Chapter 2

It felt like days for Grant being in an environment that he wasn't used to being in anymore. He wanted to go home, spend time with his lovely girlfriend and his sister that he was still trying to remember everything about but when he thought about it, he wanted to be here too. Grant wanted to be with his friends. He wanted to change his life in one way.

With him being back in the past as he called it, he wanted to find a way to keep Trip and Kara but also know his sister and biological dad. He wanted Jemma too. Grant just wasn't sure how to keep it all together.

So as the days went by, Grant was back into a routine that he hadn't been on in a long time. He was running every morning with Kara. He played catch with Trip as they waited for practice to start. Grant didn't know when he was able to go back, if he was even able to go back.

Every night before bed, he would sit at his old desk drafting ideas how he could get home. Every night he too would throw away that same idea he would come up with. A few times he even hit Trip as he would walk in with Kara from class.

It's the same routine over and over again. Grant was pretty sure his friends were tired of it. Kara the most to be honest but Trip was always willing to help. He believed in Grant more than anything.

It wasn't until two and a half weeks later that he was going to change his path.


"Grant, hurry up we're going to be late if we don't get in the car soon!" He hears Kara yell through the window of the dorm.

The agent closes up his notebooks and slides them into the backpack he found when he first came back to the past. It was about that time for the visit to D.C so they could visit Trip's grandparents. Somehow Grant had managed to call his adoptive parents and tell them he couldn't make it to the banquet for the senate. It wasn't like he was going to be wanted there anyway. He could still remember originally acting as a good child from the Ward family. Giving everyone handshakes when it was necessary, holding a conversation with them. Grant had easily gotten bored along with Thomas and had snuck off that night to teach his youngest brother the art of flirting.

Boy was Christian furious when he came looking for them. That had been a big night for him too, wanting to get into politics like his father. It was something that Grant's adoptive father wanted him in too but he couldn't get a grip around it. He just wanted to play football after college. Hopefully somewhere with Trip still as his teammate. Grant's fun ended soon after though when he got a call from Trip's mother saying that her son and Kara weren't answering her calls or texts after hours went by.

Grant didn't even tell his parents where he was going after they had gotten home that night. He hopped in his car and drove to Trip's mother's house just in time to see a police officer get out of his squad car and walk up to her on the front porch. Once he saw tears roll down her face, he lost it himself. He lost his two most important people. When he went to comfort Mrs. Triplett, they had both learned that Trip and Kara were only a half hour away from home.

The agent shook his head out of the memories that came back into his head. He pulled the bag over his shoulder and did a quick check of his surroundings making sure that he had everything. Trip had already put his suitcase in the trunk of the car earlier with the rest of the items they were taking for the weekend.

When Grant is ready, he walks out into the hallway pulling the door shut behind him and locked it. He was ready to change his future. He was ready to save his friends.


"About time you got out here." Kara says when he gets closer to the car.

"Take it easy on him Kara. He's nervous." Trip says with a laugh.

Grant looks at his friend with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not nervous. I've been to your grandparent's house before." He says.

Trip shakes his head. "Yeah but not for paintball weekend. It's going to be a blast."

Grant takes off the strap of the backpack and walks over to the passenger's side, opening the door before he gets in only to be stopped by Kara.

"Not so fast quarterback. I get the front seat this time."

"But Kara."

Kara shakes her head no. "No buts Grant. You're already trying to prove your theory just by coming this time."

"Kara's right. You said it was on the way back. It shouldn't be problem." Trip tells him.

Grant just lets out a loud huff and the word fine under his breath. Trip had point. It was on the way back, not on the way there that it happens.

So instead of getting his way with the backseat, Grant ends up in the back unable to stretch his legs like he would have liked to have done.


Being in a car for seven and half hours sucked but Trip had somehow managed to drive the distance that Friday they left. The three had left in the morning and somehow still managed to get there by dinner time. They would spend all day Saturday, the same day as the banquet, running around the two acre home that Trip's grandparent's owned just a little bit outside of the D.C. area.

"I have never been so happy to be out of that car." Trip announced after they pulled into the driveway.

Grant shook his head. "You didn't have to drive the whole time."

"It wasn't a problem. Plus you were working on ideas." Trip comments back.

Kara is the only one that doesn't say anything and quietly gets her bags out of the trunk after Trip eventually pops it open before fighting with Grant. She hates when the boys start arguing and it makes her have to be the person to break it up. It's one of those things that frustrate her from time to time.

"If you two don't stop, I'm going to take a paintball gun and shoot both of you before you even get a chance." Kara says pushing them away from each other.

The boys both stop to figure out what just happen. There's only a few seconds after when they hear Trip's grandmother speak.

"Well said Kara, well said." She says.

Grant grabs his bags from the back along with Trip who does the same. They know the rules. There's no fighting when the grandparents are present because they could easily grab you by the collar and threaten you not to do it ever again.

"Grandma Peggy, it's lovely to see you again." Kara says with a smile and a hug.

Grant is not far behind her about to do the same.

"You too, Kara. It's always nice to see you again." Peggy tells her before looking at Grant. "And you, Grant, need to stop terrorizing my grandson."

"I wasn't." Grant tried to protest, looking at Trip who was smiling and then back at his grandmother who now gave him a stern look. "It won't happen again ma'am."

"Antoine, wipe that smile off your face, I saw what you did too."

Trip immediately did what he was told and apologized.

"Sorry Grandma."

All three of them were escorted into the home by Peggy who slowly moved with her cane in hand. When they got into the kitchen they found Trip's grandfather back turn to them already preparing dinner.

"Gabe, your grandson and his friends are here." Peggy told him as she walked up behind him.

When Gabe turned around, he had a huge smile on his face.

"Trip, glad you and your friends could make it." He says giving Trip a hug first.

"And miss the annual paintballing outing? I couldn't do it, Pops." Trip tells him with a laugh.

Gabe laughed too at the comment before greeting Grant and Kara, both with a handshake.

"Glad you could make it, Ward."

"Thank you sir. It's just Grant please."

"Of course just Grant." Gabe tells him and Grant smiles at his joke.


Everyone else arrived for the outing either earlier that day or later that night. Trip's cousin, Sharon was one of those who made it there earlier then everyone else. Probably because she went to college in Maryland. It was a much closer drive then the three of them. Dum Dum Dugan's family was one of those who came after dinner.

Everyone would eventually wake up Saturday morning before dawn to begin the outing. They all had to somehow manage until an hour before dinner time to keep their team winning. There were checkpoints they had to cross, ATV's to ride, trees to hide in. Peggy and Gabe were kind of thankful that the neighbors let them use part of their property but that was only if they participated too. All was well with that.

The night before when they drew teams, Grant had been on the short list. He didn't end up with his friends as he had hoped but instead was on the opposite team. Grant didn't seem to like that idea until Sharon Carter got placed with him and he thought that was going to be just fine.

So at the crack of dawn, everyone is woken up. Peggy and Gabe stay behind with Dugan and his wife to get everything started since their old age prevented them from participating anymore. That didn't stop them from riding around in their golf cart with the kids that were too young for paintballing.

Grant was one of those who liked to get up early. He had already put his gear on before Trip even rolled out of his own bed. The agent kind of wished that Skye, Jemma and Fitz were here to join as well.

By the time it was eight, everyone was outside running around trying to make it to their base before getting shot at so they could start completing tasks. Grant and Sharon are named team captains for their team and they begin leading the way hoping not to be ambushed by Trip and Kara.

Hours end up passing while they are out. A few of their team members had been shot down and sent back to base at the house. Grant just hoped they wouldn't lose anymore and they would come back with the most by the end.

When it gets closer to dinner time, Grant is leading his four member team plus Sharon to the next checkpoint when he gets gunned down by one from the other team. He's not sure exactly who it was but he believed it could have been Natasha Romanoff, the neighbor who came with one of their team members, Clint Barton.

When he closes his eyes, the darkness seems to overwhelm him and he's back at the warehouse where Daniel Whitehall led him and was hurting Skye.

"She's dead, Mr. Ward. Your sister is dead." Whitehall says with a laugh before shooting him once more.

The sound of the gun opens his eyes once more and he's on the ground in the woods.

"Skye!" he yells.

Hovering over him is Sharon, who has a puzzled look on her face.

"Grant, are you okay? Do you need medical attention?" she asks. "You were out for a few seconds."

He notices that she has been shot as well, an array of orange and red covering her vest. His has the same few streaks as well.

Grant shakes his head no and thinks he can walk back to the house under his own power but collapses after he stands on his own prompting Sharon to radio in Gabe and Peggy on the golf cart.

Until Trip's grandparents arrive with the golf cart, Sharon keeps talking to him making sure nothing happens. She doesn't even question who Skye is and he's kind of grateful that he doesn't have to explain everything to her.


Gabe and Peggy announce that it was Trip and Kara's team that won during dinner that night. The next morning Grant wakes up with his back aching in pain from the shot he took. He takes a few pain medications before packing up his bags and meeting his friends by the car. They would have to make the seven hour trip once again back to Boston so they wouldn't be late for class Monday morning.

They all say good bye to everyone, Gabe and Peggy last. All Grant can think of is Trip and Kara saying their last ones forever. But this time he wasn't going to let that happen. He was going to make sure they make it back alive.


Trip decides to drive once more only stopping once before deciding to let Grant drive after they get past Dover. So far Grant thinks they're doing okay until they get forty-five minutes away from Trip's mother's home. Time is ticking down, Grant realizes that now.

When it gets down to a half hour, Grant starts to worry. He wants to make it past the location he knows his friends died in before. His plan doesn't work though when he sees a man in the middle of the highway. A man that looks just like Daniel Whitehall. In order to miss him, Grant tries to swerve around him but that doesn't work and the next thing he knows they're crashing into the median head on.

Kara and Trip are screaming at the top of their lungs but in an instant everything slows down. Trip is the first one to speak to him.

"It's time to let go, Grant."

"Just remember, we'll always be by your side." Kara tells him.

Before he can do anything else, there's a white light that blinds him and he can't see anything else. He knows he just killed his friends himself.


When Grant finally comes to, he finds himself in an all-white room that seems to in a hospital. He feels broken and conflicted. When the agent looks around, the paperwork on the side table reads today's date. Grant Ward is back where he wanted to be but in the end he wishes he wasn't.


Here's a Halloween treat for all of you. Hope you enjoy. Please leave a review and let me know what you think.