A/N: I Do not own AOS or any of the characters, my characters are Daniel and Lily as well as Maddi.
Also thanks for the support already, I hope you are enjoying it.
As the weeks rolled by Grant and Maddi continued to converse using written notes and as promised Maddi did bring a whiteboard, markers and a cloth so that he could write his responses to her questions or even to ask some of his own occasionally. He also wrote letters to Daniel and Lily every week, lately he had been writing them individual letters and had found out that both had since he last saw them had married and Daniel had a two year old son as well named Samuel.
It was during one of their sessions together after only ten weeks, which was at least two weeks before he should have been able to but Grant rasped out a few words which took Maddi by surprise
"Thank you" was all he managed at first and when Maddi questioned
"What for?" and looked up at Grant startled but happy that he had found his voice but uncertainty then flitted across her face. He responded, again his voice coarse due to not being used in so long,
"Thank you for being here, for helping me, for letting write to my family."
"You don't have to thank me for any of that Grant, I do care about you and I do want to see you get better, because if given the right guidance and given the opportunity I believe you could be the better man you clearly want to be." Maddi returned, however she didn't miss how his eyes lost their shine when she said he could be better. However she continued "But first Grant, let's get you some crushed ice and some water for that throat of yours so that you aren't wearing it out on the first day." He nodded when she said she was going to get the ice and then pulled out his pad of paper and began writing once she had left.
Maddi after leaving his room went straight to the ice machine and took a cup and placed some ice in the cup, then walked over to the vending machine and bought two bottles of water and started back towards his room, she was halfway there when she saw someone not in hospital clothing walking into Grant's room, she hastened towards the door but stopped outside when she heard the voice of the woman talking to him.
"Oh Grant, what did you do this time…" it wasn't what she was saying that got her attention it was how it was being said, it was a loving but a little not quite disappointed but worried tone that Maddi heard, "… who were you trying to protect now, you always do this, you don't care about your own safety, all you do is make sure everyone else is ok. You haven't changed at all since we were kids have you?"
"Lily, it's nice to see you too, come here so I can get a good look at you, it's been so long, ten years without seeing you was torture." Grant choked out,
Lily gasped at how he sounded and rushed over to him and gave him a hug, "Don't think I didn't notice how you dodged by question, I will ask someone what happened even if you don't tell me." She threatened. it was at this point that Maddi decided to knock on the door and walk in, both Grant and Lily's heads snapped up and when Grant saw it was Maddi he visibly relaxed, this took Lily by surprise and she looked between the two of them sceptically, " Grant what's going on here, you never relax like that when someone walks into the room, who is she, did you get hitched too and didn't tell us?" she asked in mock anger, Grant who had just been given the ice and water by Maddi nodding his thanks to her, and taking a sip choked on it and had sprayed water everywhere.
He stared at his sister mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, he looked like this for a minute or so before Maddi answered for him, "No Lily, we are not 'hitched' as you say; I am just his therapist, and a friend I would like to hope."
Grant sent her a look of thanks but before he could say anything Lily jumped in and rounded onto Grant "Therapist, what do you need a therapist for?" Grant looked over at Maddi, as if asking if he is allowed to say anything and when she nods he sighs in relief but also dread,
"Lily, what I am about to tell you cannot leave this room ok, and you are not going to like what I have to say either." When Lily had agreed that she wouldn't tell anyone what he said he continued, "For the last ten years I have worked for S.H.I.E.L.D, I was a specialist that meant that I was someone that got the hard missions done, if that meant taking someone out I did…"
Lily's eyes were widening the longer he was talking about his involvement with S.H.I.E.L.D, however she couldn't believe it when he said "but Lily the worst thing is that's not the why I'm here, I'm here because I am a traitor, I am not a good man, I betrayed the team I was with, a team that I had come to consider like the family we always wanted.
"No Grant you can't be I can't believe that" Lily exclaimed and with that she got up to leave, when she was at the door she turned back and said, "I still love you Grant and even if all that you just said is true, I will still love you. Remember that."
After Lily's visit Grant was deemed to be healthy enough to be transferred into a prison cell instead of the hospital, he found that the solitude was relaxing, he was finally able to get back into a routine for a workout, he would spend time every morning when he woke up to do push up, sit ups and other exercises that got him back into good physical shape, he was even allowed in the gym that the prison had whilst no other inmates were there and went for the treadmill initially so that his aerobic fitness returned and then spent time on the weights. After four weeks of workouts and leaving to visit Maddi in her office to continue working through his issues, he had started to open up to her about his childhood and how he had been treated and how he wasn't always the best older brother he could be to Daniel and Lily, neither of which had come back to visit him again.
It was during one of the sessions with Maddi in her office that the most difficult question so far was approached by her, they were just talking casually about how his letters were going, how his weights and exercises were going when Maddi asked "So Grant I think it is time we talked about your first SO, John Garrett don't you?"
Grant tensed at the mention of Garrett but nodded because he knew that this would come up eventually, Maddi had been teaching him about the difference between healthy and non-healthy relationships, and what they look like, and as such he knows now that Garrett had played him, made him think that he owed Garrett his life when really he had continued the abuse he had gotten as a child just in another form. Grants voice was back to normal by now but wavered slightly as he asked Maddi "What would you like to know about him?"
Maddi was a little taken aback by how willing Grant was to talk about Garrett, but she doesn't really question it because she is going to make the most of it while he is being so open and upfront about it, "Well why don't you start at the beginning and we'll work through the various stages and points of your relationship with him. We can reflect on how you felt at those times and how you feel about those stages now."
Again Grant nodded his agreement and began retelling his story, he started with how he was shipped off to military school at fifteen and how he had gotten a letter from Daniel saying that lily was in hospital, that Christian (Grant's older, abusive brother) had hurt her again. He said that he had gone home that night after stealing a car and set fire to the house, he hadn't know that Christian was in the house till after when he was back at the military school and the police arrested him. He went on to say that he was in Juvie and that his parents were filing charges and that Christian was pushing for him to be tried as an adult. That's when Garrett showed up, offered him a choice (one that he only had ten seconds to make mind you) that was either stay in prison blaming the world for his problems or to go with Garrett and he could learn how to be a man. Garrett had said that it would be the hardest thing he had ever done but it would also be the most fun.
At this stage Maddi asked him to take a breath and to think about how he had felt at this stage with John, Grant took a moment before saying, "Honestly I thought he was the greatest person alive, he was the first person to genuinely care or so I thought. He saved me from a hell, however it wasn't until you started to teach me about how people should be treated that I saw that this was just the beginning of me trading one hell for another."
Maddi thought about this so not only has he actually been listening and learning when we have talked before without me even prompting him he has been analysing probably most of his other relationships as well. After we finish talking about Garrett I will have to ask him if he has given those relationships thought or not.
Maddi then asked grant to continue in his story about Garrett, after he saved him Grant said that Garrett had taken him to a forest in the middle of Wyoming and left him there with nothing more than a dog called Buddy for six months. When he got back he would teach Grant things and when he got things wrong he would be punished by being beaten, Grant stopped here without Maddi asking and said "At the time I felt as though I deserved to be hit, that I was disappointing John, I at the time had come to think of his as the father I never had, one that cared." He then went on to say that he ended up living in the forest for five years with John making stop ins randomly to check up on him and to teach him new things. Once he was twenty Garrett took him into an S.H.I.E.L.D base and told him to apply for the Operations Division of the Academy and that he would get in and that he would be working for him. Grant said that he knew about Hydra before going in to the Academy that John had told him that he was with them, he wasn't a full on believer per se but they had helped when S.H.I.E.L.D wouldn't. As a result Grant was working for Hydra before he even started at S.H.I.E.L.D and was a sleeper. He said that he didn't believe in Hydra at all that he was just following John.
Maddi asked him once he was finished what he thought now, Grant responded by saying "The first time that I ever felt like I genuinely belonged still wasn't with John, no the first time I belonged and felt like I was part of a family, that I could be happy was when I was asked to be a part of the team that Phil Coulson put together."
"I'm glad you brought that up Grant because that's what I wanted to talk about next, the team."
A/N: So that's chapter 2 done, I hope you enjoyed it I know there wasn't a great deal of going on, these also aren't the flash backs mentioned in the summary those will some later.
Let me know what you guys have thought so far, let me know it there are areas you think I can improve on I know I am far from perfect at writing the stories and yeah just review it for me :)