2014 ― Airborne
[this song + the last scene = more pain]
Audrey and Skye were now standing in the lab. Skye was on her laptop, and Audrey was hoping that the team was back by now and that someone saw the message she left in the bathroom. There was a portrait in the bathroom of the night skyline, but it moved. On the second screen, Audrey scribbled in 'Ward is HYDRA,' and then she put a screwdriver in the portrait when she switched it back to the night sky. And luckily for her,
Fitz just found it.
Grant was standing in the cargo hold spraying black spray-paint over the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on the SUV. Audrey looked over at him and gave him a sincere smile. She was still devastated, betrayed, and crushed on the inside, but, like she told Ward, he is the first person she's ever fallen in love with, and she loves him so much. Finding out that he was HYDRA didn't just automatically turn her feelings off.
They had been through too much, and they had too many moments that felt real, that she knew Grant couldn't have faked. Nobody is that good.
Not even her or Natasha.
Grant smiled back at her before turning back to the car, and Audrey subtly tapped Skye's hand and nodded her head as Audrey's smile fell. Skye unplugged the hard drive walked over to one of the cabinets, and started to rifle through it.
"Fitz keeps the candy under his bunk," Grant said. His voice made Skye jump because even Audrey didn't notice that he had walked back inside the lab. "What are you up to?" Grant asked her.
"Just looking for the SAT phone to call the team, make sure everyone's alright, no one's blown up," Skye said, and to get Grant away from Skye, Audrey spoke up.
"I suggested it. Coulson's probably wondering where we are, so I just figured we should all keep each other updated, you know?" Audrey said. Grant nodded his head and walked away from Skye and over to Audrey.
"And I am already one step ahead of you. I have the phone. I just talked to Coulson a little while ago before I came down here with you guys." Grant said.
"You did?" Audrey asked.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, Rey, I should've told you. But they're okay, and the sooner we get to the location, decrypt that drive...-" Audrey cut in.
"...-The sooner we can rendezvous with the team." She said.
"Exactly... or just rendezvous," Grant said. Audrey rolled her eyes, but she did laugh, a genuine laugh. That's what she hated. Grant seemed so genuine when he said he loves her; she believed him, even though she didn't know what to believe anymore.
"It seemed like a smart play at the time, geo-locking the drive. I didn't think it would backfire on us." Skye said as she walked back over to Audrey.
"It hasn't backfired. The drive is supposed to be impossible to crack. Pretty specific coordinates, though. You could've picked anywhere in the world. Why a random diner in L.A.?" Grant asked.
"It was already built into my encryption. I never changed it, but it's fitting. It's where I met Mike Peterson. It's where this whole S.H.I.E.L.D. roller coaster started. Plus, tactically, what do you look for in a job site?" Skye asked.
"Public place, lots of people, multiple exits," Grant said.
"Exactly. I figured if I ever got in trouble, I'd be safe there." Skye said.
"Smart thinking. But, don't worry, Skye. You'll be plenty safe." Audrey said. Grant nodded his head, and Skye smiled at Audrey. She knew Audrey would do whatever it took to protect the both of them, but Skye's heart broke for Audrey because she knows how much Audrey loves Grant and how crushing all of this has to be for her. Grant walked up to Audrey and reached behind her back, and grabbed her gun.
"I know you too well, Rey. You won't need this." Grant said as he removed the clip.
"What's the matter? You know I'm always prepared in case a situation turns hostile." Audrey said.
"In this situation, the last thing we can afford is to get pinched on a concealed weapons charge," Grant said. As much as she hated to admit it, Grant was right. S.H.I.E.L.D. has been labeled a terrorist organization, and all of them are technically fugitives.
"I hate when you're right," Audrey said, which made Grant laugh.
"Hey..." Grant said as he walked closer to Audrey, and he let his voice get softer. "We're going to be okay. I promise, until this thing is over, I'm not gonna let you out of my sight." Grant said as he snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Audrey put a smile on her face.
"Lucky for me, then, huh?" She said. Grant chuckled and pulled her to his chest. Skye walked behind Grant and looked at Audrey, and she could see the pain in her eyes. Audrey subtly nodded her head but disguised it as if she was burying herself deeper into Grant's arms. Skye nodded back at her.
She knew they would make it through this.
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The rest of the team found Agent Koenig's body, and Simmons did a quick autopsy and concluded that Ward did this. They saw on the satellite feed that Audrey, Skye, and Ward all left together. Coulson knew that Audrey was in control of the situation, she was playing Ward like Ward played them, and he figured if Skye was there, then Audrey had to bring her along so that Ward wouldn't know Audrey was onto him. But Fitz didn't handle the news too well, he started throwing things around, and Coulson walked over to him.
"Okay! Okay! We need to hold it together. Listen, all that anger, all that pain, you need to hold it in and focus it on Skye and Audrey. They're alive, and Audrey just walked out of here hand-in-hand with someone she now knows is a murderer because she's playing him, just like he played us. Fitz... Fitz, we have to fix the communications. We have to track that plane. Can you do that? Good... I know Audrey, she has a plan, and she will keep herself and Skye safe, and we're going to find them before Ward figures out that plan." Coulson said. Fitz-Simmons walked off, and Trip shook his head.
"Come on, Audrey... what's your plan?"
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"I can't remember the last time I sat in a restaurant," Skye said as she was leading Grant and Audrey to the diner. Audrey knew that Skye had a plan, and Skye knew that Audrey would keep them safe no matter what. Even though Audrey didn't know all the details of Skye's plan, but she trusted her, and she knew that they would make it out of this.
"I know. It's been all tubes, tunnels, and plane food." Grant said.
"Maybe I will get pie for dessert," Skye said.
"Dessert? I was hoping we'd be done by the time I finished my coffee." Grant said.
"Oh, come on, this is our first time in nearly a year being able to have something besides plane food. You don't want to indulge a little bit?" Audrey asked her boyfriend. She couldn't call him her ex-boyfriend because she didn't break up with him since he doesn't know she knows he's HYDRA.
"Audrey's right; you might as well indulge. Do you have any idea how long it'll take to decrypt this drive? You guys might as well treat this like a date." Skye said.
"For you? I figured 10 minutes. That's not worth much of a date, not the kind I want to give Rey." Grant said.
"Not even close. The GPS will take a hot second to calibrate, but I'm working on a laptop. So even at three cycles per byte, there are still terabytes of data...-" Grant cut her off.
"...-Spare me the details. Give me the time frame," Grant said.
"An hour would be a miracle," Skye said.
"Coulson needs this yesterday," Grant said.
"My laptop's not a time machine, Ward. That's the science." Skye said. Audrey knew she needed to calm him down, so she grabbed his hand and made him face her.
"Hey... why don't we just let her do her thing... and you and I can share some coffee and a dessert?" Audrey asked as she leaned up and kissed his cheek. The agitation that he felt slowly melted away when Audrey kissed him.
"Alright. That sounds good to me."
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"You're staring again," Audrey said. She kept Grant in a different booth, right behind the one Skye was sitting in. Grant could only see Skye's face, but the back of her laptop was facing him, and Audrey's back was facing Skye.
"Am I not allowed to stare at my girlfriend?" Grant asked.
"Look, I know the team needs this information, but Skye told us it's a complicated hack," Audrey said, and Grant shook his head.
"You've mistaken my admiration for impatience." He said.
"No, it's impatience," Audrey said.
"Okay, I'm sorry. We're supposed to be having quality time." Grant said.
"Maybe you should duck outside. Try again on the SAT phone, just to make sure everyone's okay." Audrey said.
"No. We stick together, and we stick to the plan. The sooner Skye decrypts that hard drive...-" Audrey cut him off.
"...-The sooner we get to the team. I heard you twice the first time," Audrey said as the two of them stared each other down. Grant raised an eyebrow and reached out for her hand. Audrey nearly jerked her hand back, but then she knew that would tip Grant off, so she remained calm and let Grant grab her hands.
She hated to admit it, but the warmth of Grant's touch always brought her comfort. As early as the Academy, she could remember that whenever she had a rough sparring match against another cadet, Grant would always come to her room later that night and check on her, usually with a hug, food, or both. Their time in the Academy is some of Audrey's most treasured memories of Grant.
She couldn't believe the best part of her life might've been fake.
"Are you alright? You look nervous." He said as he gently squeezed her hands. Audrey let out a deep breath as Grant ran his thumbs over her knuckles. It brought her peace, and she hated it, seeing that Grant was on the wrong side of the current situation.
Audrey felt like she was about to explode. In the course of 24 hours, the agency she grew up in and dedicated her life to fell to Hydra, she found out who killed her best friend and nearly killed her in Odessa, and now Grant, the first man she's ever been in love with is also Hydra and has been lying to her for the last decade.
She wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.
"How can you tell, superspy?" Audrey teased, keeping her voice even.
"Staying unnaturally still to keep from fidgeting, maintaining eye contact to give the impression of confidence," Grant said, and Audrey rolled her eyes.
"I don't need to give the impression of confidence," Audrey said, and Grant laughed.
"You're right, but you're doing it anyway. What's wrong, Rey?" Grant asked.
"We're FBI's most wanted, and we're sitting out in the open at a diner. It just feels like at any moment, something could go horribly wrong, and you disarmed me, I might add." Audrey said.
"Relax, Rey... if anything happens, I'll protect you; you know that," Grant said.
"Yeah, but I thought our deal was, while we acknowledge that we're more than capable of protecting ourselves, we also protect each other. So while you're protecting me, who's protecting you?" Audrey asked, and right as she asked the question, two cops walked inside of the diner. Audrey didn't know if it was Skye's doing or just a coincidence.
But either way, it made her nervous.
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"Skye, how much longer," Grant asked. He and Audrey were still in their separate booth while Skye was 'decrypting' the file.
"Half-hour," Audrey said.
"She said that half an hour ago," Grant said.
"Weren't you the one who said relax?" Skye asked from her booth.
"Those cops over there keep looking at us," Grant said.
"They're just checking out the waitress, Grant. They don't know you're pretending to be someone you're not." Audrey said as she took a sip of her coffee.
"Yeah, alright. Who am I pretending to be?" Grant asked as he took a sip of his coffee.
"My impatient boyfriend," Audrey said.
"Not much of a cover, but I still like it," Grant said as he shrugged his shoulders, and then another cop car drove by, which made Grant tense up more.
"Hey, Audrey," Skye said.
"Yeah?" Audrey asked.
"What's the longest you've been undercover? Like deep undercover?" Skye asked.
"Um... 2 years, I had an op in London and came out with a pretty solid accent," Audrey said, which made Skye laugh, but Audrey knew what she was getting at, so Audrey turned to Grant. "What about you, Grant? What's the longest deep undercover mission you've done?" Audrey asked.
"About 16 months," Grant said.
"And when was that?" Audrey asked.
"Hmm... about five years after we graduated from The Academy. I posed as a Russian Attachè at the Embassy in Warsaw." Grant said.
"Oh yeah, I remember that... because you brought me back one of those creepy Russian porcelain dolls," Audrey said, which made Grant laugh.
"You brought me a teapot back from London, and you know I don't drink tea!" Grant said. Audrey didn't want to, but she couldn't help it; she laughed. From behind her, Skye frowned. Grant and Audrey's conversations flowed so easily, and Skye hated that Audrey was going through this because she wanted to believe for Audrey's sake that Grant wasn't faking his feelings. Skye cleared her throat.
"It's gotta be so hard, living a double life like that... getting close to people only to turn on them," Skye said. Audrey realized they had slightly gone off-topic, and she cleared her throat and nodded her head to Skye's comment.
"Yeah, well... the people in London I was getting close to were horrible, so I was happy to turn on them, but... some undercover missions required me to turn on good people... I never felt good about those. I don't know how Garrett and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. turned HYDRA agents did it." Audrey said as she shook her head.
"Garrett?" Grant asked as he looked at her.
"Yeah, I mean, think about all that time he spent as your S.O. Getting to know you, being your mentor, only to lie to your face and betray you like that," Audrey said, and Grant nodded his head.
"It was uh... difficult to accept. But thankfully, that's over." Grant said.
"Right, because you took care of him... it feels good to know that, especially finding out that he was the real person behind why I almost died," Audrey said as she shook her head.
"Of course, Audrey. I'd never let anyone hurt you and live... but can we not discuss this right now?" Grant asked.
"If you had one more moment before you shot him in the back of the head so heroically if he was sitting right here instead of me, and you could say anything you want, what would you say?" She asked.
"Rey," Grant said.
"Would you say he's disgusting? Would you tell him he's a disgusting, backstabbing traitor? Or to rot in hell?" Audrey asked.
"What are you doing?" Grant asked.
"I'm just trying to have an honest conversation with my boyfriend. I mean, because that's what you are, right? My boyfriend?" Audrey said. Grant looked over and noticed the cops were starting to tell people to leave.
"They're starting to clear people out. We should go." Grant said.
"No, I think I'm good right here," Audrey said as she picked up her coffee cup.
"Rey, we've been made. Come on." Grant said.
"No," Skye said as she turned around in her seat and showed Grant her laptop; she was filling out an Emergency Response Dispatch form. "I tipped them off," Skye said. Audrey looked over at Grant and shrugged her shoulders.
"Hail HYDRA, right?" Audrey said. Grant looked at her and took a deep breath, but he felt his world crashing down. This was the last thing he wanted, Audrey knowing.
"You three, hands in the air, now! Out of the booth, nice and slow." One officer said as 3 approached them with their weapons drawn. Audrey and Skye slowly stood up and put their hands up. "Hands on your head." The officer said.
"Alright. Just be careful; he's armed." Skye said. When they tried to make the arrest, Grant started fighting back, and Audrey grabbed Skye.
"Skye, go... get out of here right now and get somewhere safe," Audrey said as she practically shoved her out of the door. Grant continued to fight the officers, and once Audrey saw that Skye was out, she took one last look at Grant, who was getting grabbed by around 3 officers, and she headed out the door too.
"Audrey!" Grant yelled after her. Skye and Audrey ran outside and saw two more officers.
"Officers! We surrender. Arrest us, please!" Skye exclaimed.
"Whoa, slow down. What are you talking about?" The officer asked.
"No, no, we're Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., we're wanted fugitives, take us in, please," Audrey said. Audrey started hitting them when the officers didn't move because she knew force would make them arrest her. "Come on! What are you doing?! Get us out of here!" Audrey exclaimed as she started to push them around.
That made them act. They restrained Audrey and Skye, and they grabbed Audrey and slammed her down on the car's trunk. "We'll do whatever you want!" Skye said. Grant made it out of the restaurant, and he saw Audrey being arrested.
"Audrey!" He yelled. He fired off two gunshots, and when the officers went down, Audrey looked at Skye.
"Get in the car, now!" Audrey said. Skye nodded her head and opened the passenger door while Audrey ran to the driver's side.
"Rey! Don't run!" Grant called out. Audrey got in and closed the door, and Grant ran up to the car. "Audrey, you don't understand! I'm not trying to hurt you! I love you; that's the truth!" Grant yelled, but Audrey pulled the car away, and she looked over at Skye.
"Are you okay?" She asked, and Skye nodded her head.
"Yeah, are you?" She asked, and Audrey shook her head.
"No... and I don't know if I ever will be again." She said. As they drove, Audrey noticed someone in the middle of the road. They jumped in the air and then landed in front of the car. It was Mike.
He punched through the windshield and grabbed Audrey by her throat.
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Grant took them back to the plane. He had Audrey and Skye sitting in the cargo hold while he and Mike were standing over them. "You should be thanking me. I saved your ass." Mike said to Grant, but Grant was pissed.
"You didn't save my ass; you turned it into a public spectacle." Grant snapped.
"You let her get one over on you. That's exactly what Garrett was afraid of." Mike said.
"And Garrett told you to stay out of sight," Grant said.
"He ordered me to shadow you. He knew you had a soft spot for Audrey and that she might take advantage of it." Mike said.
"Well, he was wrong." Grant lied. He did have a soft spot for Audrey because he meant it when he told her that he loved her. It was the most real thing he's ever felt. "We have them, and once Skye gives us a location, we'll be off," Grant said.
"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," Skye said as she got off the ground. Audrey stood up too, and she put herself protectively in front of Skye. Grant looked over at Mike.
"Take a walk. I can handle this." He said.
"Can you? You haven't so far." Audrey said.
"Garrett says you have five minutes," Mike said, and then he left Grant alone with the girls.
"Skye... go in the opposite direction of Mike. Go to the main cabin, and wait for me to come to get you." Audrey said.
"Audrey, I'm not leaving you alone with him," Skye said.
"Skye... I'm not going to ask you twice..." Audrey said, and Skye sighed. The last time Audrey ordered her to leave her in a room alone with someone, she got shot twice and almost died. Skye was just hoping that if Grant was truthful about one thing, it was about how much he loves Audrey so that he wouldn't hurt her. When Skye left, and they were alone, Grant took a step forward.
"I can explain." He said.
Audrey shook her head, walked up to Grant, and shoved him backward. "You lying bastard!" She yelled, and then she punched him hard in the face. "You son of a bitch! I trusted you! You lying...-! You...-You..." Audrey was so angry, she couldn't even speak. She shoved Grant's chest and kept hitting him until Grant gently grabbed her wrists and made her stop.
"Stop. Stop! Rey, calm down. Okay? Okay? It's over; you can't win. Okay?" He said as he looked at her. Audrey took a deep breath before she head-butted him hard. His hands dropped from her wrists as he staggered backward, but then he grabbed her again and turned her around while pulling out handcuffs. He cuffed her to the stair railing.
"All this time, everything we've been through, why? How could you?" Audrey yelled at him as the tears came back to her eyes.
"I was on a mission. It wasn't personal." Grant said, and now Audrey was pissed.
"It wasn't personal? It wasn't... oh my god, you did not just say that to me. It wasn't personal?! You made it personal in Switzerland! You made it personal when you asked me to be your girlfriend! You made it personal when you told me that you love me!" Audrey screamed.
"Rey...-" She cut him off.
"...-You don't get to call me that, not anymore." She snapped coldly.
"Audrey, listen to me." He said.
"God, I might actually believe that! You... that...-I... that is the twisted logic that they teach you when you sign up to be a Nazi." Audrey snapped.
"Stop. Wait. I'm not a Nazi." Grant said.
"Nazi scientists founded HYDRA! You remember that lesson from The Academy, yes!?" Audrey yelled. And although that was true, Grant never bought into the HYDRA ideologies. He was loyal to Garrett, and even though Garrett didn't believe in the HYDRA ideologies, he became HYDRA for his own gain, and Grant didn't really care about HYDRA at all.
He just followed Garrett's orders.
"That has nothing to do with today," Grant said.
"My god... he brainwashed you, didn't he? HYDRA has a way of bending people to their will, and Garrett did that to you. You said you'd known him since you were a teenager. He got into your head, manipulated you, and brainwashed you to believe that HYDRA was the right side. God, it all makes sense." Audrey said.
"Audrey, no... it's not like that. I'm a spy. I had a job." Grant said.
"You've killed I don't know how many people...-" Grant cut her off.
"...-And so have you, Audrey! So do not try to play the moral high ground with me!" Grant yelled, and Audrey shook her head.
"I've never killed anyone innocent. So, what now, Grant? Huh? Are you going to kill me? HYDRA already got my dad. Are you gonna take out the last Fury standing?" Audrey asked.
"What? No, Rey. I would never hurt you." Grant said.
"You already did... worse than you could ever imagine. So what, when Skye decrypts the hard drive, are you going to shoot us as you did with Thomas Nash, or are you going to hire someone else to do it, like Ian Quinn?" She asked.
"I didn't know that was going to happen, Audrey. When I said it killed me to see you like that, I meant it. That was all Garrett." Grant said.
"Oh, of course, it was Garrett's fault. But I guess me almost dying didn't hurt you enough since you're still blindly following Garrett because it was part of the mission, right? You were just going to kick back and watch me bleed until it's your turn to pull the trigger, but then again, conditioning and brainwashing are hard to break." Audrey said.
"You think I had a part in that? That I would ever let that happen to you? You know how I feel about you, Audrey." Grant said as he walked closer to her.
"Do I know that, Grant? You've been lying to everyone about everything, but especially to me, and we've known each other for how long? You expect me to believe your feelings for me...-" Grant cut her off.
"...-They're real, Audrey... they're the most real thing I have ever felt. I know that I have lied about almost everything, but when I tell you that I love you, that is never a lie," Grant said. The tears in Audrey's eyes started running down her cheeks. She wanted to believe him. The part of her that loves him wanted to believe what Grant was saying, but she didn't know if she could. He walked closer to her and gently ran his fingers through her hair. "They always have been real. I love you, mishka," Grant said. She had that nauseous feeling again.
"Oh my god, I'm gonna be sick..." She whispered as she pulled away from him. She saw the hurt in Grant's eyes as she did, but she was about to have another panic attack.
"Do you...-Do you think this has been easy for me? Do you have any idea how hard it was? The sacrifices, the decisions I had to make? But I made them because that's what I do. I'm a survivor." Grant said.
"You're a serial killer," Audrey whispered.
"Then what does that make you? We're cut from the same cloth, Audrey, same training, and similar missions. So if I'm a serial killer, then so are you." Grant said to her. More tears fell from her eyes, and she shook her head.
"I thought I could love every part of you... and I hate myself for wanting to, but this... Grant, HYDRA. How can you just expect me to accept that?" Audry cried. Grant hated that she was crying, and he hated that he was the cause.
"Someday... Someday, you'll understand." Grant said.
"I'm trying! But I can't. I can't see how you could do this, especially to me, especially if you claim that your love for me is real. How could you do this to me, Grant?! We had everything! We had a good relationship; we were best friends, we had trust, we had love, and we had intimacy. How could you just fake all of that!" She yelled while Grant was yelling over her.
"It wasn't fake!" Grant yelled back, then took a deep breath to calm down. "It wasn't fake, Audrey. If you're going to believe anything that comes out of my mouth, then believe me when I say this. What we had... what we have, it's real." Grant said, and it only made Audrey cry more as she sat down on the stairs. She didn't know what to believe anymore.
"I...-I don't believe you... just leave me alone."
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whew, now that was a lot of damage.
but more damage is coming in the next chapter.
don't forget to vote/comment.
xoxo.