Enhancement

[13] History Lesson

Coulson looked down at his hands where the photograph was cradled. He then glanced up at Lily and smiled. Coulson handed her the photograph. She looked at it for a long moment remembering everything that had happened between them when they were younger. Lily looked up at Coulson with a big smile. "I remember when this was taken, it was one of the rare photos where Grant actually smiled" she grinned while still staring at the photo. "I want to know about the Grant you knew, his file only says so much" Coulson asked hopeful to learn more about Grant's past. Lily glanced at Coulson, smirked, then placed the photograph on the table. "Okay, but you tell me about the Grant you know then I'll tweak your description," she chuckled and leaned back in her chair.

       "Well Grant is definitely tough, he deals well with pain and never shows it. He's a stickler for protocol, unless he's decided to change some of the rules. He wants perfection, especially from Skye. I find he's egotistical but selfless at the same time. Grant pushes people to their limits. He fights hard and always gets the job done. He has bad people skills and is sometimes way too serious." Coulson said confidently, then waited for Lily to compose her response.

       "When I first met Grant he didn't know how to throw a punch. But he soon learned how to defend himself because of his brother beating on him and his younger brother, Thomas. Grant always had bad people skills, but he was comfortable talking around me. He never smiled unless he really needed to, or if it was to make me or Thomas smile. When he teaches someone something he only does it to make them better and pushes them to do their best. He's selfless even if he pretends to be arrogant, it's just an act. He's complex and sometimes has a dark streak, that's the Grant I know." She said in finality.

       Coulson was intrigued by the differences between past Grant and present Grant. He also wondered if he would get a glimpse of the young Ward she knew, because of Lily's presence. However, as intrigued as he was Coulson was also concerned about seeing his dark streak. Coulson was about to ask her more when the infamous Grant Ward walked into the room. Both Lily and Coulson glanced at each other as Grant walked up to them. Lily then noticed that the photo was still on the table so she quickly grabbed it and placed it face down in her lap. Ward noticed but didn't say anything, he then spoke to Coulson in a serious tone, "We informed the Cocoon about loosing our enhanced, but they still want us to come in order to debrief and to index Lily." Ward then glanced at Lily as he walked away, but he stopped once he reached the doorway, "It's getting late sir, do you mind if I clock out?" he asked hopefully, Coulson nodded at him with a smile, which was slightly returned.

       As Ward walked out of the room Coulson looked back at Lily with a saddened look. He stood and walked towards the small rooms that she'd seen before. Coulson stopped in front of the furthest one and pulled open the door and motioned for her to go inside. As she walked in she noticed what a cramped space it was, but it was nice looking. Coulson shut the door behind him as he entered, "Make yourself at home" he said with a smile. He slid open the door and stepped outside, but Lily called for him to wait, "Don't you want to know more about Grant, you were quite curious before?" she wondered, curiously. He shook his head, "I wanted to know the difference, and the person I might have to look forward to" Coulson gave her a small smile and turned, but then Lily tapped his shoulder. "Coulson, what's indexing? And where's the Cocoon?" she asked concerned. "Just protocol" Coulson answered vaguely.

Lily still held the photo in her hand so as she sat on the bed she looked at it. She looked at his smile, the first genuine one that she had seen from him in awhile, a long while. She stroked the glass smiling at the picture, at her youth and innocence, as well as his. Lily wasn't sure how innocent Grant was anymore, she didn't know about the kind of things he had done, or what kinds of things he would be able to do in the future. Lily sat in her small room for about an hour, rifling through her things and organizing her stuff into small piles then organizing them in the box. She put everything except some clothes, the picture frame, and a small photo album in the box. Soon she just laid on her bed looking up at the ceiling. Lily took her watch from one of the boxes and checked the time. It was nearly eight o'clock.