Phil Coulson
An overwhelming wave of nostalgia overcomes Ward when he sees Phil walk in, wearing a pristine, neatly-pressed suit. He's wearing the black suit and a white button-down shirt, the outfit he wears normally. Phil is always formal. And he's so considerate.
He walks in stiffly. He doesn't smile, so Grant doesn't have to try to smile back.
Somehow this is worse than an unsmiling May. He has lost Phil Coulson's trust, and he will never, ever regain it.
"So, how are you?" asks Phil.
The words are surprisingly casual. They're ice-breakers. They're words that Grant always says to his marks when he can't think of anything else to say. It's after he's exhausted these ice-breakers that Grant finishes the job. That's the way he always works.
That's the way he used to work.
"Okay," says Grant. It's nice to see he can still lie. But whether he's guiltless or whether Phil believes him is an entirely different matter.
"Are they feeding you?"
Grant presses his lips into a grimacing smile, touched that Coulson actually pretends to care. "Yes." Another lie.
"I keep wondering to myself, do you regret anything? Do you even feel anything?"
"Yes." The word is croaky.
"She's not coming for you."
They both know who she is. "I know," he whispers faintly.
"Keep that in mind, while the rest of the world moves on. S.H.I.E.L.D is going to be rebuilt. You haven't caused the end. What you did is only helping us become better. And we're going to be at the center of it all." Grant knows Coulson's talking about the team, the team of six that has been reduced to five. He knows he is not at all a part of his calculations. "Director Fury is dead, but he wants me to be Director. Do you think I should give the job to Maria?"
"It's your call, Director." His voice is getting stronger the more people talk to him.
Coulson's lips twitch. "Goodbye. Don't waste your time waiting." And when Coulson leaves, his words finally seem to sink in, and he realizes he's losing hope.
And the sad part of this: they've already lost hope on him.
Chapter 5: Leo Fitz
