Hi everyone! Thank you so much for those who have read my story. I honestly didn't think anyone would, hence why I haven't updated. I'm sorry for the slow updates but I will try to get more frequent updates. This one's a flashback. I'm going to do every second chapter as a flashback so you can learn the whole story of my Skyeward. I will very loosely follow the show's timeline but it will be still quite different. I will use some of the plots but the team dynamic will be a bit different as there are more characters and different character relationships.
As always, I don't own anything MARVEL, even if I really wish I did.
FLASHBACK - February 2003
"There's someone here to see you."
Grant was confused. No one came to see him. His family hated him, he didn't have any friends and his lawyer wasn't coming until just before the trial, which is still a month away. So, who would want to see him?
Upon entering the common room, Grant was shoved towards a table in the back corner. There, sat a man in a tailored suit patiently waiting for him. Once they were close enough, the man stood and held his hand out. Grant cautiously took the mystery man's hand, after all that was the polite thing to do.
The man introduced himself as Phil Coulson. After asking enough generic questions to satisfy the guards to move away from them, Phil told Grant about an agency called SHIELD, they apparently keep the world safe from aliens. Right, because aliens are real. Phil also talked about his military school grades, Grant was the top of his class until he snuck out.
"I know you go to trial in a month. I also know your brother wants you to try as an adult. You're not a bad person Grant, you just acted out of rage and, after reading some of your interviews, you had a lot of anger towards your brother. So, I'm here to offer you a chance. Take it and you come with me today, out of here and to my home. You'll live with me and my family, we'll help you become a good man. Once you're 18, you can go to the SHIELD academy and train to be an agent. I know you can be a good man Grant, you just need the right guidance."
Grant was shocked. This man, who he'd only just met, was giving him a chance, a real chance to escape and live a good life. A way to escape his family and maybe be part of a new one. He wanted to jump out of his chair and hug the guy but doubt clouded his thoughts.
"Are you sure? You actually want to take me away from here. They say I'm dangerous, that I shouldn't be around others." Grant's concerns only assured Phil he'd made the right choice in taking a chance on this boy.
"The fact that you are concerned for everyone else's safety proves you have a good heart, Grant. If you come with me today, I will do everything I can to give you a happy life." Grant looks directly into Phil's eyes and gives him a single nod. A smile graces Phil's face.
"Grab any belongings they let you have and meet me back here."
"I don't have anything worth taking with me."
"Well then just stay here and I'll go fill out the paperwork." Before Phil leaves the table, he turns to Grant. "Knowing my daughter, you will already have a room full of stuff when we get home." Grant's eyes widen and Phil just chuckles as he walks out of the room.
Once everything was sorted, Phil and Grant simply walked out of the juvenile facility, much to Grant's surprise.
"Shouldn't they have stopped us? I mean, it can't have been that easy!" Grant eyes every security guard waiting for them to pounce on him.
"Why should they? You're a free man."
They both get into Coulson's standard-issue SHIELD car and drive off.
After the drive to New York from Massachusetts, Grant felt safe with Phil. He knew he made the right choice. They pull up to a big house just outside of New York City.
"Here's your new home. I'm apologizing now for my daughter, she gets very excited over new people." With that, Phil grabbed his suitcase from the back seat and headed towards the front door. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my family." Grant quickly followed the man through the door and into a wide-open foyer with two people waiting excitedly. Phil stops and allows Grant to stand next to him before he introduces him to the two new people.
Phil gestures to the woman wearing a kind smile.
"This is my wife, Melinda." The woman walks up to Grant and gives him a gentle hug.
"I'm so glad you decided to stay with us, Grant. I promise we will take care of you and show you a true, loving family." Phil then turns to the girl around Grant's age who was practically jumping up and down.
"And this is our daughter, Skye." Phil steps away from Grant as Skye races towards him. Grant tenses, preparing for the impact. It comes not a second later in the form of a tight hug from the girl. Skye releases Grant and beams up at him with a radiant smile.
"Hi, Grant! I'm Skye. You're really tall, or I'm really short. Maybe it's a mix of both."
"Skye honey, calm down. He's going to be here for another two years. You'll have plenty of time to talk and I'm sure Grant just wants to go see his room and relax." Phil and Melinda share a look at their daughter's antics, but allow Skye to drag poor Grant up the elaborate stairs.
Upstairs was a maze of doorways, and Skye's tour was only slightly helpful. Grant knew where the bathroom, his room, and Skye's room were since it was right next to his. When Skye opened the door to his room, his mouth dropped. It's not like his family wasn't well off. The size of the room wasn't what surprised him, it was the design of the room. This was a teenage boy's room, a room full of comfy furniture and personal touches, not a half-empty room void of any life like his old room, not a small bunk like his room at military school, and definitely nothing like his cell he had slept in the previous night. This room was meant for Grant. At that point, he knew that was to be his life. A life where he had a room that without a doubt was his, and only his.
Sitting on the mahogany desk was a simple photo frame. Upon closer inspection, Grant found it was a picture of a smiling Skye.
"You needed some pictures in here, and I know that seeing someone smile makes you smile. So, if you're feeling sad you can look over to my picture and then you'll smile. Obviously you can replace it with your own photos. You don't need a photo of me. We only just met. Don't worry, I'll take it out now. It's weird." Skye's movements towards the photo frame were stopped by Grant who refused to look at her directly, suddenly shy.
"Uh, I like the smile idea, and I don't have any photos to replace it with anyway." This brought a soft smile to Skye's face. Skye then left Grant to explore his new room. The closet was partially full, Melinda and Phil not wanting to buy too much without Grant's opinion. The couple stopped in to check Skye hadn't scared Grant too bad. He just chuckled and assured them she was fine.
A few hours passed, and after a surprisingly fun dinner together, the family and their latest addition retired to their bedrooms for the night. Grant relaxed into the comfortable bed and went over the last 24 hours. This morning he woke up in his cell thinking it was going to be a normal day of waiting before the trial, then this man offered him a new start at life. The only request was to be a good person, even that he had help with. It all sounded too good to be true, but here he is in a soft bed with a new family who are kind and fun. His only wish was that he would have found Phil sooner. That man put his whole faith in Grant, and Grant was not going to let him down, he vowed right there just before he fell asleep.
The night was fine until Skye woke up to someone crying out in their sleep. She knew it wasn't her parents but it took a second to realize it was Grant, the handsome boy who had just moved in with them. She shot out of bed and crept into the hallway. Slowly opening his door, Skye slid in and headed to the boy tossing around in his bed. Knowing that she had to calm him down, she sat gently on the bed and pushed the hair stuck to his forehead.
"Hey, Grant. Grant, it's Skye. You need to wake up. I promise you it's only a dream. You're safe." Grant's breathing sped up until he suddenly gasped, eyes wide open darting around. "Hey, hey Grant. You're safe. You're in your new house remember. No one can get you here. They'll have to go through me first." Finally, Grant looked at Skye and calmed down. Sweat beads lined his hairline.
"I, I'm sorry for disturbing you. I'll try to keep it down next time. I'm sorry." Skye just shook her head, she didn't care about her precious sleep. She cared about him.
"Are you ok? You were so scared that I was scared for you. You were flinching in your sleep. If someone hurt you, I promise they can't now. You have Mom, Dad, and me of course. I'll help you fight, we can do it together." Never before has Grant had someone be willing to help him fight the demons that plague his sleep since he could remember. He only met Skye that day, and yet she had done more for him than anyone in his life. She was willing to protect him for something she had no idea of. So in a moment of complete vulnerability, he told her, almost everything. He told her about Christian beating him and his little brother, Thomas, about his parent's forcing him to keep up the appearance of a perfect family, about the day he finally stood up to Christian only to be sent to military school, about Tommy's death and the events that followed his funeral, including the fire that landed him in juvie. Grant also told Skye about the good times, like Gramsy and helping her bake cookies with Tommy, and holidays in his early childhood before times were bad. They talked for a few hours about their lives before they met each other until both could barely keep their eyes open. Skye reluctantly got up and began her journey next door, but Grant, despite knowing who wrong it was, softly called out for her to stay.
"Please." As if she was waiting for a reason to stay, Skye quickly turned around and got into bed with Grant. The light emitting from the lamp was soon shut off and both fell into a peaceful sleep.
The next morning Melinda went to wake Grant only to find two bodies cuddled together. Noticing the dried tear streaks down Grant's face, she smiled to herself proud of her daughter for comforting the boy. She also knew these two would be inseparable pretty soon, it was fate.