Hey babes! Back again with a new chapter. Some new info is revealed to a character in this particular chapter that will help move things along a little.

Enjoy!

"Grant?"

He looks up from his latest book to find Skye approaching him with Adian sitting securely on her hip, the little boy babbling nonsense around a chilled teething ring. "Hey. What's up?" He immediately reaches out to take Adian from her, settling the boy in his lap with the baby's small back against his chest.

"Do you remember Donnie Gill?"

His brows furrow together for a moment as he thinks, doing his best to retrieve the memory of one of their past missions together before he relaxes a little and nods. "The kid from the Academy, yeah. What about him?"

She sinks onto the couch cushion next to him. "Apparently, everyone just got back from trying to recruit him into joining SHIELD."

He quirks a brow. "'Trying'?"

"It didn't work," she tells him dejectedly. "I don't know what happened, but they said that it didn't work, that they weren't able to recruit him. But neither was Hydra, apparently, so that's a good thing, I guess."

"Hydra was trying to recruit him?" he asks, curiosity coursing through his veins.

She nods. "Yeah. They failed, though."

"They're not going to like that," he tells her with a small shake of his head. "They don't like failing. Especially when it comes to Gifteds. They want as many as they can get."

"Like they're collecting them?" Skye asks, a trace of disgust in her voice.

He shrugs. "I guess. Hydra's protocol on Gifteds is pretty straightforward, though. I won't go into all the details, but basically, they send a team out to either convince or capture the Gifted. But if neither of those options are possible, then they take them out."

"Even if they don't pose a threat?" she questions.

He takes in a deep, shaky breath, tightening his hold just a little on his son. "In Hydra's eyes, a Gifted that refuses them is a threat. And they take care of threats quickly."

"That's the main difference between us and them, then."

"Which is why we need to step things up if want to win this," he tells her. "Because while a SHIELD agent is considering right and wrong, Hydra's already taken the shot."

"So what are you suggesting that we do?" she asks, her back straightening and her eyes going just a little bit darker. "Just kill a bunch of people without a second thought?"

He shakes his head, shifting on the couch so he's facing her more. "No, no, that's not what I'm saying. Not at all. Just that we might need to reconsider our strategy and try to be a little more assertive if we really want to get ahead. It's more than just the present at stake here, Skye, it's the future too. I don't want to raise our son in a world that's run by Hydra. It's not the kind of life I want for him."

"I don't want that for him either," she agrees. "But if the only way to get above Hydra is to be like them, then I don't see how we can even have a chance. Because there's no way that I'm going to stoop to their level."

He gives her a small smile. "I know you won't. You're good. You could never be like them."

She ducks her head and he focuses on Adian for a moment, leaning down to make faces at the boy and tickle his stomach, eliciting a few squeals of delight from him.

"You said that Hydra has a way of convincing people. You meant brainwashing, didn't you?"

He sighs and looks back up at her, tucking Adian in a little closer. "It's not done often, but it's done. There's a lot of work that goes into it, and not everyone is susceptible. It's mostly used on high-value targets."

"Like you?" she questions, and he catches the slight hesitation in her voice.

He pulls his lips in tight before letting out a small puff of air and shaking his head. "After talking with Lisa, about a lot of things, I really wish I could say that that's what happened. But I swore I'd never lie to you." He takes a deep breath. "No, I was never brainwashed. At least, not how Hydra usually does it. Everything that I did, good and bad, I did of my own free will. That's how I always looked at it. I was influenced a lot by Garrett, by his threats and punishments over the years, his own unique form of brainwashing me. I could have said no to him, I could have walked away, but at first, I didn't want to, because I didn't think I would have anywhere else to go. Eventually, it became so normal for me. He's the only one I felt actually cared about me, even though I'm realizing now that he didn't."

He looks down when he feels a small weight on his arm, finding Skye's hand resting there. "Hey, you don't have to tell me anything that you don't want to if it's too much," she assures him.

He nods. "I know. I just...Lisa told me that it's good to talk to other people sometimes, that it'll help me even more than just talking to her will. She's there to help me work through a lot of the issues that I have. But she said that sometimes talking to other people about whatever's on my mind can help too."

She nods slowly, her voice soft as she speaks, "Okay. Tell me, then."

He breathes in deeply, closing his eyes momentarily to strengthen his composure. He knows she's there to listen, but he really doesn't want to break down in front of her. "My family…" he starts, his voice wavering, "...you know they weren't the best. I know Rose probably told you some stuff about them too."

"She did, yeah."

"They tore me down," he tells her. "Bit by bit, they tore me down until I felt pretty worthless and like nothing I ever did would ever matter. And so when John found me and persuaded me to go with him, I didn't hesitate. He built me back up from what my family had done. But he built me back up into the way that he wanted. Into the perfect soldier, someone who was so scared to walk away that they wouldn't question their orders. He made me into the weapon I became."

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that," she tells him. "And your family...from the way that you and Rose talk about them, I can't say I blame you in setting the house on fire when you were a kid. It's awful that they were never held accountable for everything they did to you. But from everything I've read about them online, it's no wonder that they weren't; the public loves them and they're well respected too."

He laughs humorlessly. "Well, every family has its secrets."

She nods. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Even yours," he says, taking a huge risk with his words. This could turn out not so well for him if she doesn't like what he tells her. But he needs to tell her. He can't keep this from her anymore.

Her brows furrow. "What?"

"I'm going to tell you something, and I don't want you to freak out. At least, not until you hear everything, okay?"

She nods slowly. "Okay. But I'm already starting to get a little freaked out from how you're talking right now."

"Sorry. But uh...your dad...your dad's alive." He watches her body stiffen and her eyes go wide. "He's been look—"

"Stop."

"Skye…"

"I said stop."

He frowns. "You said you wouldn't freak out, that you'd let me tell you everything."

"I know. But I can't hear this right now. I have spent my entire life trying to deal with the fact that my parents might actually be dead, and now you just spring on me that he's alive. I need a little time to process before you tell me anything else."

He nods. "Okay."

"Great. Thanks."

"Yeah, no problem."

She stands from the couch and pulls Adian from his arms, despite small whines of protest from the boy. "I need to feed Adian and put him down for a nap," she tells him and he just nods. "I'll see you later."

He doesn't say anything back, she's already halfway to the door by the time he really focuses again on what's happening.

He sighs heavily and leans back into the couch. He knew that wasn't going to go well. Why did he think that it would? Things never work out well for him. His entire life that's always been the case. So why did he think things would actually start working out now?

"Grant? You alright?"

He lifts his head to see Fitz standing in the kitchenette, his brows furrowed together. "Hey, Fitz. Yeah, I'm fine. Just...I told Skye something that she didn't really want to hear and now I think she might be upset with me."

"So just a normal day, then," Fitz teases.

He cracks a smile. "Yeah, I guess so." He's so beyond glad that he and Fitz are back to being friends again. Even if it's not exactly the same as it was, they're definitely in a good place. He'd been worried after everything went down that the other man would want to have nothing to do with him. But thankfully, that is not the case. Though, he thinks Adian is a big part of their friendship getting back on track.

"I'll be in the lab the rest of the day if you want to stop by at any point," Fitz tells him.

"Have you been in there all morning?" he asks.

Fitz nods. "Yeah."

"Don't you usually forget to eat when you're busy working on something?"

Fitz looks down and grumbles, shifting on his feet.

"What was that?"

"Trip came by, knew I hadn't eaten. Made me come in here to get something."

He smiles. "Good man, that Trip."

Fitz scoffs. "Yeah, sure. I'll see you later." The Scotsman turns and makes his way back out of the room, mumbling under his breath to himself the whole way.

Grant just smiles and shakes his head, grabbing the book he'd set aside earlier and pulling it back into his lap. He opens to where he'd been reading before Skye interrupted him and lets his body relax into the couch as he immerses himself back into the words on the page.

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!