Chapter Twenty-Two: Dial E For Espionage
Grant looked up at her adoringly. His hands lightly cradled her face as he ran his thumbs soothingly back and forth over her cheeks.
"Skye," he whispered softly as if any louder and he would disturb the perfection of the moment.
Skye ran a hand through his already messy hair and trailed a finger down to his lips. His tousled hair made him look younger, more boyish.
She shifted from her position above him but said nothing in response. She dipped down to kiss him again. The searing kiss had him leaning in for more, chasing after her lips when she pulled back a little.
"I need you to do something for me," Skye said against his mouth. Her hands wandered lightly, searchingly, as she spoke.
He favored her that same soft smile from their stolen night in the hotel. But before he could answer her, his face abruptly twisted in pain and betrayal as he attempted to choke out words that would not come. Blood bubbled from his lips as he gasped her name hatefully. The hands that had been caressing her skin clawed weakly at her.
"You're a monster." Skye glared down coldly from above. "What else could I want from you but to tell me your secrets and then die?"
She twisted the knife in her hand for emphasis.
Skye jolted awake so suddenly that she fell off the bed in her confused panic. Her eyes scanned the room for any evidence of Grant, the knife or anything to indicate that it had been real.
When she found nothing, she sat on the floor panting in terror. Skye shivered, her sweat-soaked body felt so cold. Her breathing and heartbeat were so loud she thought the pounding would wake someone else up.
She raised her hands in front of her face to check them for blood. They were clean, but Skye could still feel the way Grant had jerked beneath her when she stabbed him. She could still see his betrayed face. Even the taste of his lips lingered disturbingly as she tucked her legs into her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees.
The dream may have only happened in her mind, but the cause of it was rooted in reality. It had only been a few days since the revelation that Grant may have been genuine in his interactions with her, but she was no closer to deciding what she wanted to do when she saw him next.
It did not take her very long to decide that if she could get intel from Grant, it was her job as a SHIELD agent to do so. Maybe Grant was more complicated than he seemed, but Garrett was still a bastard that had to be stopped. The two of them had left a long trail of bodies in their wake- and maybe she could stop them if she used Grant's feelings for her against him.
The problem was that Skye did not think she could do it. The idea of seducing Grant for information or leading him into a trap to capture him so someone could torture him for it was sickening. Skye could feel the horror her dream caused wracking her body with uncontrollable tremors still. Skye longed for the nights when she imagined getting intimate with Grant instead.
Skye knew sleep was a lost cause, but she could not stay in the room. The images were plaguing her mind, and Skye needed a distraction.
She padded out of her bunk as quietly as she could knowing it was late and her friends were sleeping. As soon as she left, she realized she had no idea where to go. She did not want to do anything violent like training. In fact, what she wanted more than anything was the comfort of another person's embrace and the assurance that everything was going to be fine.
Unbidden, Skye remembered the warmth of Grant's arms after they escaped from AIM and wanted to cry. He was Eric's killer and Garrett's right hand, none of this was okay.
Skye came to a sudden stop when she registered that her feet had led her to a door. She hesitated unsure of how her late night appearance would be received before opening the door silently. Despite unconsciously doing so, Skye knew she was where she wanted to be.
She approached the bed and reached out to lightly wake her friend. "Jemma," she called.
When Simmons awoke and saw Skye, she visibly started before taking in Skye's expression.
"Please, I…" Skye trailed off uncertainly feeling like an idiot. Simmons had been mad at her for days, why had she thought this was a good idea?
But Simmons just scooted over and pulled back the covers to let Skye lay down next to her. The bed was tiny but with both women laying on their sides with their faces inches apart, they were able to fit.
When Skye was much younger and in her fourth foster home, there was a girl, Allison, who had already been adopted and a little older than Skye herself. Her presence had given Skye some hope that this home would be the one, but more than that, Skye had liked having a sister. She used to crawl into the Allison's bed at night and the two would whisper to each other secrets, giggling and joking hours past their bedtime. When the family finally told Skye it had not been a good fit, she found she missed Allison as much as the parents if not more.
Simmons and Allison could not be more different, but nowadays Simmons was the one Skye came to mind when Skye thought of sisters.
"Skye," Simmons murmured a little sleepily. "What is it?"
"After we got back from AIM, you said that you were here if I wanted to talk." Skye paused, "Is it too late to take you up on that offer?"
"I'm always here if you need me," Simmons promised.
So Skye breathed the thoughts that had been tormenting her for days regarding the implications of Grant's potentially real feelings. She began with her nightmare and ended with her worry over what it meant that a Hydra killer was attracted to her of all people.
"You're not a monster," Simmons said at once. "It's just chemistry. Your attraction to him and his to you, it's out of your control." Simmons smiled, "And personality and moral failings aside, he is quite handsome."
Simmons' tone and the light smile that Skye could barely make out in the darkness meant that she was trying to lift Skye's spirits with the levity, but Skye felt her chest tighten at the words.
"And what if it's not just physical attraction?" Skye asked quietly.
"It's going to be fine," Simmons said immediately. "You've come clean to Coulson and done all you can do."
As sweet as Simmons was being, Skye could not help but notice she did not answer her question. Instead, she changed the conversation and the two spent the next couple hours catching up before exhaustion caught up with them.
Skye did not have any more dreams.
Grant scanned the pages of the file before him with narrowed eyes. He paused when he reached the section he was looking for and read it carefully and quickly. All the while, he could sense the discomfort of the woman before him.
His eyes landed on a sentence that left him confused enough that he reread it over twice before raising his glare.
"This can't be right," Grant finally spoke.
"Sir?" The Hydra henchwoman wondered nervously. She kept shifting her weight back and forth. Her gaze would not even meet his, preferring instead to focus on the file cabinet to the left of him.
"It says that Agent 33 was found in a SHIELD safehouse that Hydra did not have the coordinates for," Grant spoke slowly, carefully pronouncing each word in an attempt to control his agitation. "So how did we find her?"
"A SHIELD agent gave us the intel," she replied. When his glare grew more pronounced at the lack of explanation, she squeaked, "The SHIELD agent had infiltrated us and this was a test of her loyalty."
"What happened to the SHIELD agent?" Grant demanded even as his mind was assaulted with the implications of the information.
"She went back to SHIELD several months later after causing as much damage as she could," the woman said.
"Tell no one of this," Grant barked, certain that her obvious fear of him would keep her mouth shut. He was ranked highly enough that she would probably assume that the secrecy was for some greater Hydra purpose, too.
The woman scurried off at once leaving Grant with the file and his thoughts. He had hoped for a distraction after the news Raina gave him. Since leaving Mexico City, he was more indecisive than ever, which put him on edge.
He decided that it was a problem to deal with when he saw Skye next. He was not even entertaining the possibility that he would not run into her again, she was everywhere nowadays after all. The only other alternative would be to come clean to John and organize a unit to capture her.
Even ignoring the nausea that idea caused, Grant did not want to admit to Garrett that he had misled him so much and for so long. Telling him now would lead to questions of how he knew and when he found out. Grant was not sure he could handle his reaction. He gave him the fucking staff after just thinking he was giving into his weakness in a way that did not impact John, Grant did not know what his response would be should he find out just how deep the deception went.
He had toyed with several ideas involving taking Skye's blood somehow but just felt foolish. An analysis of her blood would reveal she was not Phil Coulson, which would certainly lead to an interrogation and beg the question of why he did not just take the subject as opposed to a sample of her blood.
Once again, the image of Skye as someone's subject made him grimace.
He was no scientist either, he did not know how much blood would be necessary anyway. He could give Raina some and have it still be useless. He was out of his depth here with no way to get clarification on it without the risk of revealing the situation and placing Skye in danger.
Raina said that John's future was uncertain, but he could still live another month or so. Of course, he could also drop dead tomorrow. Grant kicked the wall in frustration.
He stormed out of the room with Kara's file still clutched tightly in his hand. By the time he reached his bunk, he had gained some measure of perspective by forcing the thoughts to the side to consider his other dilemma.
He had thought that researching Kara and her condition would take his mind off of the problem he could not solve by focusing on one that he might be able to. As Kara's state continued to bother him, he decided that he could see if he could get the answers to some of the questions he had about it.
He had thought maybe he could find a way to leave her with Skye, Fitz, or Simmons after informing them of her state. SHIELD could have some way of dealing with brainwashing that he did not know about. He did not have the time or ability to deal with her.
Now he just felt like an idiot for bothering. SHIELD had known all along and never tried to do anything. Skye and the rest probably knew, too, and just did not care because she had been tainted by the "Nazi Death Cult" or whatever.
After SHIELD had given her to Hydra in the first place.
The pages of the file crumpled in his grasp. He used to know that SHIELD were nothing but self-righteous hypocrites, they were the reason John was dying to begin with. Why had he forgotten that?
Grant hid the file even though there was no point in keeping it now that he knew there was nothing to be done. It was pointless to try and act like he could save Kara. He would have no one to take care of her even if he could pull off some plan. Maybe it was for the best she was brainwashed, no one at SHIELD apparently had cared about her even before. At least here he could try to watch out for her.
Grant laughed harshly to himself at the pathetic justification. Nothing about Whitehall's control over her was good, and he was no one's hero.
A light knock sounded on his door, which had him tensing suspiciously. No one but John would dare go to his bunk, and his mentor certainly would not knock or wait for a response to enter.
Grant opened the door to be faced with Kara herself. He said nothing, just opened the it wider and walked back towards the bed.
She followed him inside. "Well, hello to you, too." The door shut behind her, and she leaned back against it facing him.
"What is it?" Grant could not muster up the energy for small talk, just looking at her exhausted him. She was smiling now, as though she did not have a care in the world, but Grant could still remember the inconsolable trembling and terror after he returned from the disastrous Futurepharm mission.
"We've got an op," she announced suddenly all business.
Grant crossed his arms. He was torn between welcoming a new distraction and being irritated that he was being forced to do Whitehall's bidding once more. "What is it?"
"Word is Russian oligarch Andrei Rodchenko has managed to find himself an Asguardian weapon capable of considerable damage," Kara explained handing him a file on Rodchenko and the weapon.
"And Whitehall wants it," Grant finished. "So are we going to infiltrate his mansion?"
"Better," Kara said with a strange smile, like she was holding back laughter. "Rodchenko's security is top notch so stealing it on a normal occasion would attract attention, and Dr. Whitehall would rather not deal with the Russians. But Rodchenko is throwing a fancy ball with all the works to celebrate his purchase. Hundreds of guests will be there." She looked at him pointedly, "Guess who's attending."
Grant sighed. The mission would hardly be a distraction. He would cozy up to some drunk partygoers and then steal a weapon likely without anyone even noticing. He forced a smirk anyways. "So Kara, you've never told me, are you a good dancer?"
Skye smoothed her ridiculously long evening gown down for what had to be the fifth time in as many minutes. She and Hunter had only just arrived and already Skye was ready to leave.
After her late night, Skye was not in the festive mood. Even if she were, this was not her type of party. Everywhere she looked she saw another ostentatious show of wealth that made her have to stop her lips from curling.
This used to be the type of mission she enjoyed because it felt fun to play a part and laugh at the activities of the people around her. Now these sort of events reminded her of Ian Quinn and getting shot. Each man seemed to resemble him in some way or the other and it made her jittery.
The plan was to wait until the host and guests drank a little too much before moving in, but Skye was already counting down the minutes. She huffed to herself.
"You okay there, love?" Hunter asked beside her as they stood off to the side of the dance floor.
Skye looked at him and paused. "Are you drinking right now?"
He halted with the glass inches from his lips. "I'm getting into character." He took a big gulp of his drink.
Skye shook her head fondly. Once upon a time, Hunter and his antics had driven her crazy, but now it was the type of lightheartedness she craved.
He downed the rest of the drink staring at the twirling partiers. "Should we dance to blend in?" he asked lowly.
"You can dance?" Skye blurted out more than a little surprised. Maybe it was because he always seemed so tactless and inelegant, but Skye would never have guessed that of him.
"Of course," he said clearly offended. After a brief moment, he added, "Bobbi made me learn for the wedding."
Skye laughed loudly, she would have paid to see that. Bobbi was actually supposed to be the one accompanying him on this mission, but Coulson said he had her working on something else. When she asked for more information, Coulson had told her it was classified. Skye had wondered if the director trusted her less after recent events or if it was just another SHIELD secret and compartmentalization of information.
"Well, it doesn't matter because I can't," Skye told Hunter blandly. "Why don't you scout the room instead?"
Hunter put down his empty glass on a nearby table. "Brilliant, I'll pick up another drink on the way."
Skye ignored that, partially hoping he was kidding. "Is your earpiece on?"
He nodded absentmindedly as he walked away. Skye was a little relieved that she did not have anyone to put a show on for. She was so tired of pretending she was okay when she was not. Hunter did not even know the half of it either.
A waiter passed with a hors d'oeuvre that Skye took to blend in even though she was not sure what it was. She smiled at guests as they passed by but did not engage. Most of the people were Russian, and Skye could not even begin to understand what they said.
Skye had wrangled an invite by hacking into the system and pretending to be a young, American entrepreneur abroad with her husband. She would rather no one had cause to look too closely at their backstory.
She saw Hunter across the room where it looked like he actually was getting another drink. When he glanced up and met her eyes, she noticed an expression of sheer panic colored his face. At first, Skye thought it was because he was upset she caught him and worried that she had failed to hide her disapproval at his actions. Then she saw him inconspicuously activate his earpiece and whisper into it while pretending to fix his drink.
"Incoming," he hissed.
Skye did not have a second to consider what his warning meant before a hand grasped her upper arm. She gazed up in horror that she hoped was not obvious to the potential onlookers all around them.
"Care to dance?" Grant asked her, but he did not wait for a response before pulling her into the middle of the dance floor. When she hesitated, he tsked her. "You don't want to make a scene, do you?"
Skye realized he had trapped her. If she tried to pull away, it would attract notice. With no other option, she followed him to the crowd of dancers.
Despite the many other issues she should be worried about, Skye suddenly felt self-conscious. She was not lying earlier when she said she could not dance. Tripping over herself while surrounded by a bunch of rich people who seemed to float effortlessly made her uncomfortable. She did not like to feel like an outsider.
Worse still, she did not want to look like an idiot in front of Grant. She could admit it was an absurd thought. Skye should not care about his impression of her, especially about her dancing skills, but knowing that did not make her any more at ease.
When they came to a stop, Grant immediately put his hand on her shoulder blade and moved into a position that seemed to mirror the other guests, but Skye was no expert.
"My shoulder," he said. When she looked up surprised, he elaborated, "You put her hand on my shoulder and your other," he reached out and smoothly grasped it, "Goes in mine." The warmth of his touch sent shivers down her spine.
Skye followed his directions quickly, not grateful enough to forget that he was the reason she was in this mess to begin with.
"You don't know how to dance?" Grant asked as they waited for the next song to start. It may have been her imagination, but he seemed stiffer than usual. There was rigidity in his posture that he could not completely hide and his jaw clenched in a way that looked painful.
"No," Skye hissed, "Which is why I was standing off to the side until someone so rudely pulled me away." Skye let out of frustrated breath. "Did they teach you how to at Operations or is it actually a Nazi thing?"
Skye felt his muscles beneath her fingers tense at her words. "No," he said with a darkly mocking smile, "My parents expected perfection from their children, so I was enrolled in dance lessons. Could not have me embarrassing the family."
His bitterness made her falter. She was ready to jump down his throat at the admission that implied he was raised by a wealthy family, but something made her hold her tongue. She had never heard him speak so acerbically. Maybe his reaction was to the Nazi reference though, she was not sure.
"The nuns at the orphanage didn't stress the importance of ballroom dancing," Skye told him honestly.
That seemed to take his mind off of whatever was bothering him. "You're an orphan," he deduced. His eyes softened, the hard lines disappearing minutely.
"In all the ways that mattered," she said. Explaining the complex situation with her father was not something she wanted to get into in public. Or in general. And even though she knew it was a bad idea, she wanted to see his reaction so she said, "Unlike you, I didn't have a fancy, rich family to make a lady of society out of me."
Because she was looking for it, she could see the way his lips thinned and his eyes creased. It was the family thing that bothered him then.
"That's not always a bad thing," he said shortly. The new song started playing before she could comment, "Just follow my lead."
In a whirl, he threw them into motion to the beat of the music. Skye stared at the ground as she attempted to keep up. She was always a second behind on all the steps.
"Don't look down," Grant instructed. "Only novices do that."
"I am a novice," she told him petulantly.
"And it actually harms more than it helps," he continued as though she had not spoken. "Just trust me."
"That's interesting coming from a man so untrustworthy," Skye muttered, but she took his advice anyway. It was easier when she was not focusing on their feet. But now she could not stop staring into his eyes as he held her in his usual intense regard.
Grant's hand was rhythmically stroking her waist. It made her chest tighten as it reminded her of all the other times he had absentmindedly caressed her. She stared at him wondering what thoughts he hid behind that handsome, blank face.
He misinterpreted her look. "Would you prefer to stand on my feet as we dance?" Grant teased.
"Is that a serious option?" Skye asked solemnly. She was rewarded when his face lit up in amusement as she had known it would.
It occurred to her that she could actually pull off a successful manipulation and seduction of Grant Ward. Assuming he was being genuine with her now, Skye knew ways to make his loosen up. But she had not said that to work him, she had just wanted to chase the dark shadows lingering behind his eyes. Every second he held her in his arms, the tension in his body drained away more and more, but she could still see traces of it in the lines of his face.
The song ended quicker than Skye would have liked, a thought which disturbed her greatly. They came to a stop, but neither of them removed their hands.
Skye felt uncertainty settle in the pit of her stomach. Hunter was around probably watching them suspiciously. Grant may very well have some Hydra teammates wandering around also staring. She felt like she was on display.
While they were dancing, she had momentarily forgotten about the mission because she was just pleased to see him again when she had an excuse not to fight him. Hunter would expect her to go along with it because otherwise they would cause a scene. Now that the dance was over, real life came rushing back with a vengeance.
Hydra had to be there for the Asguardian weapon. As complicated as Skye's relationship with Grant was, she knew could not allow them to have it. Coulson had told them that it was supposedly powerful enough to level a stadium. That was not the sort of thing Skye trusted the U.S. government with, much less Hydra.
She did not get time to make a decision on how to react to that knowledge. A beautiful woman in a stunning dress sidled up beside Grant. She locked an arm into the crook of his arm and peered at Skye.
It took a second for Skye to recognize Agent 33. She cursed herself internally for her distraction.
"Who's this, baby?" Agent 33 asked sweetly in a voice louder than the ones Skye and Grant had been using. Skye realized that they were probably posing as husband and wife, which made sense since that was what Skye and Hunter were doing as well. It grated her a little anyway. Besides, Agent 33's show forced all of them to get into character.
"Daisy Johnson," Skye introduced as she held out her hand. She had figured her birth name was unknown enough to get away with. Daisy felt like a different identity to her anyway.
Agent 33 shook it. "Carolyn Parrish, a pleasure." She turned to Grant who now appeared a little uncomfortable to Skye's eyes though his expression was pleasant and betrayed nothing. "Hope you don't mind if I steal him back. He's such a great dancer," she added with an affectionate pat to his chest.
Grant gave her his patented fake love struck look that Skye had seen directed at her before. "I'm sorry to have wandered off, baby," he said.
Skye rubbed her arm. It was like ants were crawling all over her skin, she felt itchy and awkward watching them.
"It's fine," Agent 33 replied unconcernedly. She stretched upwards and pressed her lips against his. Grant went unnaturally still for a second before returning the kiss. 33 lingered for several torturous seconds before pulling back and looking at Skye shrewdly.
Skye's throat tightened, and she could not bring herself to look at Grant. Agent 33's dark eyes bored holes into her making her feel small.
Out of the corner of her eye, Skye could see Hunter steadily making his way towards them as fast as he could without attracting attention. She was not the only one who noticed.
"I think it's time we get back to our previous engagement, sweetheart," Grant said stiffly and drew the other Hydra agent away.
Skye jerked out of her stupor. She could not let them get the weapon. Hunter finally made it to her side and the two of them weaved through the crowd after the retreating Grant and Agent 33.
They were only a couple of steps behind when Grant subtly tripped a passing waiter who was carrying a tray of champagne flutes. The waiter stumbled at once, the tray flying from his grasp.
Skye tried to swerve out of the way but could not manage to get far enough away with the crowd around her. The glasses shattered and the drinks spilled all over her and Hunter.
Immediately everyone turned to stare at them and several waiters and waitresses flocked to them to clean up the mess. Skye and Hunter were stuck at the center of it all as they lost sight of Grant and Agent 33. With all the eyes in the room on them, there was nothing else to be done.
"Bastard," Hunter cursed as he wiped down his wet suit with the napkins the apologetic waiter gave him.
"Damn right he is," Skye said heatedly.
I would really appreciate it if people could answer this question for me- I've been thinking a lot on number of POV words and plot importance for Skye vs. Grant, and I would so much like it if you could tell me whether you think this is A) more Skye's story than Ward's, B) more Ward's story than Skye's, or C) equal or extremely close to it. I want to know how I'm doing balancing the two. It would mean a lot to me if I could get feedback on this. Also, I updated the story's summary, what do you guys think? I didn't think the old one reflected the fic well.
This chapter was getting so long, I had to break it up (so the part I was excited to share with you is actually in the next chapter.) I hope you liked it though, lots of fun things going on. Please let me know what you think! And as always, thanks to everyone who reviewed! Oh, and happy late birthday, Chaosti :)
