she would be the only one.

'My father arranged for me to be tried as an adult. My brother arranged for me to be convicted for attempted murder. My mother… my new cellmate told me had a message from her. I barely survived the message'

Another drink

Kara put her head on his shoulder. When had she moved the chair closer to his?

'He got you out of prison. He raised you'

'Yes and no' They both chuckled. Both pretending that what he was saying was just an ordinary conversation

'There is place in the Wyoming mountains. Completely isolated from the rest of the world. No humans… Just… cold, hunger and more cold'

'Its why you like fireplaces so much' Kara said. And instantly kept quite, as if her speaking would stop his story

'After I was freed from prison I stayed there till a a week before I started Shield academy. There was so much noise in the academy, the smell and the people…. So many people'

'It must have been hard' Kara whispered. And was that a tear in her eye. And was that another earthquake

'At first I tried staying away from people. You spend half a decade in the wilderness. Communicating with people becomes difficult. Especially when they ask you opinion about 9/11 and your answer is 'what happened at 9/11'. Luckily you realise very quickly people are susceptible to mirroring. They laugh you laugh, there upset your upset. Gotta admit though almost died from eating Donuts the first week I was there'

There was complete silence.

'Of course when Garrett found out. I ended with 3 broken fingers'

Another drink

'He broke them' Kara surmised

'Nope… He told me to break them. I did'

And now Grant would finish his confession

'I was conditioned in those woods… A couple of years ago I was doing an op for Shield. I had to pose as a drug dealer in Mexico. The Kingpin said that he wanted to show us something. He walked us back to the hacienda and I saw a couple of dogs there. Even from a distance you could tell they were malnurished, beaten. It was pretty bad'

His hands shook, just remembering the scene. Made his heart race, and he drank more

A robotic voice narrates the story

'He shouted to the guy next to the dogs. Time for the show. The man picked a dog seemingly out of random and brought him to the front. Some guys brought over a goat and placed it infront of the dog…. The dog trainer shouted a command and in a blink of an eye the dogs jaws were in the goats throat. The trainer went next to the dog and showed us a piece of stick. With complete and utter force he beat the dog. This lasted for minutes,. But the dog would not let go of the goat. Even though the beast was dead. The trainer walked in front of us and spoke a command in soft voice the dog. Instantly the dog let go of the goat and trotted to him. The trainer smiled.'

Another drink. More courage

'Another command was whispered. This time the dog played dead. The kingpin handed a machete over to the trainer. And the trainer walked next to the dog and cut of its tail. It whimpered, but didn't move. The trainer went next to the dog showed him the blade and slowly it descended towards its neck. '

Grant continued speaking his tale in a calm monotonous voice as if reciting a shopping list

'Now the dog it could have moved anytime. It didn't… The Kingpin shouted that that was loyalty. And you know what he was right. That was loyalty. The trainer was good at conditioning.'

Another sip

'Garret wasn't good at conditioning. He was great at it'

Kara walked to her bedroom. 'Do you think if if the trainer died and the dog lived. Do you think the dog would have turned out OK?'

Grant smiled tired beyond tired and as he walked over to his bedroom 'Time will tell'

The next earthquake that hit toppled him over. Suddenly Shield agents broke in. Grant thinking of all the scenarios who he was fighting made a quick calculation

He lifted his arms. Because he had his shirt leaves rolled up the lights reflected on his scars. And from the appliance it was almost as if they mocked him.

Then he saw her. And his breath almost caught SHE was there. She had unshed tears in her eyes. Time slowed and without knowing how, he knew she had heard every word.

Suddenly there was a noise from Kara's bedroom and he ducked.

One of the weapons they had obtained from Hydra was a one of a kind alien tech concussion grenade. When the button was pressed a shock wave spread out. Due to its design anybody not wearing earplugs that would stop a certain frequency would get nocked out for a couple of minutes. It was enough time for him and Kara to disappear

A week later in a abandoned warehouse a part of Grant thinks maybe he should have stayed. Obviously they had heard his tale. But somebody once told him 'never to turn his back on the enemy'.

As much as he would like to think his past would change anything he knew better to trust SHIELD. The best they could offer him was to take the place of Garret, and he had almost let them. Let her.

He trusted Kara. She had seen the worst of him, and accepted him for who he was. She would not betray. It was why he told her his secret after all.

There is an old adage. There is bad in the best of us. There is good in the worst of us.

He owed it to himself to be free. And if not to himself, he owed it to that dog. Or maybe that was a false hope.

Time will tell.