Happy Easter (or passover or whatever you celebrate) Hope you enjoy!

It had been a week since he had returned to town and he still had been unable to make contact with his handlers, and more importantly Skye. It set him on edge that Skye, and Coulson, still didn't know how he was doing. Not that he was doing too bad.

As soon as Grant reappeared in town, Garrett had sought him out, sending guards to pick him up from the bus station and drive him to his house.

It was as gloomy and unimpressive as he remembered. The guards led him through the gates and through the dirty oak door. It all looked the same as it did 6 months ago. Burly, mean looking guys positioned throughout the house, some clearly high off some sort of drug, others simply staring off into the distance. There were also several girls parading through the house dressed in heels and lingerie, following guys into rooms, mewling for something to bring them to ecstasy. Grant saw his old self in the eyes of the men he passed, scared, alone, addicted. He felt the old emotions rise up in his chest and he quickly pushed the memories out of his head.

The guards led him up the stairs and into an equally gloomy and depressing office space. The walls were painted a dull grey color, and the yellow lights tinged the whole room a nasty shade of white. In the center sat a wooden desk. There wasn't much to be had on the desk, just a few papers here and there, but what drew Grant's attention was the man behind the desk.

John Garrett was an impressive man. At 5'11 he commanded respect from whatever room he entered. His black hair was slicked back with gel and his white teeth blinded when he smirked. The tattoos that ran along his arm showed his credentials as both a gang man, and a convicted felon. He sat behind the desk, reading over some papers. When Grant entered, Garrett shooed away the guards with a flick of his wrist. He put down the papers and leaned forward in the chair,

"Well lookie here. Looks like you got my message after all." He stood and strode over to Grant, eyeing him carefully, "I was beginning to think I lost ya. After you left in the middle of the night? No word, no call, no text?" Grant's eyes followed him as he circled, "Nearly broke my heart thinking I was never going to see you again."

"Well here I am. You found me. got what you wanted John." Garrett stopping his pacing, moving so he stood right infront of Grant, their faces inches away,

"Is that sarcasm I detect?" Grant did not respond, he could sense the anger in Garrett's voice as he continued, "I spend months searching for you, my best friend thinking you're halfway to hell. I warn you about the girl you killed, and I offer to make it all go away! This is how you thank me? You give me attitude? You seem to forget, I was the one who took care of you when daddy dearest thought you were a punching bag," Grant winced, "I picked you up off the floor when you were too drunk to remember your own name. I gave you a job, a roof over your head, safety. I did all of that." They glared at each other for a few more moments. Grant finally spoke,

"I'm sorry." Garrett grinned,

"I forgive you." He walked back to his desk and settled back into his chair, "Like I promised, all the problems with the girl have gone away. I'd like to put you back into rotation as soon as possible. After you left, I had to find new guys and lets be honest, no one is better than you when it comes to getting deals done." He laughed as he began to write on a paper. Grant managed a weak grin. "Go talk to Raina she'll get you settled back in, no time at all." He gestured towards the door, "If you excuse me I have some business to attend to."

Grant nodded and made his leave. He went to go find Raina, Garrett's girlfriend. She was in charge of the outside operations, she met with dealers and oversaw the transfer of money and drugs. He never understood why Garrett and Raina were together, they argued more than they had normal conversations, and Grant was pretty sure Raina was sleeping with other people. He had asked Garrett once about it and he only laughed,

"Relationships aren't always about love. It's about the connections you make, advantageous connections no less. Besides who am I to judge who the bitch fucks?"

He found her in the drawing room downstairs. She was counting out money brought by dealers, and she wasn't happy.

"You're short 50." Her gaze pierced the gangly dealer in front of her,

"I was low on supplies, I needed the extra cash. It'll be added on with the next batch." Raina shook her head,

"You know the consequences when you're short on delivery." The dealer paled and began to stutter,

"B-but I-i will get the money! n-n-next batch!" Raina gestured to the guards standing behind her. One held a large crow bar. The other one caught the dealer trying to escape. He was still trying to stutter his way out. The guard grabbed his forearm and forced it onto the desk, palms down. The other one wound up the crowbar over his head. The dealer was screaming now, pleading. With one swift motion the guard brought down the crowbar on the hand. There was a sickening crunch as the the dealer screamed again. Grant grimaced, Raina didn't even flinch. The guards dragged him away while Raina packed up the bag of cash.

Grant cleared his throat. She turned around and gave him a suspicious look before returning to her work,

"You're back." she said nonplussed

"I am." He wasn't sure how she would react. He had not left her on good terms. She spoke again,

"Where were you?"

"Dealing with some things." Finally Raina turned and looked straight into his eyes,

"I tracked you. Found you in some town in the middle of nowhere. Now exactly what business did you have there?" Grant tried to hide his surprise. Raina was smart, tracked him to the town with Phil and Skye.

"Why didn't you tell Garrett?" Raina raised an eyebrow,

"I knew he had something planned to bring you back. What fun would it be if he dragged you back. Now instead I get to watch you squirm." She took a step forward, "What were you doing in that town for so long?" Another step, "What made you stay? What were you up to?" Grant could feel his heart rate begin to speed up. She couldn't find out about Phil. It wouldn't take much digging to find Phil's government connection, then the whole thing would go to shit. He focused on keeping his face emotionless,

"I was working on a construction project." A half truth. More convincing. "I needed the money and they were willing to pay cash. As soon as it finished, I was gonna head further east." Raina furrowed her brows, deciding whether or not to believe him. Grant quickly drew her focus on other things, "Garrett said you would get me settled, if you don't mind I've been travelling and I'm pretty tired." She nodded and pushed past him.

The week had gone by slow. Garrett kept Ward close at hand, having him run errands and deliver messages for him. Raina kept a close eye on him. He could tell she was still suspicious, and he didn't want to risk a call to his handlers or Skye with her watching him like a hawk. \

So when Garrett gave him a day off, Grant was relieved. Garrett may have been a drug king but he still respected the sabbath. Grant slipped out the house and headed towards the bar in town. He ordered a soda and nursed his glass for a good while before he stood up and made his way to the payphone by the bathrooms. He checked his surroundings before typing in the number.

"Davids Bar and Grill, what's your order."

"An order of ribs with sauce on the side." He still thought the code was lame.

"Let me check with the kitchen on that." The voice responded, followed by a click,

"Grant Ward, status update." he looked around again making sure the area was clear before speaking,

"All is going well so far. Garrett's talking about a big deal to go down soon. I'm not sure when though. I've got some names of some suppliers." He continued on his hiw report, making sure to include everything he had learned in the past week. When he finished, he paused for a moment before speaking,

"Permission to call Agent Coulson." He needed to hear Skye's voice. He missed it.

"Denied. Good work Mr. Ward. Keep in touch." The phone clicked and he was met with a dial tone. It was a vain hope that he would be able to contact Coulson. He was only a week in and he already felt like he had been away from the house for a month.

Grant shook his head. He needed to stay focused. He couldn't be distracted with thoughts of Skye and Coulson. He needed to focus on taking down Garrett. Only then could he be back with them, back to the ranch. He couldn't think of them.

He had to focus. Ward walked back to the bar and took a swig of his soda. He had to keep his emotions in check. He threw a 10 on the wood and walked out the bar. More determined than ever to take back his life.

I hope you like how I included Raina.

Hope you liked it!

As always, please rate and review!

Let me know what you think will happen, what will happen, etc.

What do you want to happen?

Reviews make me a bustling bunny! (Easter Themed, get it?)

P.S. What do you say to introducing Fitzsimmons soon, seeing as they're the only members of the team that haven't mentioned?