Previously on "This Is Not Mine."

Grant Garner woke in a strange world, so much like his own, yet different in crucial parts. When trying to contact his team, he's captured by the one person he never thought he'd see again and his own mortal enemy.

In trying to find out what the hell happened to him and where he is, Grant learns more about this other world and the people in it.

That works both ways though, because they've learned some things of their own.

"Leo unlocked my LDC."

Coulson doesn't have time to respond either way, because the door suddenly and violently swings open. It slams into the wall so hard, the concrete cracks and crumbles, leaving a doorknob sized hole in its wake. In the doorway a furious looking Skye is standing, brown eyes blazing with rage and jaw firmly set. In her hands Grant can see several pages of something, but he can't tell what's on them. She looks like an avenging Valkyrie and Grant has to swallow a few times to keep himself in check. He hasn't seen her like this in so long. He remembers it though, the look of righteous indignation on her face, the steely determination in her eyes and the warrior-pose she made completely her own, even though Grant had often wondered if she'd ever get the hang of it.

Grant's so wrapped up in staring at Skye, he doesn't notice it when Coulson moves from his chair to stand slightly in front of him. If Grant didn't know any better, he'd think it was a defensive pose. But because he does, he sees it for what it actually is, a way to keep control over the situation by blocking visual triggers.

"Daisy" Coulson says softly, his arms lifted, palms out. She doesn't respond, doesn't move an inch. But her eyes must still shoot lightning, because he doesn't make a move forward. "Daisy," he says again, a little louder this time, more authoritative. There's no change in Skye and Grant knows it's hard for her to come back when she's in a rage like this. Her stare takes a faraway quality, like she's not seeing what's in front of her and the angrier she is, the longer it takes her to get back. With his Skye, it was always Grant's voice that could bring her back. He guesses Coulson does this for Daisy as well.

Several slow seconds pass and suddenly Skye visibly deflates. Her shoulders slump and she leans against the doorpost like she's just run a marathon. Which she might as well have, the energy required to reign in her rampant emotions is equally draining. Coulson moves towards her, his hands coming down on her shoulders. "Daisy", he says a third time and there are so much layers to that one word. Comfort, anger, understanding and disappointment, along with several more that Grant can't really place at the moment.

She closes her eyes and leans into Coulson's hands for a fraction of a second, before straightening up. Her eyes are clear when she looks over Coulson's shoulder, the rage still there but more controlled. Like a coiled snake, ready to strike at the slightest provocation. Again the resemblance to his Skye is striking and Grant has to turn his head before getting overwhelmed with the emotions he tries very hard to bury.

"I. Want. An. Explanation." She clips her words, biting them out at Grant. The harsh sounds bring Grant back from his own emotions. His Skye never used that voice on him, but he'd heard it enough directed at the lowest of the low. Which is clearly how she sees him. Or other him. It's getting confusing keeping everything separate in his own head.

Before Grant can say anything, Coulson steps in again. "Daisy!" he says, like it's not the only thing he's said to her since she walked in. His voice is commanding now and he's not talking to her like the father figure he so obviously is, but as her boss. "Walk it off. Now!" She looks like she's about to argue, but must see something in his eyes to dissuade her of it. There's one more look of pure contempt thrown in Grant's direction before she turns on her heels and stalks off.

Coulson barks out a few orders to the Agents guarding the door before closing it and sitting back down. Outwardly he doesn't appear to be ruffled but there's a pinching around his eyes that Grant knows is stress related. Not that he blames the man. Skye in a rage could easily bring down this entire complex, and then some. Grant remembers the early days of their transformation, the way Skye was afraid of touching anybody, of being near anybody. She'd hurt herself so much back then, keeping in the power she had. And when it burst out, it was unstoppable, crumbling the most impressive structures into dust. It had taken her a long time to learn how to control the powers, and there was a lot of ice cream involved. Bill and Terry made a killing off the Garner family in those months. Grant wouldn't come near anything vanilla for a long time after that, just the smell of it nauseating him.

Grant looks at Coulson again, really looks. There's a weariness underneath the director-façade, something that only befalls men who try to carry the weight of the world. A lot like Grant felt himself for a very long time. Making the hard calls is never easy, and it always leaves a mark.

He sighs, "I guess that answers my question. What did she see?"

Coulson stays quiet as he looks at the papers he took from Skye before she left. He pages through the stack, sometimes frowning, sometimes smiling softly. "She looks really happy in these pictures. Happy like I've never seen her before, almost carefree." Grant doesn't have to wonder what pictures he's talking about. He knows the ones he's referring to. The ones from before where there was still a light in his Skye's eyes and an easy smile on her lips.

"She was. We were." Grant replies softly but with emphasis on the 'we'. Grand Ward might not be a good guy, and he might have done horrible things to make Skye hate him, but Grant Garner was a good guy, who had loved Skye with all his heart. Who still, after 2 years, loved her. And she had loved him with equal fervor.

"Why the past tense?" Coulson asks. "When we caught you, you said "He'll kill you, he's done so before". What did you mean by that?"

Grant swallows. He's got millions of memories of Skye, of them together. Them being happy and carefree and just young. And even after, when everything changed and the world had become much darker, they found joy in just being together. And then she'd died and all his memories were overshadowed by the one where she lay in his arms, bleeding.

He realizes it's a trap just milliseconds before they are surrounded. "Ambush!" he yells even though he knows the rest of them know it already. There's no way out, blocked at every turn by one of Coulson's goons. And then the man himself shows up. Looking all smug and full of himself, eyes shining with fire like the devil himself.

"Well… if it isn't my very favorite SHIELD team. I guess now we know who was the brain behind your success. Just a hint, it wasn't any of you," he sneers at them.

Grant can feel Skye moving before he has a chance to stop her. She walks closer to the maniac they once considered family, trying against her better judgement to appeal to his better side. Grant's not sure he still has one. There's something ironic in SHIELD saving Coulson's life in order to save the world only to have him destroy the Agency and make the world burn. Grant guesses that's the way it goes, you always create your own worst enemy. And whatever SHIELD did to keep Coulson alive, it stripped him from all the humanity he had. Still, they can't help but try to get him back. Because of love, honor and family. Things Coulson would say makes you weak, but Grant knows them to be the most powerful of emotions.

"AC, please. Don't do this. There's still a chance, you can still undo this. It's not too late," she begs him. And for a moment it looks like she's getting through to him, his face morphing from the sneering diabolical man he's been for the last 4 years into the soft and loving one Grant has known since he was five.

"Really?" Coulson asks with softness in his voice, a little sadness even. "I can still come back? After… everything?" There's a brokenness to his voice that tugs at Grant's heartstrings, and he knows it has the same effect on Skye. He almost believes it worked, and Grant has to acknowledge that the man has a gift for theatrics, because the sneer returns and his demeanor is almost bored when he raises his gun and fires.

She throws up her hands in order to block the bullet, and Grant jumps to catch it with his own body, but they are both too late. There's a bloodstain spreading across her chest and she falls forward, a look of bewilderment in her eyes. Grant drops down onto his knees in front of her, easing her onto her back. His hands are covered in the blood he's trying to keep inside of her. He hears screaming all around him, but he's not sure who's it is. It could be his, but it doesn't really matter. Nothing really matters anymore.

Skye blinks slowly, clearly struggling to keep awake. She opens and closes her mouth a few times but the only thing that leaves it, is a trail of blood. "Shhht, don't try to talk baby. Please, save your strength, stay with me. Please, stay with me." he begs her. There's gunfire and fighting in the background and he knows it's his team, but he can't seem to make himself care. He can't make it matter. The only thing that is important right now is Skye. Keeping her alive. And if she dies, it won't matter if they kill him.

She tries to take a breath but has to cough because of all the blood. So much blood. "I… l-l-l'm… so-s-sor-sorry… lo-love you." she manages to whisper, before the light fades out of her eyes completely. There's a moment when it feels like the world stands still, and Grant can only hope that it refuses to spin again without Skye, but then the sounds snap back and he's still holding his dead wife in his arms. "No! No, no, no. Please, no. God, please no…" Grant whimpers while squeezing Skye's body tightly against his. He's rocking back and forth, trying to make her move again, make her alive again. But she's gone, her eyes blank and every muscle in her body limp. He drops his head to her chest, not caring about the blood that mixes with his tears as he cries.

He doesn't notice the burning on his back, or the man who's causing it. The world outside of his bubble disappears, there's only Skye, him and loss. The only thing Grant hears is silence where there should be a heartbeat. The only thing he can feel is the desolate emptiness creeping in on him. Then there are strong hands on him, trying to pull him back, away from Skye. Grant struggles, he's not letting go, he won't let them take her. She's his, and he's not giving her up, no matter what. Then there's a tiny prick in the back of his neck, and his world goes black.

"She died." His throat feels thick and he has to scrape it a few times to find his voice again. "We were ambushed and she took a bullet." Coulson nods, and there's actual sympathy in his eyes. Like he knows what it's like to lose somebody you love like that. It's hard for Grant to see that look in the man' eyes when it's about Skye, but if he's not this world's Grand Ward, this Coulson is not his world's Coulson. Probably. Most likely. Maybe.

"Who shot her?" he asks, his voice taking on a fragile tone that tells Grant he already knows, dreads the answer.

Grant looks him in the eyes and he feels a pang of sadness for the older man. From the limited interaction he's seen between Skye – Daisy – and Coulson he knows there's more between them than a mere boss-employee relationship. He's witnessed it when Coulson was the one who could bring Sk – Daisy – back from the precipice of the abyss. There's love and affection between them and Grant telling him that there's a version of him alive that has betrayed his Agency and killed Skye… Grant knows that will be a though pill to swallow, for this version of Coulson.

Deep down though, Grant just wants to see some version of Coulson be sorry, to show remorse for the life that was so brutally stolen. The lives that were stolen. And if he can't get that from his own world's Coulson, he might as well get it from this one.

Which is a thought Skye wouldn't have wanted him to have, he knows. And he feels something akin to shame because of the thought, but dammit, he's been carrying this pain around for so long. And he's still so mad at himself for being too late, at Coulson for destroying everything, and at her for lying to him, for leaving him. Rationally he knows that displacing anger isn't the solution, but it still makes him feel a little better right now.

"Philip Coulson did."

Even though he probably expected Grant's answer, it still comes as a shock to Coulson. The man turns white as a sheet and his eyes flash with horror and disbelief. His shoulders sag and he generally looks defeated. Like he'd hoped against hope Grant would name somebody else, anybody else.

There's sorrow in his voice when he speaks again, the word shaky and hoarse, "Why?"

Why… Grant thinks that's a very good question, but he's not really sure he can answer it. Because he's asked himself that so many times over the past 2 years. And even before that, when Coulson changed. It was an ever-present question, like the what-ifs and the if-only's.

"He used to be family… and then he died. But he was important, to SHIELD and to the world, so they did something to him, bringing him back from the dead. Years of horror movies should have told them that would be a bad idea…. He wasn't the same after that. It was there in small things, noticeable only in hindsight. No more music in his office, no more stories about his all-time hero, Bucky 'Captain America' Barnes. We assumed he was trying to adjust to the knowledge of being dead and coming back." Grant sighs. It's hard for him, dragging this all up. Especially in front of the man who's the mirror image of the man he's talking about. But he steels himself for the rest.

"We spend an entire year on a plane together, and none of us ever saw the change. Every little weird thing he did, we chalked it up to him still coming to terms with what happened to him. Turns out, he was one hell of an actor. Oscar material even. He fooled us all. And when everything came to a head, he burned down everything I held dear. My family, my home, my Agency and the world itself. And still, I don't know why… I don't know how he changed from Uncle Phil to that or why he suddenly became that hungry for power and dominance."

Coulson doesn't respond to that, but Grant can see he's trying to process the story. His stoic appearance is crumbling and Grant can clearly see all the emotions that are crossing over his features.

"Did he ever say something about TAHITI?" he asks suddenly.

Grant shrugs, "Only that is was a magical place."

Coulson nods and scrapes his throat. "I died. A few years back, our world got invaded by an Alien army, led by a megalomaniacal Asguardian with some serious daddy issues."

Grant's head snaps up. "Loki? With Chitauri forces at his command?"

Coulson nods again. "He stabbed me through the heart, killing me, but in doing so he gave Earth's defenders the boost they needed to come together and defeat him." There's a grim smile on his face, when he continues, "Fury never let an opportunity slip from his grasp, and my death was exactly the push the Avengers needed. Well, that and my mint condition Captain America trading card collection."

Grant remembers those cards from in his world, the glass case they had been displayed in and the fond way his uncle Phil had talked about them and the man depicted on them.

"Anyway," Coulson proceeds, "They brought me back with a secret drug, all the while telling me I only died for a few seconds and that they sent me to Tahiti to recuperate. The only thing I really remembered about my 'time' in Tahiti, was that it was a magical place. And had nice umbrella'd drinks."

"The drug they used was called GH.325, engineered from the blood of a Kree warrior. It made me… loopy… for a while. If it had gone on for longer than it did, I don't know what would have happened…"

The trails off, his mind clearly in the past, and Grant can't help but focus on the similarities between the events that brought back this Coulson and the other one.

There's a sigh coming from the older man. "That being said, I was strong enough to hold it at bay, and I did – eventually – tell others, I had help. Your," he swallows, "… Coulson could have done the same. The fact that he didn't makes him an idiot, and the rest of his actions make him evil. There's no coming back from those kinds of actions, no matter how much we wish it were possible."

He turns quiet after that, just sits in his chair, a pensive look in his eyes. Then he gets up and moves towards Grant. He can't help but flinch, just a little, because he's tied down and tired and his defenses are down. But the older man only moves behind Grant. A click echoes loudly in the concrete room and suddenly Grant's hands are free. He rubs his wrists and moves his muscles to get the blood flowing again. There's a burn in his fingers, indicating they've been without proper flow for too long a time.

Coulson comes back into view and takes his seat again. But Grant sees the alertness in his eyes and he can tell Coulson's ready for action, should it come to that.

Grant's not about to do anything that will likely get him shot, or killed. "Thank you." He simply says.

The other man nods. "You've been in here for just over 30 hours. We've run every test we could think of on you, studied every file on your – ehm- device to find signs of tampering. There was nothing. Now, I don't know where you come from, or how you got here, but I do know that you're not Grant Ward. Unfortunately for you though, I'm the only one who's convinced at the moment. Fortunately I'm the director, so that makes me the decision-maker around here."

Grant can only feel relief at the man's words. One person who believes him, it's a start.

"Now," Coulson continues while he stands, "I'm going to have to cuff you again, just out of precaution, while we walk. I can't let you roam around the base, but we've got a reasonably comfortable cell in the basement. I'll take you there, and we'll talk more after you've eaten and rested.

I'm sorry it took so long for the new chapter to be up, I've started a new job and it was a bit of an adjustment :)

I hope you all like the new chapter!