Chapter Text
“Hi, honey. I’m home!” a singsong voice trilled.
Grant glanced up from chopping onions to see what he’d been waiting all week to see: Skye lounging against the doorframe, a grin on her face. Her black tac suit struck a discordant note in their light and airy kitchen but she was still a sight for sore eyes. He dropped the knife, wiped his hands on his shorts, and scooped her up in his embrace. Skye’s arms tightened around his neck as she whispered in his ear, “It’s so good to be back!”
Grant set her down, his smile as bright as hers. He did a quick visual examination, trying to hide his sigh of relief. No visible injuries.
“Do I pass inspection?” she asked teasingly.
He smirked at her. “With flying colors,” he whispered as he placed his lips on hers. The kiss quickly went from a chaste, close-mouthed Welcome home to a long, open-mouthed I’ve really missed you one from which they both emerged breathless.
Skye closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his for a moment, a look of contentment on her face. Then she opened her eyes and stepped back. Grant grinned as he noticed her trying to subtly utilize the situational awareness skills he’d taught her all those years ago. She glanced at the stove where a delicious smell was emanating from a skillet. “Do we have time for a proper reunion?”
“Of course, just give me a second.” Grant quickly dumped the onions he’d been chopping into the sauce, stirred it a few times to incorporate the new ingredient, then washed his hands. No one does a proper reunion with onion-y hands! Skye giggled softly as he swept her off her feet and carried her into their bedroom. He gently put her on the bed, then checked his watch. He knew what she was really asking. “We should have enough time. There’s nothing that needs my immediate attention. If anything gets cold,” he smirked at her in a way he knew got her going, “I can always heat it back up.”
Skye hurriedly started shedding her weapons and the tight-fitting suit. She smiled wickedly at him. “I guess now might be a good time to mention that I’m pretty cold.”
“Music to my ears,” Grant responded with a wolfish grin. This never gets old. It had been a long journey to get there though, one he hadn’t been sure they’d ever reach.
Flashback
Grant stared at the place where Skye had been standing with Gordon just a moment ago. He relished the expression on her face, how she looked longingly at him, just before Gordon teleported the two of them to the Playground. While Grant’s heart knew that Skye loved him, his head needed the reminder every so often. Doing this tag-team approach is so difficult! Grant thanked his lucky stars that Skye wanted to be with him at Afterlife instead of doing her own thing at the Playground. He’s meant what he’d said about them working it out if she chose differently but he was glad they didn’t have to. The last month had proved how tough that kind of life would’ve been. Even now, when their separation was supposed to be short, neither wanted to be apart. Grant sighed. We’ve had enough of that. But this is our life.
Setting up the Secret Warriors was taking a lot of upfront work. Before they could even officially assemble the Inhuman team, there were endless meetings, reams of paperwork and the usual equipment consolidation that had to be accomplished. Grant and Skye had been so busy that they hadn’t had much time to be together. When he thought back, Grant realized that they hadn’t spent more than a few overnights together during the last month. The ones they had managed to get had been spent at the base, which wasn’t nearly as fun as being at Afterlife. The Inhuman community offered less structure and greater privacy, so both of them felt freer there.
He could’ve gone back to the Playground with her this time. In fact, that’s what Skye preferred but he had other fish to fry. Grant shook off his melancholy and put on his game face, heading over to another cabin closer to his own. Despite his new official status in Afterlife, no one would tell him exactly where she was but, as he neared a cabin covered in flowers – both dead and alive – he knew this had to be where Raina resided. Surprisingly, the door was open. That doesn’t seem like Raina. The woman guarded her privacy as zealously as SHIELD guarded its secrets.
Grant crossed his arms and leaned against her doorway. He wanted to look both casual and intimidating. Raina was moving around in the bathroom, so he took the opportunity to look around her room. Just like the outside, flowers were everywhere. Some were in vases, carefully attended to but most were strewn about the ground. Many of these were withered or dead while others appeared stomped on or pulled up by the roots. He smiled slightly. Her transition must not be going well.
Raina came out of the bathroom and stopped short upon seeing Grant. He was amused to notice that she was no longer wearing a flowered dress but was instead garbed rather simply in black pants and a black shirt. “Ah, Agent Ward,” she said in a mocking tone as she sat on the bed facing him. “I wondered when you’d get around to visiting me.” She cocked her head. “Or is it just Grant Ward now?”
He smirked. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in dark colors before. Is this a new look for you?” He made a show of looking around the room. “Black doesn’t seem like it goes very well with all these flowers.”
She frowned. “I felt a lot of shaking in the village last night. That must mean that dear Skye is here somewhere. Still not able to control her powers I guess.”
Grant’s smirk didn’t waver. Typical Raina. Trying to get under everyone’s skin. “What makes you think she wanted to control them? Sometimes they make things more…” his smile widened, “…exciting.” He was pleased when he saw her blanch. Bingo! He left the doorway and sat in the chair facing her bed, leaning back like this was a casual visit. He knew that would irritate her.
Raina sighed. “What do you want?”
“Why do I have to want anything? We’ve been through so much together and now, here we are, fellow Inhumans. I thought we could catch up.”
“Drop the bullshit, Ward. I don’t have time for it.” Her sharp tone could’ve cut glass. “I have to go and….play chess or something.”
“Not finding the Afterlife community to your liking then?” He paused, waiting for her to say something. She just stared stonily at him. When it was clear she wasn’t going to say anything, he continued. “How are your powers?”
That did it. Raina stood and started pacing the room, flowers popping up in her wake. She didn’t pay any attention to them, trampling many in her pacing. “These damn flowers are driving me crazy! I was supposed to be an angel, a being of unspeakable power, but all I get is this!” She waved her arm around the room. “I used to love flowers. I bought them whenever I could but now I hate them.”
“I don’t know,” Grant shrugged, once again making a show of looking around the room. “I’d say that the flowers give you a softer side. Given that you’re usually a selfish bitch, that should be an improvement.”
Raina’s expression darkened even though Grant’s tone had been light. “Oh, there are some darker aspects to them,” she said, waving her hand in his direction. The flowers on the floor behind her started lengthening and thickening, winding their way toward Grant. He watched them carefully and, just before they could touch him, flicked a wrist and they burned into ash.
Grant sent a line of fire right up to Raina’s feet, careful that none of it touched her. “You might want to be careful around me, Raina,” he warned, still in his light tone. “I’m sure you don’t want things to get…” He smirked. “…heated.”
He was expecting her to be angry or afraid, so he was surprised by her laugh. Raina sat down on the bed again, not even bothering to look at the fire by her feet. “Skye really hit the jackpot with you, didn’t she?” she said admiringly. “I should’ve scooped you up when you were with Hydra.”
“That was never an option you had. You would’ve had better luck with John.”
She grimaced. “That whack job? He was only a means to an end.” She looked piercingly at Grant. “So fine, you’ve demonstrated that you have way more power than I do. What do you want? You didn’t come here just to gloat.”
“You’re right. I didn’t. I came here to talk about your future.” He paused, making sure he had her attention. “The entire time I’ve known you, you’ve never been content, always wanting more. Usually you wanted things that were selfish and harmful to other people but they never made you happy, did they? I’d like to offer you something you might truly want.”
Present
“Oh,” Skye sighed as they lay in bed following their afternoon delight. Her head was nestled on his shoulder, his arm holding her close. “You have no idea how much I’ve been wanting this!” She lazily stroked her hand across his chest, skating over his 6-pack abs to draw circles around his nipples.
Grant frowned. “Was the mission difficult? Did something happen we didn’t plan for?”
“Chill, Turbo,” Skye said, putting her finger over his lips. “The mission went smoothly. It’s just that it was boring, so all I wanted was to be at home. I kept imagining all the things I could’ve been doing here instead of watching stupid pet tricks or listening to Lincoln talk about his latest dating disaster.”
Grant laughed. “Hey, don’t knock Lincoln’s stories. They’re entertaining.” He shook his head, smiling fondly. “But he does seem to know how to pick them though, doesn’t he?”
Skye just smiled, refusing to be pulled into that discussion. Much to everyone’s surprise, once Skye was no longer a bone of contention between them, Grant and Lincoln had become good friends. The two of them not only shared the same sense of humor but also thought the same way. They often spent long hours hashing out mission and training plans together. They also played poker twice a month with Trip and Fitz. Skye loved the times when the game was held at their house because the four men often ended up getting silly, challenging each other not only in cards but also in stupid dares. She couldn’t get enough of participating in the “punishments” the losers had to endure. Grant, Lincoln and Trip once had to serenade her with their version of Call Me Maybe. Fitz recorded it on his phone, so there were still times when the video would randomly show up in Grant’s email. Another time Skye just watched as Lincoln, Trip and Fitz streaked around the entire outer perimeter of their house. She rolled her eyes while Grant laughed so hard he was crying.
“Did I miss much while I was gone?” she asked.
Grant pretended to consider this. “Well, your dad came over yesterday and Kara was here two days before that. I’m not sure if you know this but neither one of them is any good at making sandcastles,” he said in a disgusted tone. Skye just laughed. He shrugged. “But they made up for it. Cal told some really great stories and Kara made her famous paella.”
Skye groaned. “I can’t believe I missed that! I love Kara’s paella!”
“I know,” Grant said, kissing her gently on the nose. “That’s why I froze some for you.” Skye smiled. “I figured you’d kill me if I didn’t,” he teased.
She stuck out her tongue at him. “That’s it? That’s all that happened?”
“No, of course not. Lots of things happened. Like…I finished the front porch. All that’s left now is installing the porch swing.”
Skye’s eyes lit up and Grant smiled. He loved watching how much she adored having her own home. He understood what a luxury this was for her after spending her formative years and early adulthood in one temporary place after another. He was thrilled he could give her a place she could always call home.
After a year of living at Afterlife, the two of them decided they needed time to themselves. Grant used some of the money he’d gotten from his family to purchase a small island in the Caribbean. They planned out the kind of home they wanted (earthquake-proof with lots of light and open space and their front door only steps away from the ocean) and, with a lot of help from their friends, built it themselves. Ever since, their home became a favorite spot for their family and friends to visit. Grant’s favorite siblings, Thomas and Elizabeth, were frequent guests. He and Skye even constructed an extra building that served as a training site for the Secret Warriors.
Grant’s smile widened as he thought back to their journey. I’m happier than I ever thought I’d be. He had everything he'd ever wanted but it hadn’t been easy. Things were going smoothly now but that hadn’t always been the case, especially in the early days.
Flashback
The choice of which Inhumans should be invited to join the Secret Warriors was mostly an easy one. Lincoln, Shabina, and Alisha were no-brainers and all three were eager to enlist. Coulson’s team and Jiaying also agreed that Elena and Manual would be great additions although there were stipulations put on Manual’s involvement due to his youth (missions couldn’t interfere with his schooling and he had to sit out the dangerous ones). Joey Gutierrez, an Inhuman who could manipulate metal, joined too. Those were the uncomplicated decisions.
A lot of people fought against the inclusion of Raina in the Secret Warriors, most especially Skye and Coulson. Neither trusted her and Coulson – the memory of his torture at her hands still fresh – was particularly hard to convince. Grant and Jiaying eventually won them over by pointing out that keeping her under supervision and giving her a purpose might help her change for the better. They ended up being right too, a fact Grant constantly had to bite his tongue from pointing out to Skye.
After the Raina battle, Grant was tempted to just forget about the final name on his list. He was tired and knew he’d get pushback from both SHIELD and Jiaying on this one but decided that doing the right thing outweighed his reluctance. After a lot of arguing, everyone agreed he could go visit her to see if she was even interested in being a Secret Warrior.
Grant pushed open the door to the cell-like room. While the facility wasn’t a prison per se, it still was confinement. The rooms had regular furniture, like chairs and beds, but there were no windows. There also wasn’t anything that could obviously be used to harm the occupant or their guests. Occupants were given therapy and medication, encouraged to do art work in the common space, exercised in the gym and took their meals in a supervised environment. It was a gilded cage but a cage nonetheless.
Grant winced when he realized that while he’d been in worse places, this place wasn’t a picnic. The occupant of the room was sitting on a chair, her head turned so that she was facing the blank wall. She was a lot thinner than she’d been the last time he’d seen her. The staff told him that she wasn’t extremely responsive when they tried to talk with her. Sure enough, she didn’t even move at the sound his entry. Grant was fairly certain she hadn’t been told he was coming, so she likely thought he was an orderly or medical professional. He sat on the sofa directly across for her so that they’d be facing each other when or if she bothered to turn around.
“Hey Tori, how are you?”
She slowly turned her head to look at him. Her expression was neutral but he spotted a trace of surprise in her eyes. “Who are you?” she asked in little more than a monotone.
While Grant knew their past would come up, he was hoping to avoid reminding her of his role in the destruction of her life for a bit longer. No such luck. “I’m Agent Grant Ward. I’m one of the agents who did your Index evaluation.”
Her eyes swept over his clothes. Instead of the regulation dark suit he’d worn when interacting with her the last time, he was now dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans. He’d carefully chosen his outfit to look as casual as he could for her while looking official for everyone else. It hadn’t been easy getting in to see her. Tori’s eyes traveled to his face and he saw the dawning recognition as she remembered what both of them had spent a lot of effort trying to forget.
“You’re the nice one.” Her expression hardened. “The one who told me things wouldn’t be as bad as I feared, that my life wouldn’t change that much.”
Grant nodded. “I did tell you those things. I’d hoped they’d be true but obviously,” he glanced around the spartan space, “they weren’t. I’m sorry.”
Tori got to her feet in a flash and loomed over him, her expression filled with fury. It took every ounce of Grant’s self-control not to move a muscle or even alter his placid expression. He couldn’t appear threatening or this would never work. “You’re sorry?! You, one of the guys who put me here? You’re sorry?”
“Yes, I am. I’m not going to tell you that the decision about what happened to you wasn’t mine or that I fought for you to have a different outcome. That would just insult you even those both of those things are true.” Grant watched her closely, seeing her body swell up in a blast of outrage. He calmly finished, “You have every right to be furious with me. What happened to you was a terrible tragedy.”
Tori opened her mouth then closed it again. Grant had surprised her with his acknowledgement of the harm he did to her. She gaped at him, backing up until she was sitting on the chair again. Her face held all the animation it was missing when he first entered the room but her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Do you really mean that?”
“I do. That’s why I’m here. I’ve finally found a way to help you.”
She laughed scornfully. “How? Are you going to take away my powers? Turn back time? Or is it another facility, one that’s better than this?” She waved her hand to cover the room. “If that’s all you’ve got, then no thanks. That’s what they said before the last two moves and they were wrong both times.”
Grant felt a stab of guilt. What have we done to her? He leaned towards her. “Tori, I never liked the way SHIELD handled powered people but I didn’t have a way to do something about it until now. We finally got SHIELD to recognize that there are better ways to help people with powers. They put me in charge of a team of powered people who help SHIELD complete missions whenever we’re needed. The rest of the time, we train and we get to live in peace as long as we don’t hurt anyone. I’ve come to offer you a place on the team.”
Tori’s eyes never left his. “We. You said ‘as long as we don’t hurt anyone.’ You have powers too?”
“Yes, but my powers are different than yours. I’m what they call an Inhuman which means that my powers came internally from something in my DNA. You got your powers from an external source.”
“Does that matter?”
“Not in a practical sense but you have to know that – if you accept my offer – you’ll be the only team member who isn’t Inhuman. I don’t think it’ll be an issue but there might be people who have a problem with it. I’m not worried but I want you to have all the information upfront before you make your decision.”
Tori was silent for a minute, clearly mulling over what he’d said. He didn’t blame her; it was a lot to process. “Did you have your powers when you did my evaluation?”
“No. I had no idea I was an Inhuman until several months ago. While I never liked what we did to you, it was only once I got powers that I truly understood how terribly we treated you. That’s why I’m here now: to try and right that wrong.”
“If I agreed to be on this team and went with you, would I still have to live here?” Tori’s voice cracked on the last word. Grant did his best not to choke on his guilt.
“No. During the times when you’re not training or on missions, you’d be living in a community where everyone is like you, people with powers. There’ll be supervision, especially at first, but there aren’t any cells and you won’t be confined. One of the best parts is that instead of trying to prevent you from using your powers, in this community, you get help in developing and managing them.”
“Developing them?” Tori’s eyes got so wide that they seemed to take up her entire face. “Does that mean that I’d get to be around animals again?”
Grant smiled. This was the easy part. “Yep.”
Tori sat back in her chair, staring at Grant with an expression filled with both wonder and suspicion. “And you’re serious? This isn’t just some test to see if I’m content.”
“No, this is a real offer. If you’re willing to train with my team and complete missions for SHIELD as needed, then you can walk out of here with me today and get started.” In reality, all Grant was authorized to do was to gauge Tori’s level of interest but, seeing her now, he couldn’t offer her hope and then just leave. That would be cruel and he had a feeling that it would go badly. I just hope Coulson sees it that way too. Because, looking at Tori’s face, he knew she was going to say yes.
Coulson hadn’t been pleased and Grant had to do a lot of groveling to get back in his good graces but it had been worth it. Even Coulson admitted that later but only after Grant, Trip, Hunter and Fitz had taken him out drinking one night. Even though she wasn’t an Inhuman, Tori thrived at Afterlife. After a period of adjustment for everyone (the Inhumans had to accept that just because she wasn’t a Chosen One of the Kree didn’t mean she was less than), they discovered that Tori had a bubbly personality and was both helpful and fun. Plus, her powers meant that Afterlife residents could have pets because there was now a way to ensure their good behavior. Tori was tireless in working with both pet and owner to develop a strong bond and appropriate discipline (for both participants). As a result, she became a huge favorite in the community.
Tori was also incredibly valuable to the Secret Warriors. At first, several members of the team were skeptical that her powers would be useful on missions. However, that perception changed after an early mission went horribly wrong. The mission itself was a fairly easy one: break into a nuclear power plant during the night shift, steal their plans and materials for building an illegal bomb, and get out. There weren’t supposed to be many guards on site, so Grant and Skye decided to treat it more as a training exercise. Lincoln and Skye were there to get the work done while Elena, Tori and Raina were present for on-the-job training.
At first, everything went just as planned. There were only a few guards and they turned out to be easily distracted. Skye and Lincoln got what they needed with minimal disruption and the group started heading back to the rendezvous point quickly. They’d just cleared the plant perimeter when, before anyone knew what was happening, a Hydra team surrounded them. Elena was able to run into the surrounding woods but the rest of the group was captured. Since Skye, Lincoln and Raina were well-known to them, Hydra had created unique gloves for each of them to contain their powers. They had no idea who Tori was or what she could do. Skye heard the team leader suggest that she was a regular SHIELD agent along to protect SHIELD’s interests.
The four of them were bound with ropes, listening as the Hydra team discussed whether to take them back to Hydra or dispose of them. Skye told Grant later that she honestly thought that the four of them were going to die because the Hydra team seemed pretty harsh. She hoped Elena would just escape because there was no way she could rescue them without getting caught herself. While Skye stewed, Lincoln struggled and Raina tried to talk her way out of their dilemma, Tori closed her eyes, ignoring the Hydra guard taunting her about praying. Suddenly, a flock of birds swooped in, flying madly about the faces of the Hydra team. At the same moment, a group of rats swarmed the captured Warriors, quickly chewing through the rope. Once they were free, Elena darted in to remove Skye’s gloves. Without any constraint on her powers, Skye wasted no time in taking down the Hydra guards who were still busy dealing with the birds. The whole escape and reversal of fortunes had only taken a few minutes.
There were no more doubts about whether Tori deserved a spot on the team.
Present
Skye frowned as she watched Grant put his clothes back on. “Why are you getting up so soon? I could just stay here all day,” she said as she stretched luxuriously in bed.
He grinned. “No, you couldn’t. I’ll hand it to you though: you’ve done a great job of pretending that you don’t care. I’m impressed that you haven’t asked about them once but…” he checked his watch, “…you realize we don’t have much time left.”
“You know me so well,” Skye chuckled as she got out of bed.
“Damn straight. I’m going to go check on dinner while you get dressed.” He went back into the kitchen, satisfied that his spaghetti sauce was still simmering away. The kitchen smelled heavenly. Checking his watch again, Grant quickly got out some sliced apples and Cheerios to put on the table. He’d just put some sippy cups with water in front of two chairs when a beautiful dark-haired little girl with brown eyes came around the corner into the kitchen, raising her arms out to him. Grant smiled as he picked her up, knowing that she loved to be cuddled after waking from a nap.
“What’s up, Daisy-girl? Did you have a good naptime?” he asked as he carried her into the living room and sat in the corner of the sofa. Grant loved this quiet time with Daisy, as brief as it was. She usually was a tiny ball of energy, racing from one fun activity to the next, but she tended to be quiet and affectionate as she shook off the sleepiness of her nap.
“Yes, Daddy,” Daisy said as she burrowed further into his shoulder.
Grant looked up to see Skye tenderly watching the two of them. He knew she adored watching him with Daisy. After surviving the disaster that was his family and his work with Hydra, Grant hadn’t been certain he was cut out for fatherhood. And, although Jiaying assured them that Inhumans had been having families for generations, neither he nor Skye were certain about mixing their genes. They decided to wait to have children; there was no rush. Tori gave them a Labrador instead. Grant named him Pal.
After they’d moved to the island though, something changed. Perhaps it was the contentment they found or the enjoyment he got out of playing with the kids in Afterlife but Grant decided that he’d like to see what the whole parent thing was about. Skye quickly agreed and, much to their surprise, became pregnant on their very first try. Having Daisy was an adjustment. They had to start taking turns on missions so that both of them weren’t gone at the same time but it worked. To their delight, their family and friends adored spending time with Daisy, so they got frequent breaks from childcare. Jiaying and Cal were particularly attentive, sometimes aggressively so.
One day, Grant found himself out with Skye on the beach in front of their house. He looked at her in disbelief. “Did your parents just shoo us away?”
Skye nodded, amused. “Fraid so. I do believe we’re going to have to have another kid just to get some parenting time in.”
Grant laughed but soon after, they had Aidan. He grinned as the adorable dark-haired, blue-eyed two-year old dashed into the living room yelling, “Mama! Mama! Mama!” as loud as he could as he threw himself at Skye. Even Pal roused himself from his nap to come nuzzle Skye.
Daisy’s head popped up. “Mommy’s home?” Daddy was forgotten as she jumped from his lap to zip into Skye’s waiting arms.
Grant sighed contentedly as he watched the domestic scene. There was his wife, children and beloved dog, all of them living in their house on their island. He had work he enjoyed, friends he loved, a community where he belonged and time to indulge whatever passions he chose. Grant thought back to when he envisioned himself as the Black Shadow, someone lurking around the corner, always mysterious but never fully known. That may have been the spy he was then: a miserable loner who carried around so much baggage that almost no one could get close. It didn’t have much resemblance to the spy he was now: a community leader with a loving family who depended on relationships to keep him safe the way he’d once depended on gadgets. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.