"What are you doing here?" Grant asked dubiously, walking over to the invisible wall and placing his hands on it, a small force field glowing around his palms.
"The reason why I am here is none of your concern," Caden snapped. "Don't waste my time with any more of your questions. I'm here for a sole purpose, and then I will hopefully never, ever, have to lay eyes on you again."
Grant smirked at Caden. "Still as feisty as ever, aren't you, Cady?" He asked smugly.
"Shut up!" Caden yelled, taking a step forward. "Don't call me that, Ward," she hissed. "Just answer my questions and I'll get out of here."
"What's in it for me?" Grant asked, pretending to think over Caden's demand.
Caden's demeanor suddenly changed from commanding to desperation. "Just... Tell me what I need to know," she said pleadingly.
"Anything," Grant said with that real, fake sincerity.
"Why?" She simply asked. "Why Hydra? What did they offer you that S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't?"
Grant groaned, shaking his head. "They offered me a life, Caden, freedom. Something you could never understand. S.H.I.E.L.D., they are so controlling, and demanding. Hydra gave me the chance to get out, to fend for myself. That never would have happened in S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Grant, I didn't know about your past, about your brother."
"It doesn't matter what you knew," Grant interrupted. "It wouldn't have changed the fact that you're one of them"
"See, that's why you fit in so perfectly, Ward," Caden said, starting to walk around the room. "You lie and cheat and murder, in the service of liars and murderers, to help no one other than your pathetic self. Maybe that's why nobody realized you were the rat for all those years."
"That's what Garrett said," Grant smirked.
"John Garrett," Caden snapped. "Was a sociopath who became one of you because he misheard a word in one of Fury's damned "one man" speeches. Tell me, Grant, what did you even see in that man?" She walked over to the invisible wall, putting her fist on it. "What could he ever give you?" She shouted, her anger starting to return.
"He gave me freedom!" Grant shouted back. "He got me out of prison. Caden, he showed me how to be a man."
"Oh, come on!" Caden rolled her eyes. "Grant, he didn't show you anything, other than how to be a murderer and a traitor."
"I'm not a traitor, Caden," Grant said. "I was never a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent."
"You were, Ward!" Caden pounded on the invisible wall. "You were and you knew it!" She sighed, running a hand through her dark brown hair. "You worked hard, Grant, you were one of our best field agents. Records compared you to Romanoff, for God's sake. You were a good man. You gained everyone's trust. And then what did you do? You take all that trust, throw it all into one big pile, soak it in gasoline, and light it on fire."
"Hydra is the future of our world, Caden," Grant said. "Not S.H.I.E.L.D. Only the ones who have accepted that can understand the wonderful mind of Hydra."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. grows stronger every day," Caden said defiantly.
"It was destroyed once," Grant shrugged. "Who's to say it won't be again?"
Caden started to back away from the cell. It was hopeless.
This was all so hopeless!
"Why did I even come down here?" She muttered. "Did I really think I'd be able to talk some sense into you?"
"If that's the reason, you've wasted your time."
Caden shook her head. "To think at one point I trusted you," she said bitterly. "I was too blind to see through your disguise."
"Is that really the reason why you came down here, Caden?" Grant asked.
"Is what the reason I came down here?" Caden said, pretending to not have a clue on what he was talking about.
"Caden, if that's what this is about, just stop it," Grant said, shaking his head. "I tried talking to you about it. I can't change what happened."
"No, but you could have prevented it." Caden said, her back to the cell, her finger ready to press the button to make the wall go black. "That's betrayel on a whole different level, Ward."
"Caden, you just wouldn't listen! You never gave me a chance to explain. You still won't."
"What's there to explain?" Caden asked. "I saw it all. I saw you with Skye. I saw the look in her eyes when she saw me. There was no guilt, no remorse! She looked defiantly at me and smiled as if she was happy I saw you, as if she had planned for it all to happen."
"I never noticed that, Caden, and that's the truth. It was a mistake, a moment of weakness."
He almost sounded sincere.
"I don't care, Grant," Caden said through gritted teeth, fighting back burning tears.
"Caden," Grant sighed. "Caden, I'm sorry, oka-"
"Goodbye, Grant."
The wall went dark.
Caden walked swiftly up the staircase and down the hallway to her quarters, keeping one hand bent over her mouth. Her eyes were glued to the ground.
"Doctor Stark," a young technician came up to her as she arrived at her door. "Your presence is needed in-"
She quickly stopped the younger agent by holding up her hand. "Not now," she said shaking her head.
"But, ma'am, it's important," the agent persisted. "Director Coulson requested that-"
"Then you tell the director that I do not feel well and have retired to quarters," Caden said sharply, turning to face the young tech, gripping the door frame to her bedroom. "Are we clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," the younger agent said, turning around and walking down a random hallway to deliver her message to Director Coulson.
Caden sighed audibly, leaning her head against the door and grasping the bronze colored door knob for support.
She jumped slightly as another door slowly creaked open. She opened one eye, watching as Bucky slowly and cautiously stepped out of his quarters.
Bucky's face lifted slightly at the sight of Caden. He took a single step towards her, opening his mouth to speak. "Caden, about earlier, I-"
Caden, instead of listening, shook her head and quickly turned around, twisting the doorknob and shoving the heavy metal door open. She slid in as soon as the entrance was wide enough, using all of what was left of her depleted strength to forcefully slam the door shut. She pressed her back to the door as she heard steps that were obviously Bucky's come towards her door.
She listened as a piece of metal grazed across the door, making a slight scratching sound, before she heard Bucky sigh, defeated, and walk away.
Caden let out a shaky breath, sliding down to the ground and folding her arms over the back of her head.
"This was a mistake," she murmured. "This was all a mistake and it's all my fault. I should never have come here." Her breathing became ragged, as she was fighting back hot, angry tears. "I should never have come here. It's all my fault!" She suddenly screamed, picking up a small, misplaced piece of who knows what of the floor and throwing it against the windowless wall, watching it bounce off it and on to her bed, leaving a small yet noticeable dent in the bare wall.
"We can't stay, we need to get out of here," she said suddenly, standing up and walking over to her bed where her lone suitcase lay. She dug through the contents of her bag, pulling out her phone and dialing Rogers' number.
"Come on, Steve, pick up," Caden said impatiently, pacing the floor as the phone continued to ring. She groaned in frustration as it was finally sent to voice mail.
"Steve, please, I need you. Now," she said, her voice wavering as she spoke the simple sentence into the recorder.
She tried calling three more times, each time being sent to voicemail, before finally slamming her phone done on her bed angrily.
"Damn you, Steve," she muttered. "Learn to use your phone."
She paced her room a couple more times before finally trying one last person, her last hope.
"'Yello," The voice said, picking up on the first ring.
"Tony?" Her voice came out as a timid sob.
"Cade?" Tony exclaimed, his tone suddenly turning serious at the miserable tone of his cousin's voice. "Cade, what's wrong?"
"I need you," Caden whispered as the tears returned, only this time far more powerful.
"Talk," Tony instructed.
A lone tear trailed down Caden's cheek, the others threatening to follow soon.
This time, Caden wouldn't stop them.