Flashback
After the Eye Spy mission (yes, they were actually calling it that thanks to Fitz), Skye had taken training a bit more seriously. Sure, she still complained a lot and made up lame excuses to try and get out of workouts but she finally seemed to understand the point of getting into shape and learning how to shoot. At first Grant was puzzled as to why it was the Eye Spy mission rather than the Malta one where she was captured by Bad Guys that spurred her resolve to truly get to work. But then he realized that it was because she saw that being tech support could still go horribly wrong, that any time you're in the field, you might have to fight for your life or go help someone else who was fighting for theirs.
It probably also helped that Grant had stopped being so inaccessible and started relating some of his mission stories. He was careful to erase any classified details but he could share the type of work he'd done, the problems he'd encountered and how he had solved them. Much to his surprise and gratification, Skye appeared absolutely fascinated by these stories. Sometimes even FitzSimmons would listen and they too seemed spellbound.
Grant didn't mention it but the evenings when they'd sit around, tell stories and just be together were some of his favorite times. He'd never had a group to relax with and enjoy their company before and it was amazing. Even back in the Academy, Grant didn't spent time with the other cadets because he was either doing additional training for Garrett or was warned by him not to get too chummy. As a result, everyone in SHIELD just assumed that Grant was a loner and let him be. So, far from it not being his thing like he'd originally told Coulson, this "team stuff" had become something he treasured.
Grant was thinking about this during a trip into a local town to get supplies. He wanted to buy something for Skye and FitzSimmons, a symbol of how much he enjoyed being with them. However, this posed a dilemma. Even if he knew what to buy (which he definitely didn't), he couldn't get them traditional gifts. That would be too weird and might undermine his authority as Skye's SO and semi-team captain (after Coulson and May of course). But if he could find something that would promote them spending even more time together, that would be perfect.
If only I could get Simmons and Skye interested in poker, Grant thought as he walked across the street to the grocery store (if he didn't come back with pretzels, there would be hell to pay). He looked into the window of the store right next to it as he passed and was startled to see an old version of the game Battleship. Just like that, he was transported back to when he and his younger brother Thomas would play when they visited their Gram's house (he'd just told Skye he called her Gramsy to make himself look stupid during his Level 1 Overshare). Christian usually hung out with the kid next door which left Grant and Thomas the freedom to find something else to do without his interference. One day, they'd been hunting around the attic when they found a treasure trove of old games. It was like they'd won the lottery! And, of all the games they found and played (and there were a lot), Battleship was their favorite.
Grant had come to a complete stop outside the store and he went in – was almost drawn in – by the lure of Battleship. He immediately decided to buy it and that he would find some way to make Skye play with him. He also picked up a few other games, ones which included more people, like Scrabble, Body Language, Trivial Pursuit and Pictionary. These were exactly what he was looking for because they clearly were bought for the team without appearing too personal.
Grant was so pleased with his purchases that he was still smiling when he got back to the Bus. FitzSimmons rushed to help him unload the groceries (Grant suspected that Simmons was being helpful while Fitz was just hungry) and they quickly discovered the games.
"Why Agent Ward," Simmons said smiling at him, "did you get these for us?"
"What did he bring?" Fitz demanded, for once setting down the food. "Ohhh…." he said, looking all of them over closely. Grant felt a moment of worry. What if they thought these games were stupid and childish? What if they hated them? But then Fitz looked at Simmons and said, "Do you remember, Jemma? These were some of the games the other students played on game nights. I saw them once before they put them up for the night."
"I remember," Simmons replied to Fitz gently. She turned to Grant and said, "Some of our fellow students were a bit jealous of our abilities, so we didn't get a lot of invitations to interact with them during down times. I saw them playing Pictionary once. They were dreadful!" She said all of this in a bright tone but Grant detected a note of hurt in her voice and warmed to her. So he wasn't the only one who had felt excluded.
Just then, Skye skidded around the corner. "You're back! Why didn't anyone tell me?" she demanded. Grant waited. "Oh my god, Ward! You bought games?" she said, turning to him with the sparkle in her eyes that he so loved.
He shrugged like it was no big deal. "I saw some of these in a store and thought that they might be helpful with training. Scrabble will improve language skills, Body Language will increase non-verbal communication, Pictionary should sharpen written communication and Trivial Pursuit will help with the kinds of knowledge you can use to pacify a mark. Battleship, of course, will help me analyze your tactical and strategic skills, Skye."
Grant thought that he'd pulled off being casual until Fitz said, "You are so full of shit, Ward! You just want to play!" Both Simmons and Skye swung around to look at him with accusatory stares and he couldn't help it, he started laughing.
"You got me. I like to play games," he said as he started walking back to his bunk. "But Battleship is for real," he called over his shoulder as he left. "I'll expect you in the lounge area during our usual morning workout time, Skye. Be ready to show me your strategic skills."
"Whatever, weirdo!" she called back.
The next morning found Skye and Grant sitting across from each, the Battleship displays in front of them. Although his demeanor was much the same as it always was, Grant felt happy. Playing Battleship brought back so many good memories, of time spent with Thomas and his Grams, that he actually felt a bit playful. Of course, this wasn't a great idea but he ran with it anyway. He felt too good to do anything else.
Grant looked at Skye intently and said in a serious tone, "Every decision you make from here on out has consequences. So be warned. The kiddie gloves are off."
Per usual, Skye was completely unaffected and answered, "G7."
Grant looked down and almost sighed in resignation. "Hit." He leaned forward to mark the hit on his display.
Skye made a cheering motion as she said, "Yes! Ha!" She leaned forward in her chair to grab some of the pretzels off to the side. "So explain to me again what this has to do with my training."
Grant had to think hard to remember what he'd told her before. He gestured significantly, hoping that she would be taken in. "It's important for every SO to evaluate their student's thought process." He looked over at her. She wasn't buying it. "And I like board games," he said quickly. "B10."
"Nope. This isn't thinking, this is stabbing in the dark." Skye was on to him. "But it's nice to take a break from the workouts."
"You deserve a break," Grant said seriously. He was going to stop there but Skye looked up at him in surprise and pleasure. Her expression clearly telegraphed her desire to hear more praise, so he decided to give it. He loved seeing her look so happy. "I've got to give Coulson credit. I never would have pegged an ex-Rising Tide hacker as a good fit but you're picking things up pretty fast."
"Did you just give me a compliment?" she asked, smiling.
Uh oh. They were wading into dangerous territory here. Grant had minimal experience with people in authority giving him praise. Garrett rarely did; he was more from the school of hard knocks. Literally. And while there were a few instructors at the Academy who believed that praise was a good incentive, most did not. Grant knew that he tended to work better for people who believed in him versus those who were constantly yelling (when he first realized that about himself, he felt incredibly guilty because that meant he secretly resented John), so he thought he would try praise as a training tool with Skye. But he had very little upon which to model his behavior, so he wasn't sure how much was too much. He also was uncomfortably aware that his growing attraction to her made his judgement a little more suspect than he would like. So, he decided to try and backtrack a bit.
"I….no, I made a comment," he replied warily.
But Skye wasn't going to let him get out of it that easily. "A kind one," she said as he gestured sort of helplessly in agreement. He wasn't often accused of being kind. It felt good. "Did it physically hurt to do that?" She leaned forward and said in a low, serious voice, "Do you need an icepack?"
At that moment, Grant knew he was in deep trouble because he absolutely loved how it made him feel to see her so happy and playful. If this was what giving praise felt like, he had no idea why more people didn't use it as a teaching strategy. But he was also a bit embarrassed because now he had no idea of how to respond. She wasn't like anyone else he knew! Most specialists were loners and had minimal social skills. They were very serious and, if they had a sense of humor, it usually wasn't much in evidence. No one ever teased him like she did; no one ever thought he could be more than Agent Ward, Weapon. So, more out of sheer amazement than anything else, his timid smile became a small laugh.
Skye sat back, smiling in delight. "Wow! A compliment and a smile!"
Does she like my smile? He should shut this down before it got too out of hand for him to control. "Comment," Grant corrected. He still allowed his expression to look pretty light-hearted though. There was no sense of shutting her down hard.
Skye apparently realized that they needed to get back on track so she said, "I don't want to ruin the moment but I'm going to have to respond with G4."
Grant looked down at his board and the playful expression slid off of his face. He couldn't believe that she'd won! Although she was correct that this wasn't exactly a tactical exercise, whenever he played Battleship, he usually won. Losing didn't sit so well. Damn! Skye just keeps surprising me in all the right ways. And, oh god, now I'm never going to live this down. He closed his eyes, preparing himself for her gloating.
Skye didn't disappoint. As she saw his face fall, her grin widened. "Say it, Ward." Grant let out an irritated sigh. She leaned forward and said in a low voice, her eyes lit up with mirth, "Say it!"
"You sank my battleship," he said glumly.
"Ha ha ha, yes!" Skye cried as she pumped her fists.
"All right. Best two out of three," he replied, sitting up and starting to rearrange his display.
"I beat you!" Skye said in a sing-song voice.
"Best two out of three," Grant said, pausing between every word to make sure she knew that he meant business. Annunciating precisely also helped cover his irritation over losing.
"That I just won out of nothing," Skye said in an attempt to goad him. Grant had to admit that she could trash talk with the best and he enjoyed their verbal interplay. The two of them started playfully arguing as they set up the new game. However, before they could even get started, a SHIELD alert came in.
Coulson brought the whole team into Mission Control so that he could explain about Chan Ho Yin, a pyro-kinetic gifted who had gone missing. This was Skye's first introduction to gifted people and the Index, so Grant wasn't surprised that she was shocked and disapproving. But things got more than a little tense when she started asking questions about how many people were on the list and why SHIELD kept it.
"It's a short list," Coulson told her calmly. "Meant to protect them."
Grant couldn't let that go unchallenged. It was moments like this when he remembered why he'd only felt minimal guilt about working with Hydra before confessing to Hill. At least Hydra was always honest about who they were; SHIELD also did horrible things but just pretended like they didn't. The hypocrisy of that had always irked him. So he added, "Though in rare occasions, SHIELD has had to take action."
"Action against objects or…people?" Skye asked cautiously. There was an awkward silence as the rest of the team looked anywhere but at each other.
Upon reflection, Grant realized that many people accepted some of the shadier things that SHIELD did just because they were so used to it. Few people raised objections about how people on the Index were treated because that was the way it had always been done. Skye's fresh perspective made them question whether their procedures had as much merit as they'd previously thought. Huh. Maybe Coulson was on to something with adding a team member who doesn't think the way we do.
The briefing continued with the team talking to Agent Kwan, Mr. Chan's monitor, until he mentioned that the people who took Mr. Chan were able to do so because of a hack from the Rising Tide. Suddenly, there was another tense silence, but this time it was less embarrassed and more suspicious.
Skye looked around the room, alarmed, as she processed what Agent Kwan had said. Her gaze landed on Grant. He leaned back from the table, straightened, and looked seriously back at her.
Grant honestly didn't know what to think. His first instinct was to trust Skye. He admitted to himself that he didn't want for her to have betrayed them. With this thought, Grant could almost hear Garrett point out that this was yet another reason why caring was weak, why trusting people got you hurt or killed. But her glance at him was so pleading, even trusting, because she clearly was counting on him to back her up. And really, given his triple status, who was he to not at least give her a chance?
"The Rising Tide is a huge organization of hactivists from all around the world. Any of them could have done this. It wasn't me!" Skye said desperately to Coulson a short while later in his office. Coulson was sitting behind his desk, his expression cold, (At least he's looking at her and not walking around the room while she tries to talk.) while Grant was facing Skye with his arms folded across his chest. He realized that his body language was threatening but he needed to look as if he was taking this seriously even if he wasn't sure that he was.
"No one's saying it was," Grant replied, almost gently.
"But you're thinking it! I can see your faces thinking it," Skye replied, looking back and forth between Grant and Coulson. Grant hated seeing her so upset and desperate but he knew that she had to convince Coulson of her loyalty by herself. The only help he could give her for now was his presence.
"We're assessing the situation," Coulson said calmly.
"Then I'm sure you're taking into account that I have been living on a plane with you this whole time. It would be impossible for me to hack SHIELD," Skye said. Grant wondered if that was true. He suspected that none of the team had any idea of what Skye could actually do.
"Or easier," Coulson retorted. Clearly he was of the same mind as Grant about Skye's abilities. "We're going to need more than that."
"Fine. Let me trace the hack and I'll prove it," Skye responded hastily. Grant decided that he could legitimately step in now as her SO. After all, he was the one who was supposed to know her best.
"I believe her, sir," Grant said. "And if she's telling the truth," he said as he and Skye exchanged significant looks ("Thank you for believing me" and "You'd better be telling the truth because I am going out on a limb for you"), "we need to track down the person responsible."
Coulson stood up. "Dig up something and fast," he told Skye. "The longer Mr. Chan is missing, the more danger he's in."
Skye left Coulson's office quickly and went directly to the holo-table. Although Grant needed to be there in his capacity as her SO, he wasn't surprised when the rest of the team came to watch as well. He could practically taste their strong desire to believe in Skye. Plus, all of them were pretty impressed with her computer abilities which led her to discover, in an amazingly short amount of time, that infamous (or famous, depending upon how you looked at it) hacker Miles Lydon was the one who was responsible for the hack that led to Mr. Chan's kidnapping.
Immediately the atmosphere in the room changed from tense to almost jubilant. Fitz even went so far as to say, "Miles Lydon, not Skye. That's to all of our relief." Grant internally shook his head. Thanks, Captain Obvious. Yes, they were all thinking it but Fitz really needed to learn not to say everything that is on his mind? He was too naïve by half! Yet he appreciated the sentiment and was gratified that everyone seemed to be on the same page.
The team put together the rest of the mission like the well-oiled machine they had started to be and Grant believed they were back on track from what was a minor bump in the road. Unfortunately, the team working together smoothly to find the leak was the last peace of mind he was going to have for weeks.
Austin, Texas was an exercise in frustration. Lydon made Grant almost immediately (How could I be that obvious? Some spy I was right then.) and Coulson ordered May on some other mission that he wouldn't share with Grant. All he would say is that it was another lead he was checking out. Then, without telling them why, Coulson ordered Grant to pick up FitzSimmons and meet him at an apartment building.
Once they'd arrived, Coulson told them that he'd ordered May to follow Skye (How could he not tell me his suspicions about Skye? I'm her SO!) and that she'd led her straight to Lydon. Grant felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach. First, Coulson purposefully kept him out of the loop and then Skye betrayed him and the rest of the team. And if that wasn't bad enough, Grant, Mr. Superspy himself, hadn't realized it. For the first time in his career as a spy, Grant started seriously questioning his skills and competency. How could he of all people not realize a turncoat – someone very close to him – was in their midst?
And then there was Skye's behavior. Coulson warned them before they entered the apartment that Skye had been intimate with Lydon before May busted her. Grant almost couldn't stand it. Although he couldn't exactly put his finger on what was bothering him, he knew that part of it was because he'd been so sure that he knew Skye but, based on this latest development, he clearly didn't know her at all. He and Skye had bonded over both being alone in the world, kids who'd been abandoned by those they'd desperately wanted to love them. And now she had someone who meant a lot to her, someone for whom she was willing to risk everything, someone who wasn't Grant. He'd thought that he meant something to her. He'd been wrong.
So, while Skye sat on the couch and begged Coulson to believe that she hadn't truly done anything wrong, he stayed out of her line of sight and said nothing. He knew he couldn't put off looking or talking to her for much longer but, as far as he was concerned, the longer the better. After she finished speaking with Coulson, he could feel her looking at him pleadingly but he avoided making eye contact.
He heard FitzSimmons talking over the situation, with Fitz asking how Skye could do this to them and Simmons defending her. The knowledge that other members of the team were equally as upset about this helped a little but not much. For Grant, it felt almost as bad as the time when Garrett came promising tacos but showing up with a gun. "Hoping for something and losing it hurts more than never hoping for anything," Skye told him once. Isn't that the truth?
Coulson went in to the bedroom to talk with May and emerged shortly afterward. "Gather all the evidence and secure the prisoners. We got what we were looking for here. We're going to Hong Kong," he said as he and May walked out of the door with Lydon in cuffs.
Grant looked down. The moment he had been dreading, having to look at Skye, had arrived. He really didn't want to do this. He put down the papers he was looking through, turned and sighed as he walked toward Skye.
She tried looking up at him but could barely manage a glance or two before looking down again. "I'm so sorry, Ward. This is not what it looks…"
"Hands," Grant interrupted quietly, not even looking at her. He could feel her staring at him in disbelief right before she raised her wrists so that he could cuff them. Then she looked down with a defeated expression on her face. "Now get up," he said in a hoarse voice as he turned and walked away. Skye sighed deeply as she stood up and followed along behind him.
The ride back to the Bus was excruciating. May and Coulson went with Lydon in one car while Grant, FitzSimmons and Skye rode in another. As they usually did when riding together (this division of the team was the usual one), Skye initially tried to ride in the front with him. But Grant knew that he couldn't stand sitting next to her, so he insisted that Simmons ride up front leaving Fitz to watch Skye in the back. No one talked.
Once they returned to the Bus, Grant silently removed Skye from the vehicle. She tried to talk to him as she got out saying, "Grant," and looking up at him but his unyielding expression shut her down. He didn't know what to say but was afraid of what he would say once he had to talk, so he needed for her to leave him alone. He marched her into the Holding Cell without talking, chained her to the table across from Lydon and left the room.
At first, Skye and Lydon just sat there, facing each other but not talking. Lydon looked angry while Skye slumped dejectedly in her chair. Then, they started arguing about the difference between privacy and security. Grant watched them from a screen in Mission Control and found himself surprised that Skye was defending SHIELD, especially given her repugnance at the Index and what they did to gifteds. Grant was immediately appalled with himself. Skye was not someone to figure out anymore. When will I learn?
All of a sudden, it was too much. Grant turned away from the screen, shut it off, and came up behind FitzSimmons who were going through Lydon's papers. "The guy's hiding behind platitudes," he said disgustedly. He crossed his arms in front of him. "He's dirty. I can feel it."
"Scrubbed clean actually," Simmons corrected him and then went on to elucidate Lydon's gaming habits. Grant had no idea what she was talking about but Fitz seemed to understand and be revolted by the guy's choices. Of course Lydon would be despicable.
"Keep looking," he ordered firmly. And they soon found something, just like he knew they would. That guy is totally crooked! Coulson ordered Grant to go into the Holding Cell and get them to talk. Right before he entered, he took a deep breath, called to mind his training, and made up his mind that there would be no more shirking his duty. Skye was now a suspect and he needed to treat her as such.
Grant grimly walked into the holding cell, looking just as unfriendly as he had when they'd first captured Skye. But this time, his eyes met Skye's and she sat up straight, her expression one of attentiveness and pleading, like she was trying to tell him how badly she felt about what had happened. Her attitude could not have been more different than the last time she'd sat in that chair. Grant felt a pang but ruthlessly shut it down. No more. She played me for a fool.
He turned and looked at Lydon. "She's been defending you. Saying you're a stand-up guy. So I'm going to give you a chance," he told him. If Grant had his way, he would knock the smug look off the guy's face first but he knew that wouldn't win him any points with anyone. But damn if that wouldn't feel good. He threw down a packet of papers on the table. "Do you want to tell her? Or should I?"
Skye looked wary but Lydon replied arrogantly, "I don't have to listen to you."
"There goes your chance," Grant said and briefly glanced at Skye. A nasty part of him was pleased that he was the one who got to deliver the blow. Even as angry as he was with Skye, he still didn't believe that she did anything as awful as selling out Mr. Chan, so she wouldn't be happy to know that Lydon had.
"Your boyfriend here," he said looking back at Lydon, "made a few deposits in the days following the leak." Boyfriend. The word stung, especially since he'd never been one. To anyone. Will I ever? He laid the deposit slips on the table. "All said, about a million dollars."
"What?" Skye said sharply.
Grant continued his diatribe, "Real stand-up guy," he said still looking over at Lydon. He hadn't made eye contact with Skye since he first entered the room.
Skye immediately started arguing with Lydon. Grant realized that he was glad that Skye was upset over this. Not only did it appear that she wasn't involved in what happened (That's a relief!) but Lydon was doing a bang up job of disillusioning her about himself. Things got so heated that Grant even risked looking at Skye briefly when she said, "Oh, you are so dead!" after Lydon confessed to selling information for a million dollars.
"It would change my life!" Lydon explained. "Our lives." Grant angrily looked over at Skye (I thought your life was with us now.) but she was still focused on Lydon. "And that woman was harmless. I looked into it," Lydon continued. What an idiot! He doesn't even know what he doesn't know. You sure picked a good one, Skye.
"No one with good intentions pays that kind of money for information. Did you ever think about that?" Skye asked furiously.
"Of course I did," Lydon replied contemptuously. "I never would have done it if I'd thought there was something…"
"Who's the woman you referred to?" Grant asked calmly, trying to maintain his professionalism.
"A fan of the Rising Tide. Some rich girl in a flowered dress. She knew all about me, said that I had a gift. She thought people like us deserved more," he answered slyly looking out of the corner of his eye at Grant. You have no idea of what I deserve, buddy. Or what you do.
"Oh, you deserve more," Skye told Lydon scornfully.
"She pointed me toward a Chinese SHIELD feed, wanted me to crack it," he continued. Skye looked worriedly up at Grant.
"And you thought that was harmless?" Grant asked quietly. This guy's a real tool. If Lydon had any idea of the emotional chaos that lay behind Grant's calm demeanor, he wouldn't be so blasé about everything; he'd be shaking.
"I checked the data stream. It didn't seem like anything you and I hadn't already put out there, Skye." Grant looked over at Skye to see how she was taking this. Not well if her expression was any indication. "And I traced the account where the money came from to make sure it wasn't some evil corporation. It was just an eco-research lab." Skye closed her eyes, hopefully because she was so disgusted by Lydon's naiveté. "Otherwise, I would never…"
Grant dropped his anger and zeroed in on what Lydon was saying. He leaned on the table and said thoughtfully, "Ecological research." He looked questioningly at Lydon.
Lydon gazed back at him, clearly startled by Grant's change of demeanor. "Yeah, insects. Some study with centipedes." Skye immediately looked up at Grant and he finally looked back at her, but this time in consternation. This was huge news. "What could be more harmless than that?" Lydon continued. They both ignored him, then Grant quickly left to go consult with the team.
Later, Grant was suiting up to go into the Centipede research facility in Hong Kong when Coulson came over to him. "Agent May and I will be handling the field work," he told him. "You stay and oversee the prisoners." Coulson then started to walk off.
Grant couldn't believe it. Was he being punished for failing to realize that Skye had betrayed them? Well, maybe he's right. But I have to be able to make up for my mistakes! "Sir?" he called out. Coulson stopped walking and turned back towards Grant. "I was Skye's SO. It was my responsibility…"
"It was my call to bring Skye onto the plane," Coulson interrupted him. "And you warned me against it." Grant let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. Coulson wasn't blaming him! If anything, he was telling him (backhandedly to be sure) that he was right. "My problem. I fix it," he continued.
In spite of everything, even through his anger and hurt, Grant felt some hope. Maybe Coulson was actually warming up to him! But right on the heels of that thought came the unwelcome realization that not only was he not going into action but now he would have to babysit Skye and her asshole boyfriend.
Except that it didn't work out that way. Coulson and May ran into trouble almost immediately. Grant had been monitoring the mission with FitzSimmons but, with the dilemma the team was facing, he knew they needed Sky's expertise with computers. So he brought both of the prisoners into Mission Control: Skye so she could help and Lydon so that they could keep an eye on him.
"I need to provide Coulson and May with back-up but first I need a way in. Skye, can you help override their systems, find me a back door?" Grant asked her.
"They've got the entire facility locked down," Simmons said miserably as she massaged her head as though she had a headache.
"Are you sure about this," Fitz asked Grant worriedly.
"No," Grant replied. He would have liked to offer reassurance but this was no time for lies or half-truths. He needed everyone to bring their A-game and, to do that, they needed to work together and with full disclosure.
He heard Lydon lean over and whisper to Skye, "This is pretty cool." Grant tried not to roll his eyes but he was pleased that Skye barely acknowledged him and instead focused on her work, her fingers flying over the screen.
"The alarm disconnected the system from all exterior servers," she told him.
Grant didn't want to hear about problems; he wanted solutions. "Can you fix it or not?" he asked in an irritated tone as he looked directly at Skye.
"Yes but you've got to get me on-site," she replied.
"Not a chance," Grant scoffed as Lydon said, "No way" at the same time. The two men looked at each other and Grant could read true concern for Skye's well-being in Lydon's gaze. Maybe this guy isn't a total asshole.
"You're a hacker, Skye," Lydon warned quietly, "not Seal Team Six."
"No," she replied and then turned to look at Grant. "But he is."
Grant glanced down to look at Skye. Then he looked back at Lydon and smirked. Damn straight. He transferred his gaze to Skye and saw that she understood they would be going in together.
As they suited up to go into the building, Grant risked a small discussion with Skye. "Look, this is going to be difficult, so please just do what I say without comment. Can you do that?"
She nodded and started to say something.
Grant shook his head and interrupted her. "I'm going to have to take out some of the guards and I need for you to stay out of my way while I do that. I can't protect you and fight them at the same time."
"I know. I will," Skye said soberly. He started to leave but she grabbed hold of his arm. He turned and looked at her reluctantly. "Grant, please. I want you to know that I really am sorry. I didn't know that Miles would do this or I never would have protected him." Although he was loathe to admit it, even to himself, Grant was touched that she used his first name and cared enough to make sure he knew how she felt.
"We'll talk later. We have to focus on the mission right now," he replied. Skye nodded again and followed him out of the Bus.
Getting into the building was only a little difficult. True to her word, Skye tried to keep out of the way as Grant took out three guards. He then grabbed her arm and yanked her into a control room. Skye immediately found a computer and started punching keys and whizzing through screens. Grant made sure the room was secure, then bent down to look over her shoulder. His experience with tech support was that they usually took a while to accomplish their tasks. He had faith that Skye would be faster than the usual techie but that he still would have to find a way to guard her while she worked. In order to do that, he had to know what to expect.
"How long is this going to take?" he asked her impatiently.
"Done," Skye replied, standing up and moving away from the computer. Grant was impressed.
The two of them met up with Coulson and May, only to immediately make a run for the outside of the building before Mr. Chan blew himself up. As they watched the fire dissipate in the sky, Grant thought it might be helpful to point out to Coulson that Skye had once again demonstrated her usefulness to the team.
"Skye managed to extract some files from the building's mainframe," he told him. "It's not much but it could get us a fix on Centipede."
"Maybe," Coulson responded.
Grant watched Coulson look at the flames in the sky and realized that Coulson was deeply feeling the loss of Agent Kwan and Mr. Chan. "You can't save someone from themselves, sir."
"You can if you get to them early enough," Coulson replied. He briefly glanced at Grant and then looked past him to Skye. Grant looked at her too and felt a sense of relief. It was clear that Coulson wasn't going to imprison her or kick her off the plane. Anything else he could handle.
When they got back on the plane, May and Grant went directly to the bar while Coulson sent Lydon on his way. Grant hoped they'd never run into the guy again. He was going to have to deal with Skye's betrayal and it would be a hell of a lot easier if he didn't have to see the reason for it in front of him. How could I have been so wrong? he wondered for the millionth time.
Grant watched May pour him a stiff drink. "Make it a double," he requested.
Her lips quirked wryly. "Is there any other kind?"
Grant shook his head as he smirked a bit. He was grateful for May's quiet presence, especially when he sensed Skye coming up behind them. Neither he nor May turned around even when she began speaking.
"So I'm going to Coulson's office now," she told him. Grant looked down at his drink. "I figured you might want to be there, being my SO and all."
Grant just shook his head slightly. "I'm off the clock," he said speaking to the wall. He could almost Skye's her humiliation and distress at his response. He knew that she got his message, that being her SO was his job; it wasn't personal. Good. Let her know what it feels like.
"Right. Ok then," Skye replied. And then she left.
Grant felt horrible, for Skye, for himself, (Training's going to be awkward now.) and for the rest of the team. How were they ever going to work through this?