Hey babes! Back again with a new chapter for ya! Just in case any of you thought this story was gonna be smooth sailing, you were all very wrong.
Enjoy!
"Okay, now try to make something out of it."
"Like what?" Grant asks, concentrating on the ball of flames in his palm. He'd managed to engulf his hand in the flame before getting it to curl together into one ball, floating in the middle of his palm.
"I don't know," Skye says. "Try a simple shape. Like a square, or a triangle."
"What about a sphere?" he counters. "Because I'm kind of already doing that one."
She smiles. "Yeah, a sphere is fine."
"Good. Because I'm not sure if I can do any other shapes at this point."
She laughs quietly. "I'm sure in time you will. You just have to keep practicing. You've been at this for about a week and look how far you've already come. Eventually you'll get really good at it and will be able to do it without even thinking."
"Muscle memory," he says.
Skye nods. "Yeah, kinda. It'll be so much a part of you that you won't have to work as hard to make anything happen. It'll be like second nature to you."
After another moment, the ball of flame disappears and Grant closes his fist, letting out a breath. He looks up at Skye. "So how'd I do?" he asks her.
She smiles softly. "You always do great. I'm really proud of the progress you're making."
He smiles back. "Thanks. But uh, I think I'm going to go and rest now. Working like this always seems to make me tired."
"Understandably so. You've been working hard lately. You deserve a break. I actually have a few things I need to go and take care of anyway, so this is perfect timing." She slowly starts backing away toward the door. "I'll see you tomorrow for more training?"
He nods. "Yeah. I'll be here."
"Great. See you then." She gives him a small wave before turning and disappearing out the door.
Walking over to one of the benches lining the wall of the training room, Grant picks up the dirty towel he'd used for his workout before training with his abilities. He carries it with him as he walks to the door, dropping the towel into the laundry hamper as he passes.
Stepping out into the hallway, he begins making his way down toward his bunk, eager to get that nap he so desperately needs and wants.
"Fitz," he calls out to the Scotsman when he sees him walking down the hallway. "Come over here for a second."
"Hi," Fitz says, stopping right in front of Grant.
"Hey. Check this out." He furrows his brows in deep concentration before opening his palm and creating a small ball of fire in the center of it, morphing it into a tight sphere floating just above his skin. He looks up at Fitz with a smile on his face. "Cool, huh?"
Fitz nods. "Very."
Grant extinguishes the flame and closes his palm. "Since we know what triggers my powers now, Skye's been helping me learn how to control and focus them. I can really only do the ball of flame in my palm right now, though."
"At least it's something," Fitz tells him.
"Yeah. I guess so." His shoulders slump a little. "I just...I wish that I could do more and really see what I'm capa—"
"Freak."
Grant stills at the voice, his body tensing up. He doesn't move from his spot in the hallway, his hands immediately clenching into fists down at his sides.
He's not wrong. You know he's not.
His eyes close tightly and he gives a hard shake of his head, trying to get rid of the voice. He was doing so well. He thought he was. He thought he was doing better.
"Don't listen to him," Fitz's voice just barely breaks through the haze in his mind.
He opens his eyes and looks at his friend. "What?"
"I said don't listen to him," Fitz repeats. "He's a jerk. He doesn't really even know you, he's just going along with what everyone else around here is saying about you. Bloody mob mentality. No one can think for themselves anymore."
"You can."
Fitz scoffs. "Well, yeah. I'm brilliant."
He cracks the tiniest hint of a smile at Fitz's remark. "Yes you are."
But you aren't.
His face drops, he shifts on his feet, and swallows thickly. "Uh, I think I'm going to go back to my bunk and try to get some sleep. I'm kind of tired."
"Right, of course. I'll see you later?"
He nods. "Yeah, sure." He gives Fitz a tight smile before turning and making his way down the hall toward his bunk as quickly as he can without causing any panic from nearby agents. That's the last thing he wants.
.
.
.
"What the hell? Why is the fire alarm going off?" Skye steps out of her bunk and into the hallway, meeting up with a few other agents who are all just as confused by the sudden disturbance as she is.
"Skye!"
Her brows furrow in confusion at seeing the older woman approaching her. "Abby? What are you doing over here?"
"I thought I should probably come and find you. It's Grant."
Her heart sinks. "What's going on?"
"He's causing the fire."
"What do you mean?"
Abby shakes her head. "There's no time to explain right now. We need to get to Grant."
She follows quickly after Abby, running down the hall in the direction of Grant's bunk, praying to whoever is listening that he'll be okay.
Upon reaching Grant's room, they both come to a quick stop when they hear screaming coming from the other side of the door.
"What the hell's happening to him in there?" Skye asks, not really expecting an answer, but her heart racing at the thought of Grant being hurt somehow.
"I don't know," Abby tells her. "But I'm afraid the door handle might be too hot for us to get through on our own, especially with the flames leaking through the cracks under and around the door."
"I can do it," Skye insists, staring down the door. "Grant's flames, I don't really know why, but they don't hurt me."
"Are you sure?"
Skye nods. "Positive." She takes a deep breath before moving forward and grabbing hold of the handle on the door. "Damn!" she shouts, taking a quick step back from the door. "What the hell?" She looks down at her reddening palm in confusion. "That can't be right. That doesn't usually happen." She looks at the door. "Something's wrong."
"Let me take care of your hand," Abby says, reaching for her.
Skye shakes her head. "Not right now, I'll be fine. Grant's the priority. We just need to get this damn door open."
"Here, try these."
Skye turns her head and gives a small smile when she sees Fitz approaching with a pair of heavy duty oven mitts.
"Thanks," she says, taking the items and slipping them onto her hands before turning back to the door.
She takes another deep breath before stepping toward the door again and grabbing hold of the handle. Pulling the door open, she takes a small step back at the massive flames that shoot out the doorway quickly before retreating back into the room.
"What the hell?" she mutters, tossing the oven mitts aside.
"Skye, be careful," Abby says.
"It's okay, Abby. I'll be fine." She takes a deep breath before sidestepping the flames and easing her way into the room, slowly creeping toward Grant's bedside, being careful to avoid as many of the flames as she can. If she was able to get a burned hand from the doorknob, she doesn't want to know what could happen if one of those flames hit her.
"Grant?" she calls out softly when she reaches him. "Grant, can you hear me? If you can hear me, you need to wake up."
She watches as he continues to thrash around in his bed, the blankets tightening around his legs and being burned to shreds, before something small flies past her ear and lands in Grant's neck. The flames dissipate quickly.
She spins around to find Abby standing in the doorway to the room, a dart gun held up in her hand and a determined look set on her face.
"What the hell was that?"
"Tranquilizer." She lowers the gun and moves further into the room. "And a whole hell of a lot of it. His body metabolizes substances a lot quicker than ours do, so I had to give him a higher dosage than I would to someone else."
"Where did you even get that?"
"I had Fitz run and get it for me. Now help me get him to the med bay so I can run a few tests to make sure he's still alright."
She nods. "Yeah, okay." She steps forward and lifts one of Grant's arms up around her shoulder and getting him into a seated position. She waits for Abby to do the same and then they're lifting him off the bed and steadying themselves on their feet.
Breathing in deeply, she locks eyes with Abby and a silent conversation passes between them, startling her just barely that they're able to communicate so well without using words.
Together, they move toward the bunk door, pushing their way past all of the agents now gathered in the hallway watching the scene unfold. She narrows her eyes at a few agents, making their own eyes go wide as they back up and look away.
Damn nosy agents. Why can't they all just back off and leave him alone? He doesn't need all the extra attention on him.
Once they reach the med bay, they get him inside and over to the area where he normally goes. They struggle a bit but manage to get him up onto one of the tables, lying flat on his back.
"You better go and make sure his room is okay for when he goes back there," Abby tells her as the woman starts pulling out different pieces of equipment.
"But I—"
"There's nothing you can do for him in here right now," Abby explains gently. "But what you can do is make sure that there wasn't too much damage done to his room and that it's still habitable."
She nods slowly, eyeing Grant's unconscious body for a moment longer before turning and making her way out of the med bay and down toward the bunk.
.
.
.
A small groan escapes past his lips as he slowly comes back into consciousness. His head is pounding, and there's some residual heat pooled in his fingertips. He flexes his fingers, the heat quickly dissipating, and lets his body relax again.
"Grant?"
Cracking one eye open, he finds Abby standing near him, her brows knit together in concern as she watches him.
"Nice to see you awake, hun. Are you feeling any better?"
He shrugs. "I don't know."
"Do you know what happened?"
He shrugs again.
"You were sleeping," Abby tells him. "You were getting restless, which I've come to realize is rather normal for you. But then your temperature started rising very quickly. Then the fire alarm went off."
He takes a moment to let the information sink in, the knowledge of what he did. Did he really cause the fire alarms to go off? In his sleep?
He chances a glance up at Abby. "It was really me? I—I caused the alarms to go off?"
Abby nods. "You did. When Skye and I came to check on you, you were covered in flames and your bed had been very badly burned, and certain things had started to char or melt in your bunk."
"Skye was there?" he asks, swallowing down the lump in his throat.
"She was. Grant, do you know what caused the flames? You've had your powers for a little while already and nothing like this has happened before."
"Um, I think...I think it had to do with my dream. Well, a nightmare, is more like it."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I hurt her," he says quietly, eyes locked on the floor. "Skye. I hurt her. With my powers. And she was angry, so angry, and I tried to apologize, but she just kept saying over and over how she hated me and never wanted to see me again. I tried to tell her that I didn't mean to do it, that I didn't want to hurt her, but she didn't believe me. All I ever do is hurt people. Maybe I'm not meant to be happy."
"Do not speak like that."
He scoffs. "Why shouldn't I?"
"Because it's not right."
"Can I go now?" he asks in response, not wanting to continue the current conversation and to just go back to his bunk and get away from everyone. "I feel fine."
Abby sighs and nods. "Yes, you can go. But come and see me immediately if you start feeling unwell."
He gives her a tight smile. "I will." He slides off the bed after she removes the few wires and diodes, and then exits the med bay, avoiding eye contact with the other agents present in the room.
He moves quickly down the hall, wanting to just get back to his room and avoid everyone that might try and interfere.
"Grant, hey, you're awake."
He stops at her voice, his heartbeat quickening just a bit. He turns around to face her. "Uh, yeah, I am. Abby let me leave so I'm headed back to my room."
"And how are you feeling?" she asks him.
He shrugs. "Okay, I guess. Just tired."
She nods. "Yeah, that's understandable."
His breath catches when he sees the bandage wrapped around her hand as she brushes some loose strands of hair back behind her ear.
"Wh-what happened?" he asks, gesturing to the bandage.
She pulls her hand down and looks at the bandage. She glances up at Grant. "Oh, that. I uh, I went to open your bunk door and the handle was really hot. I thought I'd be fine because usually your flames don't hurt me, but I guess there's a first time for everything, huh?" She lets out a small, huffed laugh.
Grant's face pales at the new information, his heart sinking down into his stomach. He hurt her? He actually her? It wasn't just in his dream. It was real.
"Grant? Are you okay? Where'd you go just now?"
"I uh, um, I have to go. I'm tired so I'm going to go sleep for a bit."
She nods. "Okay. Just no more late night bonfires, alright?"
He gets the joke, but he doesn't laugh. He can't. Not when she got injured because of something he did. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Skye. He didn't think that he could. At least, not with his flames. He thought she wasn't able to get hurt by his flames.
He swallows thickly. "I'll, uh, I'll do my best."
Without another word to her, he turns on his heel and continues down toward his bunk, trying to push away the image of an injured Skye out of his mind.
All you'll ever do is hurt her.
His eyes close tightly and his hands curl into fists.
He lets out a quick, loud scream before barreling the rest of the way to his bunk, hurriedly pushing open the door, and then locking himself inside in the darkness.
So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!