What the hell kind of man are you? That was the thought running through Grant's head as he reported to Coulson in tones he kept as impartial as he could. What were you thinking? If you were trying to be more of an asshole you couldn't have succeeded. He was hurting, hell he was trying to make you feel better and you say something like that. You'll deserve it if he never wants you near him again. Coulson's voice was as cold as arctic winter when he spoke.

"I want him off."

"I was all for throwing him off the plane sir but Agent May persuaded me that it would be a waste of the parachute to save his sorry life." Grant admitted.

"Who said anything about using a parachute?" May's voice from behind him was as calm as ever and he was wired enough by the night's events to flinch slightly. Damn this jet. "Fury's already got enough ammunition against us," she sighed "I was tempted," she admitted.

"I'm tempted now," Coulson said gently "But we're the good guys for a reason and that's why Fury won't be able to close us down. Melinda, get on the radio. Looks like we have some garbage that needs to be dropped off at the nearest SHEILD installation before it stinks out the plane."

"Yes, sir," she nodded "Shall I contact director Fury as well?"

"You'd better," Coulson nodded "No more babysitters from here on out. I think we can conclusively prove that it's a security risk. Go and see to Fitz, Ward" he ordered "He'll need his friends around him. I'm sure there's more to this story than we already know."

"Not so sure I should do that, sir," Ward admitted "I think I may have said something… stupid in the heat of the moment."

"Well then, you need to be the guy who apologizes," Coulson told him "It's amazing how far an apology will get you if you think you've screwed up." And then he was gone, leaving Grant wondering how he had screwed up with his mystery partner and how long it had taken to be completely forgiven. He sighed and turned towards the living quarters where he knew Jemma and Skye were seeing to Fitz. What greeted him was a sight that made him ache in ways he didn't really want to talk about. Fitz- Leo, you called him Leo earlier, he reminded himself- was lying face down on his bunk with blanket at his waist. The marks on his back were still livid but there was a glisten that suggested something had been smeared across them. He looked peaceful as he slept and so damn young that Grant felt a twinge of guilt at his attraction to him.

"You!" Jemma's voice was angry "Whatever you said to him, you need to fix it. He somehow thinks this is all his fault and that you're angry at him for not fighting or some bullshit like that and I know you must have said something because, out of all the people on this plane," she pauses for a gasp of breath "you have the ability to hurt him the most and you don't even know how much or why!"

"What?" was the level of eloquence he managed in the face of her anger.

"For some reason, he cares about what you think of him," she snapped "Your opinion matters and you're too stupid to even see it! He needed comfort and instead you acted like he was the one you were angry at."
"I'm not angry at him," he managed to get out "I would never be-"

"You've got strange ideas of how to not seem angry if you think that you should shout at people as if you were interrogating a criminal!"

"I was never angry at him," the words pour out as though a dam has broken "I was so angry, yes, but not at him. At myself, at Ebony, Fury, even May but I wasn't angry at him. Not ever him. He's too important to-" he broke off but it was too late. He could see the understanding dawn in her eyes.

"He's going to kill me for this," she muttered and carried on before he could ask her to elaborate "He likes you, Ward. God only knows why but out of all the people in the world he could crush on, he picked you. And I used to think that it was a problem but May tells me you would have killed that son of a bitch today. And that got me thinking. That kind of anger comes when it's personal and it hurts. Ok, it could have been just that he's your teammate but after what you just said I'm starting to think that maybe it's personal for another reason. That maybe you care and I can't think of a single reason that could make that a bad thing."
"I always thought that you and him," he trailed of and made a hand gesture. He could feel the flush on the back of his neck when she laughed at him delightedly.

"He's like a brother to me," she said gently "I love him but I'd never see him that way. And anyway, I'm really not his type, Agent Ward." Jemma smiled at him "You should go for it," she said. "I need you to stay here, please," she carried on briskly "I have the lab to sort out and I don't want him waking up on his own." There was no way for him to argue that wouldn't make him sound like even more of a jerk so he simply nodded and took up a guard position just outside the opened privacy screen. If there was one thing he could do it was protect the sleeping man where he hadn't been capable of protecting him earlier that day.

"Ward?" He didn't have to wait all that long before he heard the engineer's voice beckoning him. Get a grip, he reminded himself. Ok, he's half naked but he's been through hell and you owe him a serious apology. He will not appreciate you turning into the same type of creep that Ebony was. It turned out he didn't have to worry about an inappropriate reaction to the younger man's nudity. The sight of bruises blossoming across that pale skin was enough to kill his libido stone dead.

"Do you need something?" he asked "I can fetch Jemma if you need-"

"I don't need Jemma," Fitz shook his head "I need to talk to you." Grant swallowed but nodded his head.

"Ok," he said "Fitz, if this is about-"

"Do you think you could call me Leo?" Fitz asked wearily and Grant was only able to nod dumbly. "Thanks," Fitz- no it was Leo now- sighed "I don't feel like the formality, right now."

"Call me Grant," Grant offered "And please let me apologize. What I said to you, I never should have… I didn't mean to make it sound like I was blaming you…" He trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

"I know," Leo said "I have a confession;" he admitted "I wasn't sleeping earlier. I heard Jemma talking to you and I was going to say something, I swear and then I heard what you were saying and I just couldn't interrupt you. I'm sorry."

"You heard?" Grant asked slowly. He swallowed, aware of how loud it sounded in the silence between them "What did you think?" he asked carefully.

"I think I might have to do something horrible to Jemma," Leo muttered "It wasn't her secret to give away."

"You really like me?" Grant asked then cursed his inner fourteen year old girl for making an appearance.

"Yes, I really like you," the younger man confirmed. His blush was adorable and Grant couldn't help the smile spreading across his face.

"I really like you too he offered," ignoring the embarrassment that came with the confession "I've liked you for a while now but I always thought that you and Jemma were, you know. Didn't want to screw that up for you."

"It's not like that for us," Leo said "She's my girl but I've never seen her as anything other than a sister. She's always been there for me, always. When James and I broke up. Well, I met her two days after that and she made everything better."

"You don't have to talk about him," Grant offered sincerely "You never have to talk about him." Leo met his eyes and nodded firmly.

"Will you listen, though?" he asked "Maybe if I'd talked about him to someone then we wouldn't have ended up here. In the interest of full disclosure, I'd like you to hear about it. I don't want you getting into something you're not ready for."

"As an agent of SHEILD," Grant smiled "I'm ready for anything. But I'll listen if you need me too. Whatever you need, I'll be here."