Author notes: If you like my story, please leave reviews. I hope this new chapter help to answer to some of your questions. This piece was intended to be one-shot. Guess I just could not stop writing.
Grant woke up in the middle of the night because his heart was beeping so fast. He did not want to alarm Trip or Coulson, so he tried to remove the string that connected to the heart rate monitor machine.
"If I were you, I would not do that."
His heart almost miss a beat when the voice suddenly popped out. Skye stayed in shade, so he did not see her at the first place. Before, he always knew people were approaching even before they stepped inside the room no matter how severely injured he was. That was how he survived last year. This time he failed to discover the existence of Skye. If she was here to kill him, he would be dead. He knew what the bullet could do to his body, but seeing how it reduced his ability was still frustrated. And it was just the beginning.
"Why were you there? How did you know? From your HYDRA buddy?"
Grant could not stand the sarcasm in her tone. He did not think too much about giving up his cover to save Skye's life, because he thought he could walk away without interfering their lives and continued his vigilante life. Maybe after some years, he could see himself as a person, not a monster any more. But reappearing in their lives like this only made everyone's life miserable. He was again reminded how much damaged he had done in the past and the possibility of redemption became even smaller. If he could not right his wrongs, he would never become the kind of man he desired to be. A decent man always admitted his faults and tried to correct them. He could imagined how hard it was for Coulson to make that decision and Simmons to provide him medical care. The current situation might hit Skye the hardest. Skye might hate him, but seeing him almost died for her would definitely stirred up her feeling. She might consider his act a way to control her feeling and made her weak again so she could fall back to him. Grant wanted to tell Skye it was not his purpose and he just wanted her to return to that young little rookies, but he couldn't.
"Wow, our robot is so quiet today. I heard you had a big argument with Coulson yesterday. Still feel pissed that he sent you back to that evil senator? I am glad he did that, because it saved our ass and made you tasted betrayal. You have no idea how badly you hurt all of us. Saving my life is nice, but do not expect thank you from me. And do not think it makes you less monster!"
"I do not expect thank you. I just do what I should do"
"Like hanging out with HYDRA guys?"
"I am never loyal to them."
"Just Garrett, right. You know what, I do not believe anything from you."
"You do not need to. I know what I am and I do not need approvals from you."
Grant felt his heart was beating too fast and now he could not breathe. The half attached machine started to have the annoyed alarming sound all around Vault D.
"Ward, ward. Hey, hey, breathe, you need to breathe."
"I … can't…."
"Simmons, his heart rate increased like crazy and he can't breathe now. Yes, I am talking about Grant. Do not ask me why I am here. Just get down here now."
"I can sedate him, but I am not sure if his body can handle it."
"Do you have other methods? If not, do it. I don't want him die."
When Grant woke up again, Trip was sitting in a chair close to his bed.
"Next time you mess up with the heart rate monitor, I will handcuff you! Why the hell do you think it was a good idea? You has been in coma for 3 days, because the sedation was too strong for your body. You made us almost freaked out. Jemma could not sleep at night and neither could Skye. They stayed here and watched you every night in the past 3 days. You know how hard I try to get them out of here and take a nap?"
"Antonio, let go your hand! I can't allow you to hurt my patient!"
Simmons and Skye walked downs the stairs as she was screaming over Trip. Both girls looked tired and torn up. Skye's makeup was a little messy and her eyes were red. It looked like she just cried. Grant wanted to say sorry, but he was stopped by Skye.
"Don't! No need to say anything now. I want to you to get better and thank you for saving my life."
Skye gave Trip and Simmons a sign and they both left.
"I just knew that my father died the day you saved me. He might be alien and powerful, but he was not god. And you were right. He loved me more than anyone else. He never lost control when he stayed with me. He was the target of that damn operation. If I did not go with him, he could just run and did not need to fight with all those soldiers. If I was not there, none of you would get hurt."
"After you escaped, a lot of things has changed. GH 35 almost made Coulson losing his mind. May helped him through the dark time. When Coulson became fully himself, he regretted the decision of handing you back. Mack supported Fitz the whole time especially when he found out Jemma was with Trip. I went to multiple missions with Trip and he always covered me just like you did in the old times. After so many missions, I just realized how native I was. Our purpose may be good, but it did not always turn into good results. Casualty was the byproduct. The more people I kill, the less human I become. I obey order, finish the job and ask no questions. I become more like you, the person I hate the most in the world. What an irony situation!"
"Grant, I hate to see you taking a bullet for me. I do not like you protecting me after everything you have done to the team. I hate to admit I am the reason you are lying there and badly injured. I hate the fact that I can't hate you anymore. Why can't you just stay out of our lives?"
Grant took off his mask and whispered.
"Sorry to make your life miserable again. I respect your ability as a field agent, but I was the one with bullet proof vest, not you."
"I know you won't believe me, but to protect people become my instinct now. This is what I have done for last year. I traveled and eliminated the biggest threats to the safety of the city. I know what I am capable of and want to use it for good things once in my life. So, no need to feel anything special about me saving your life. I did it because I wanted to tell myself I am a good man."
Skye was crying when Coulson rushed into Vault D.
"Ward, we are moving you to a room upstairs with better medical equipment based on Simmons's suggestion. Trip, Mack, be careful. Fitz, en…, you can hold the door."
Grant did not want Fitz to see him like this. He wanted to earn back his respect the hard way, not because of pity. He already made enough people emotionally painful and he did not want to add Fitz to the list.