hydraverse

[hydragrant]

Leo: Fuck.

Leo: You're right.

Leo: Well, I won't be stopping you. You know I trust you to make the right choice.

Leo: Hey, I appreciate that.

Grant: Of course I'm right.

Grant: That wasn't even a question.

Grant: Good. Glad to know I have your seal of approval if I want to take the shot next time I have it.

Grant: Do you? And how did that project come along?

[hydragrant]

Leo: Still alive. Honestly should be more surprising than it is.

Leo: Now's not the time to take that shot.

Leo: Not that you'd care if I was pissed, would you? You making choices based on how I'd feel about them now?

Grant: He hides behind a body count of people he thinks are expendable.

Grant: So of course he's still alive.

Grant: No, I would consider it in my end actions.

Grant: Sometimes. As you keep reminding me, you're my equal.

[hydragrant]

Leo: Oh.

Leo: No, I wasn't paying attention.

[7 minutes later]

Leo: How'd it go?

Grant: It went well.

Grant: Unfortunately, Coulson is still alive.

Grant: But you'd probably be pissed if I took that shot, wouldn't you?

[hydragrant]

Leo: Hate to nag, but I haven't heard from you in about seven hours and you didn't tell me about any missions.

Leo: That thing you had me working on is done. You'll have to come to the lab to take a look.

Leo: If you're not fucking dead.

[2 hours later]

Grant: I'm not fucking dead.

Grant: You clearly weren't listening when I was in the lab two nights ago

Grant: It was recon.

[hydragrant]

hydraleo:

Leo knew, already, that he would never forget the sounds Grant was making right now. He was used to a growl, rough groans and heavy breaths. What Grant was doing now could only be described as whimpering. Soft, broken and breathy, the note of need behind it more obvious than Leo could ever have accounted for. 

Whatever he thought he might see from Grant in this thing they’d started together, this wasn’t it. He’d never dared to hope for this much. 

This, just as much as anything else today, was a sign that Grant had handed over a lot more than just co-Directorship to Leo. And Leo was going to protect that, at all costs, and in return - he’d already given Grant all of himself, in every way there was to give it.

Leo’s hand followed Grant’s as Grant came, Leo’s eyes feasting on the sight, roving up and down Grant’s body as it arched up off the bed. He watched Grant’s chest and stomach be painted with splashes of white as he came, barely daring to breathe, all his focus on getting to see this.

Getting to touch him. 

“You’re beautiful,” Leo murmured once Grant had fallen back to the mattress, breath stuttering, the echo of Leo’s name hardly finished bouncing off the walls. “You’re perfect.” Pressing slow, attentive kisses to Grant’s cheekbone and jaw, Leo breathed in the scent of him, and the smell of sex, as he let his thumb drag up through the streaks of come on Grant’s skin. 

Sitting up, Leo stayed beside Grant, gaze wandering over his whole body again as he brought his own thumb up to his mouth, sucking Grant’s come from it. It mingled with the lingering taste of his own, and he sighed in satisfaction, closing his eyes for a moment before meeting Grant’s and smiling. 

“I like how you say my name,” Leo said softly, shifting until he could settle to lay on his good side beside Grant, up against him, skin on overheated skin. He pillowed his cheek on Grant’s chest, reflecting inwardly that this was a perfect moment, and he ought to cherish it as such. “And these stitches had better heal soon, because as much as I…very much enjoyed the show, I think next time I’d like to give you a taste of what you just did to me.” 

It wasn’t that they hadn’t been having sex, because there was no doubt that they had, and it wasn’t that it hadn’t been enjoyable, because Grant would admit - probably without pressing, right now - that sex with Leo had been some of the best of his life. It was just that there was something else to this, and even if it had been a lot of work on Grant’s part, and less so on Leo’s part - for good reason - Leo’s contributions had been what had made it so unbelievably good.

Grant could feel his body humming, blood rushing in his eyes, breath struggling to come even. He couldn’t remember a time in recent memory that he’d been the one to physically get himself off, and felt this good in the afterglow. That was all due to the man murmuring to him that he was beautiful, he was perfect, laying kisses on his face and running a thumb through the mess on his stomach.

There was no point hiding the small shudder all that attention drew from him. Grant hummed, reaching up to push a hand through his hair, blinking up at Leo through heavy eyes. For a second, it was almost a bad idea, because the sight of Leo with his thumb in his mouth, sucking off Grant’s come, made something in Grant’s stomach tighten. The sight, and that sensation, had Grant making a small, aborted noise, before he shook his head, almost disbelieving.

He definitely had not done a damn thing in his life that was good enough to deserve this. There was a new quality to what they had, now, something that felt impenetrable and unbeatable, like steel over molten rock. This wasn’t just fucking, this wasn’t just release, not anymore.

They had been in this together before, but the together of then and the together of now were two entirely different beasts. There was no denying which of the two Grant was very quickly becoming partial to. It was the one that made him feel impossible, complete, and insurmountable by all except Leo.

Leo shifted, laying down against Grant’s side, and part of him wanted to protest, but partly he was too tired, and he knew that Leo was being as safe and gentle with himself as he could. He didn’t want Leo any further away than this, anyway. Absently, he brought his fingers up, brushing them over Leo’s hair, and down his back, staring at the ceiling. He could feel the mess drying on his skin - so much for their shower - and the room smelled like sex, and under that, sweeter, the two of them. For a while, Grant could forget that setting one unguarded toe out of line could mean death and the end of all this for both of them.

"Mm, that what you want to do?” Grant asked, smiling softly while his fingers drifted back up Leo’s back. “Not that I’ll say no because you already destroyed me and I’m up for more in the future...” He swallowed, knowing those words said more than themselves. “But you better just listen to doctor’s orders so we can get you back to full health... Might need a few more rounds of that healing therapy to help with the pain, I’d guess. I’m willing.”

He grinned, and lifted his head, kissing Leo’s hair, a strangely affectionate act that he’d been adverse to before, and now...

They had laid in this bed together, half awake, and just about cuddling, but both of them with too many sharp, hesitant edges to give in. Now, they’d spilled everything out between them, and denial was a waste of time. Holding back from things like this, where it was safe, and they could have these perfect moments was, frankly, stupid.

And Grant wouldn’t deny himself - or Leo - any more, if he could help it.

[hydragrant]

hydraleo:

Even Leo’s dreams had never been this good to him.

In all the time he’d spent longing for Grant’s touch, for his care, adoration, his attention, and yes, his mouth, Leo had never dared let his imagination stray this far. He didn’t think it even could have reached these heights. What Grant was doing…Leo wouldn’t have thought he had it in him. 

Never once had he imagined that Grant might do this with so much careful attention, so much teasing, so much skill and maddening thoroughness. This was sex as Leo had never experienced before in his life. 

He’d come with such intensity that it took a moment for Leo to get back to himself, for his vision to come back and his body to relax. His fingertips still tingled, skin buzzing all over from the aftereffects even as he shifted to try and look down at Grant. Moving enough to prop himself on his elbows, on arms that felt weak and still trembled, Leo’s eyes met a sight that he knew he’d be seeing in every daydream he had for weeks, at least.

 Grant was kissing Leo’s inner thigh, messy, and speaking with an urgency that didn’t match the fact that Leo had already come. Through the post-orgasmic haze in his mind, Leo realized that it was because Grant hadn’t yet. Grant, who had been rutting against the mattress while he had his mouth on Leo’s cock only moments ago. 

When Grant moved to roll onto his back, Leo sat nearly frozen in awe, mouth open slightly. He watched the near-frantic way Grant shoved his pants out of the way and wrapped his fingers around his own cock. His gaze took in Leo’s own come still on his lips and chin - and hand - and the way he’d loved it so much that he couldn’t keep from touching himself. This was pure need, aching and desperate, and Leo couldn’t take his eyes off it.

You did this. 

With those words, everything that had just happened came rushing back to Leo. Grant, earlier today, showing up solo to rescue Leo. Leo rescuing him in turn, coming seconds away from losing him completely. Grant playing nurse, taking care of Leo with such a gentle touch, the confession of unsaid, weighted words that they both understood, and the earth-shattering orgasm Grant had dragged from Leo which had driven him to this. 

Leo shifted until he was sitting up, Grant’s head still pillowed on his thigh, and reached down to push still-damp hair back from Grant’s forehead. He watched him for a moment, gaze openly taking in the sight of him, his quick, rough strokes, muscles tight, cock painfully hard in his own hand. This, Leo thought, he could just let happen. Sit here and watch Grant get himself off, and Leo knew he’d enjoy it plenty. It was just…

“Impossible not to touch you right now,” Leo murmured, his soft voice in direct contrast to Grant’s frantic, needy movements, and the whimpering sounds he was making. Carefully, and mindful of his still-fresh stitches, Leo shifted until his legs were out from under Grant and he could kneel beside and over the other man. Sliding one hand down Grant’s chest, Leo let it cover Grant’s own hand, not guiding, simply laying over it and following his quick strokes. With a lazy smile that wasn’t quite a smirk, eyes heavy and dark, Leo leaned down and kissed Grant, tongue brushing slow and insistent, licking his own come from the other man’s lips, tasting himself on his tongue. He lingered just long enough before pulling back, just enough to let his eyes meet Grant’s 

“You have no idea what you’re doing to me, baby,” Leo said, voice soft and low.

Grant Ward was incredibly weak, and for once, he thought he was finally starting to realize that a little weakness here and there wasn’t a bad thing.

This had all started with the bad feeling he’d had about how long Leo had been gone. It seemed like weeks ago that he’d texted Leo, snarky and brash, expecting some reply in the same tone. Which he’d gotten, along with enough to assure him his bad feeling had been right. That had been the first symptom of weakness that day.

And what was happening right now was the most recent, and Grant didn’t care. If Leo was his weakness, if caring for Leo, so deeply and dangerously that the word ‘caring’ just simply didn’t cut it was a weakness, then so be it. Grant could protect Leo. Leo could protect Leo. They had proven today that they could protect each other. This, what had happened, what was happening, being a side effect of that wasn’t something Grant was going to complain about any time soon.

He was aware of Leo shifting on the bed, aware of Leo coming back to himself, but he hadn’t realized how much Leo had moved until fingers brushed his hair, and he looked up through eyes he knew were hazy with pleasure. Leo was watching him do this to himself, and the look on his face...

“Fuck.” Grant bit his lip, closing his eyes again, thumb rolling over the head of his cock before his hand slid to the base. Leo looking at him like that was making it so fucking hard to keep from begging for things that Leo shouldn’t be doing. He needed to lay back and rest, because Grant would need him later. Grant had this under control.

Leo seemed to disagree in some capacity, though. Grant choked back a sound akin to a whine at his words, his lips half forming the word ‘please’ before he willfully buried it in a whimper. Leo was moving, then, pulling his thigh from under Grant’s head, and Grant didn’t stop touching himself, but he did squeeze himself at the base, eyes on Leo while he knelt beside him. Leo, with that fresh bandage still on his side, still flushed from his own orgasm, eyes still impossibly dark, kneeling next to Grant after saying it was impossible not to touch him right now.

That sight alone was enough to get Grant’s hand moving again, but the feeling of Leo touching his chest, hand sliding down...

“Ah - Leo - mm”

The sound Grant made when Leo covered his hand with his own was needy. A soft, broken whimper at best. The sound he made into Leo’s mouth when he kissed him was a sound only Leo would ever hear; desperate, wanting, breathy, the combination of Leo stroking with him, and kissing him slow but insistent, almost the opposite of the way he was touching himself ruining him. Leo’s tongue was brushing his, swiping his lips, and his skin was brushing Grant’s cock.

Grant lifted his head to chase Leo’s lips when he backed off, opening his eyes after a second. Leo was so close, and Grant was so close...

You have no idea what you’re doing to me, baby.

Grant thought he must have whimpered Leo’s name. He knew he made a noise, something half-choked that twisted into a loud, “Ohhhh... oh fu --” before he was gripping at Leo with his free hand, and arching off the bed, his hand stroking fast, desperate, and faltering as his orgasm finally hit him.

He came groaning Leo’s name, stroking himself and spurting a hot, thick mess of white onto his chest and stomach, going until he had nothing left, and collapsed on the mattress.

[hydragrant]

hydraleo:

Whatever he’d done in his life, Leo was absolutely certain that none of it was good enough to deserve how good it felt when Grant moaned around his cock. He paid for it, though, in the form of Grant pulling off and shifting, taking his touch and warmth away from every part of Leo’s body. Even spread completely naked across the bed, no part of Grant was touching any part of Leo. 

It was very nearly painful. 

“Mission - mission accomplished,” Leo breathed, body shuddering, cock hard against his stomach, shining wet with precome and Grant’s saliva. Every part of him was begging for more, and Grant was holding back, instead telling Leo he was beautiful, that he couldn’t even tease him for calling him baby. 

There was no time to speak before Grant was kissing him again, and Leo whimpered softly into it, this deep, soft, slow kiss that sent new waves of pleasure through his already overwhelmed body. “Fucking love it when you’re weak,” Leo murmured, bringing a hand up to comb through Grant’s hair. As much as he could, he raised himself to get a better look at Grant, taking in the way he leaned over Leo on the bed, eyes trailing down - 

Grant was fully hard in his sweats. Nothing could have made it more obvious just how much he was enjoying doing this to Leo. Just doing this, focusing so intently on making Leo feel so good he thought he might either melt or explode, was getting Grant off. 

At the realization, Leo’s voice caught in his throat, cock twitching and dripping thick precome onto his stomach. He groaned, tight and choked, feeling a rush of relief as Grant finally shifted down again. 

Call me baby, scream my name…

Come for me, babe.

Grant wasn’t holding back now. His mouth was hot and wet, tongue doing things that felt positively divine, and Leo could feel his whole body tensing up. That heat coursing through his veins focused in on his belly, coiled deep and tight at the base of his spine. “Baby - oh god, fuck, yes - “ Barely even aware of it, Leo tried to arch up off the bed, trapped by Grant’s hold on him, his entire focus on the feeling of Grant’s mouth and hand, and the movements he could see Grant making. Rocking down against the bed. So turned on by doing this to Leo that he couldn’t even hold himself back. 

That, with how thoroughly and completely Grant was taking him apart with his mouth, was finally too much. With what felt like the force of a freight train, Leo’s orgasm slammed through him, both hands gripping tight in the sheets as he dragged them in toward himself, body raised up as his head tipped back, mouth falling open, Grant’s name coming through in a rough, loud shout that tore out of him as his vision went white. 

Leo’s body going taut under his hands and mouth gave Grant a thrill that felt like power and pleasure mixed together and shot directly into his bloodstream. Leo was trying to arch and finding it hard to, and that, too, felt like power. Leo wanted more, more, more, and Grant wanted to give it to him, but he wanted to give it to him at his pace, so that Leo spent longer on the edge, waiting to fall.

This wasn’t something that Grant would have ever foreseen himself doing. Yes, he liked sex. No, he had not foreseen that, eventually, Leo Fitz would show up on his doorstep, or that the two of them would fall into a mutually beneficial sexual relationship. He certainly hadn’t foreseen that he would be in bed with Leo, after saying something that may as well have been words that felt huge and dangerous, lovingly giving Leo head specifically designed to make him simultaneously melt and explode from pleasure.

But that was where he was. It was where they were. And Grant wasn’t about to give it up for the world.

Right now, what he wanted was to taste Leo when he came, and listen to him when it hit him. Unlike before, Grant didn’t let up, didn’t slow down. Spit and precome covered his lips, slipping down over his chin and covering Leo’s cock. His boxers felt horribly constricting. He was making soft, muffled sounds of anticipation and pleasure. And Leo was pulling the sheets in, tipping his head back on the pillows and--

Grant pulled up, keeping his lips around the head of Leo’s cock, feeling it twitch in his hand before Leo came, shouting Grant’s name in a tone that let left no question as to whether or not he was being crushed under the weight of absolute pleasure. Grant swallowed what he could, and pulled off, lapping at the thick trails of come that were sliding down Leo’s cock, his hand taking over, stroking Leo through to the end while Grant pressed truly messy kisses to Leo’s trembling inner thigh.

“Fuck... fuck, Leo, babe... Godfuckingdammit...”

Leo was spent, but Grant was still hard enough for it to hurt, trapped in his pants with his hips against the bed. And while Leo lay there, trying to catch his breath, Grant gave in, and rolled onto his back. 

He was spread diagonally across the bed, his head pillowed on Leo’s thigh. His hip brushed the tips of the toes of Leo’s other foot while he lifted himself up enough to shove his pants out of the way, freeing his straining, leaking cock.

With a hand covered in the slick mess of spit and come that still wet his lips and chin, Grant reached down and wrapped his fingers around himself, moving it in quick, artless strokes. He didn’t even bother holding back the whimper he made, eyes closing in long-needed pleasure.

“You - did this.”

[hydragrant]

hydraleo:

Everything else that had happened today already felt like a distant memory. Even the pain in Leo’s side was gone, partly, he was sure, thanks to the painkillers, but mostly thanks to the delicious distraction Grant was providing. This had been pretty close to the last thing Leo had expected. The last thing had been Grant saying what he’d come so close to saying. So close that he might as well have spoken the words.

What this felt like was worship.

Grant was laying kisses up the line of Leo’s cock, and he could feel himself getting hard, twitching. His breath caught in his throat, and the soft, wet sound of Grant pulling away from Leo’s cock had it coming back out in a quiet, needy whine. Lifting his head again, Leo looked down just in time to catch the grin on Grant’s face as he pinned Leo’s hips down.

That fucker was enjoying this, Leo knew. Enjoying driving Leo slowly out of his mind with every touch, every surprisingly gentle, reverent kiss and brush of his tongue. 

Grant was right. Leo didn’t have to worry at all about anyone hearing him say Grant’s name, least of all Grant. Grant, who himself was letting out a soft groan against Leo’s hip. Oh, he was definitely enjoying this, and the knowledge had Leo’s cock twitching again in Grant’s hand. 

It was almost too much. It was so slow, constant and gentle and overwhelming, and Leo arched slightly off the bed, sucking in a breath at the slight twinge from his side. It was easily ignored when Grant spoke again. 

“Oh - fuck….Grant, babe yes,” Leo breathed, following with a completely involuntary half-choked groan. All he could feel was the wet heat of Grant’s mouth around his cock, and when he looked down again…

Grant was watching him. Grant was watching him, Leo’s cock in his mouth, and Grant was grinding slowly down against the mattress while he did. He was getting off on this, doing this to Leo. 

At the sight, Leo couldn’t even get words out. Nothing coherent even came close. He gasped, hands twisting hard in the bedding, tugging it so far out of place that he had to scramble to find another secure hold. And he needed it, because, or else, he thought he might fall apart. 

Leo wanted to collapse back against the pillows, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Grant, his lips stretched around Leo’s cock, his dark eyes meeting Leo’s gaze, and the slow movements his body was making, betraying his own body’s reactions. Leo’s breath came heavy, whimpering on the exhale. 

“Grant - “ he managed. “So - it’s so - please, please - please don’t stop, baby, don’t stop it’s - ah - so fucking good it’s so ooooooh fuck.” He had to fall back onto the pillows, overcome by what Grant’s tongue had just done, hips jerking up ineffectively against the push of Grant’s palms as his fists curled tight in the sheets.

Leo was pulling the sheets off the bed, and he hadn’t even come yet. As much as Grant enjoyed when he got to fuck Leo senseless against walls, or on one of their desks, this... This was something he wanted to do over, and over, and over again until Leo was whimpering and shaking and begging him to stop. Yes, the feeling of having this kind of control over Leo’s pleasure was addictive, but more addictive were the absolutely desperate sounds Leo was making, and the way his body was moving, ineffective little jerks, his back arching off the bed.

For maybe the first time, Grant was realizing that this thing they did wasn’t just something they were doing. This was something they, together, the two of them, had. 

Grant moaned, pressing his hips against the mattress, closing his eyes for a second against the onslaught of reactions Leo’s words caused in him. Begging him not to stop, and calling him baby, barely getting the words out before he was collapsing back on the pillows. Grant had a feeling he knew what he’d done that Leo had liked so damn much, and he did it again, tongue against Leo’s hot skin, before he pulled his lips up to the head and pulled off.

Carefully, he stroked his hand up Leo’s length, laying his cock against his belly again before he went to work kissing at Leo’s hips, sloppy, lazy, and adoring. “I know you asked - begged - me not to stop,” he said between kisses, slowly pulling himself up, hips away from the mattress, so he could travel up Leo’s body, pressing kisses as he went. “But I wanted to make you ache just a little, baby.”

He stopped, holding himself up on his arms and knees above Leo, careful not to touch him with any part of his body, to not brush him in any way. Leo’s cheeks were flushed, matching the trail that curved over his shoulders and painted his chest. His breath was still coming hard, his lips wet, eyes dark. “You’re fucking beautiful. Was gonna tease you for calling me that, you never have before, but fuck... Jesus Christ, I’m so fucking weak.”

He didn’t wait to hear Leo speak, wouldn’t have registered it anyway. He kissed Leo, brushing his tongue and sucking his lower lip, kissing until he had to stop for breath. Grant pulled back, searching Leo’s face, slowly breaking into a grin. “You’re debauched. Almost thoroughly.” For the first time since he’d pulled off, Grant looked down Leo’s body, and lifted his hand, tracing the line of Leo’s cock down the side with one delicate finger. His eyes moved back up, meeting Leo’s, and he lowered himself, again, kissing the middle of his chest.

“Stay right there, Leo... Mess up the bed some more... Call me baby, scream my name...” Grant settled back into his previous position, shifting just a little so he could easier shift his hips. There was no way Leo had missed that, and if he had, if he’d looked down at all, Grant’s interest in Leo’s pleasure would have been obvious by the front of his pants. “Come for me, babe.”

His hand around the base of Leo’s cock again, Grant dragged his tongue up, tasting the smear of precome around the head when he wrapped his lips around it and sucked. It was impossible to hold back his moan, or stop his hips from twitching against the bed, but it was even more impossible not to watch Leo.

This time, he wasn’t going to stop. He wasn’t going light on Leo, either. Taking him down as far as he could, rubbing his palm where he couldn’t, his lips and thumb meeting and parting while he moved. Every few bobs, he rolled his tongue against the underside of the head, and every time he did his fingers pressed harder into Leo’s hip, his own hips rocking in time with his movements.

And his eyes watching Leo hungrily, waiting for him to shake apart.

[hydragrant]

hydraleo:

There was something deeply intoxicating for Leo about having Grant Ward, head of HYDRA, laying over him and leaving marks on his body with lingering kisses. It hit Leo even harder when Grant looked up at him, that smirk slow and lazy on his lips, and…

Tell me about it. What did my mouth do to you?

Grant was shifting, getting to his knees and covering Leo with touches and kisses that had his fingers twisting slowly into the bedcovers. Anticipation thrummed heavy through his body, crawling right down to the tips of his toes. The two of them, they didn’t usually do things this way. Leo was used to forceful hands, gripping and pulling, biting kisses and heavy breaths and desperation. Hard surfaces and even harder fucks, barely a moment to think about what was happening past this feels so fucking good.

Right now…

Grant was taking his sweet time, dragging his palms up and over Leo’s thighs, making his nerves light up. He shifted on the bed, biting his lip and looking down to watch as Grant dragged off the clothes he’d only just put on. Even the feeling of the bedclothes against his skin raced through him, with how slowly and thoroughly Grant was working him up.

“Thought about it a lot,” Leo murmured, closing his eyes for a moment as Grant trailed his fingers up his inner thigh. “Used to lay in my bunk at night, hand under the covers, hoping nobody would hear me say your name - ah - Grant…” The other man’s name came out in a sigh as Leo felt his tongue on the tip of his cock. Every movement was slow and teasing and had Leo aching. He opened his eyes, looking down just in time to meet Grant’s.

This sight, Leo knew, he wasn’t going to be forgetting anytime soon.

Lay back and enjoy this. That wasn’t an order Leo would have any issues disobeying. He let out a breath, fists tightening in the comforter as he tipped his head back and let the sensations flood through him.

“God, Grant, you’re so…feels so good…” 

Used to lay in my bunk... hand under the covers... say your name.

For months, Leo had laid only a few feet away from him, and thought about Grant while he’d jerked off in his bunk. Months. Probably a good chunk of the time that Grant had been with them, and Grant had been too busy telling himself that he needed to pin down May, and that he should be following after Skye. That was what Garrett would have expected, and that was what he had understood to be the right course of action, so that’s what he’d done.

But Leo had been lying in his bunk at night, thinking about Grant, the way they were now.

So much wasted time, and so much time they’d still wasted, screwing around here before they’d screwed around here, and then still, Grant thought, he’d wasted time, pretending he didn’t care so completely and devastatingly about Leo as he did.

There was something extremely rewarding to think about coming back from successful missions and getting to make Leo do this. He was sighing, fingers twisting in the comforter, telling Grant how good it felt. Usually, Leo was ordering him to fuck him harder, or cussing while he dug his nails into Grant’s skin, or pulling his hair and trying to fuck his mouth, and while Grant loved all of that, there was something deeply intoxicating about this. Maybe it was because it was new, or maybe it was because Grant got to do this for Leo, with no promise of payback - not immediately, anyway - and he didn’t care.

Leo was half-hard in his hand, and Grant could feel him getting harder under his fingers, harder with every sloppy kiss he trailed from base to tip. Any other night, Grant would have jerked him until he was hard, and blown him without any of this build-up and foreplay. Foreplay with Leo, Grant decided, was very nice.

Grant brushed his closed lips against the tip of Leo’s cock, pressing a kiss there and sliding down until he had the head in his mouth, his hand moving up and down while he sucked, gentle, enough for his mouth to make a wet sound when he pulled off and let go.

Leo’s cock curved up against his belly, and Grant grinned, leaning over him to drag his tongue up the length of it, his hands pinning Leo’s hips to the bed so he couldn’t squirm away. Grant’s mouth went back to the base, tongue swiping back and forth before he pressed a gentle, sucking kiss to the spot, repeating that in lingering, open-mouthed kisses, moving up his cock as he went.

“You don’t ...need ... to worry about ... anyone hearing you say ... my name now.” Grant looked up Leo’s body, taking in the flush of his skin, the way he was breathing, the bead of pre-come spreading on his stomach. 

Grant groaned softly, nuzzling at Leo’s hip, kissing the skin there. His own cock was hard in his pants already, just from what he’d been doing. He was getting to do this, all of this, to Leo. 

Lifting his head, he wrapped his fingers around Leo’s cock, again, thumb rubbing circles over the head, eyes closed, his tongue rubbing and flicking at the spot under it, torturing Leo just a little with the constant stimulation. No one else got this, and no one else ever would. Leo was his, and God help anyone who tried to take him away. 

“I want to hear it, Leo... Fuck, say my name, babe.”

Shifting again, Grant properly took Leo’s cock in his mouth, sliding his hand down to the base, holding him while he moved his mouth, humming softly while he watched Leo. And while he rocked his own hips down slowly against the mattress.

[hydragrant]

hydraleo:

Something had broken. There had been one last barrier between the two of them, and with that sound Grant made into the kiss, Leo felt it collapse. It felt as though every bit of tension was draining from his body.

Some of it came back, and Leo frowned when Grant pulled away and said “no”, but before Leo could ask what he was talking about, he’d grabbed a pillow to put behind Leo’s head. The action tugged hard at something inside Leo that he thought might have gone away permanently before the first time he’d shown up here. It was being brought back to life, stronger every moment, by the care Grant was showing. 

Laying back, Leo closed his eyes and let Grant kiss him, kissing back lazily and drinking it in. “Mm…I am resting,” he murmured, bringing the hand on his good side up to stroke Grant’s hair, and down the back of his neck. He sucked in a sharp breath as Grant kissed and nipped down to his jaw, leaving those slow, sucking kisses along the base of his neck. Tipping his head to the side, Leo hummed softly in appreciation, fingers brushing through the short part of the back of Grant’s hair, over and over again. 

“You want me to order you around?” Leo asked with a lazy smirk, raising his head just enough to look down at Grant. “You’re often a fucking menace, you know. But so am I, and you still kept me around. Order you around…” he mused. “I can manage that.” Shifting on the pillows, Leo moved just enough that he could keep looking at Grant, comfortably.

“Don’t you dare go anywhere. Stay right here. Keep kissing me like that. Keep making me feel good like that.” His hand slid over Grant’s jaw, tipping his chin up a bit, thumb rubbing over Grant’s lower lip. “This mouth…can’t get enough of it, you know,” Leo said quietly. “Never could, even when it was only in my imagination.”

Leo was resting, in some sense, and Grant knew that much. He wasn’t rolling around, he wasn’t lifting himself up, he wasn’t shifting and moving and making himself work out parts of his body that really should be staying still. He was resting. 

Grant was doing a little less resting, but if that was how this was going to go, he wasn’t complaining. They’d admitted something, tonight, and it was terrifying, but with it in the air between them, somehow, Grant felt lighter. And with Leo clean and safe under him, he felt unstoppable. The only person who could tell him what to do right now was currently doing everything in his power to lay back and let Grant do what he wanted to do.

"I want you to order me around.” Grant confirmed, kissing along Leo’s collarbone. He took his time leaving a mark, listening to Leo muse about giving him orders, and about how they could both he fucking menaces, and yet Grant hadn’t kicked Leo out. He dragged his tongue over the spot, appreciating his work, before Leo’s fingers on his jaw tipped his head up, forcing him to look him in the eye while he gave him his orders.

And they weren’t ordered that Grant had any issue with fulfilling. Stay right here. Keep kissing me like that. Gladly. Keep making me feel good like that. It was the single most pressing thing on Grant’s mind at that moment, and Leo seemed to be more than willing to indulge him. Leo had saved his life, tonight. Grant had saved Leo’s, in contrast to losing him.

They deserved this.

“You like my mouth, hm?” Grant asked, keeping his tone low, smirking with Leo’s thumb still against his lower lip. “Used to think about it, even back then?” Grant let one of his hands drift down Leo’s hip, sliding to his inner thigh, and gently pressing his legs further apart. He squeezed gently, through the material of Leo’s track pants, and turned his face to kiss Leo’s palm, and then his wrist, and then leaned down, again, to kiss at his chest. 

“Tell me about it?” he asked, quietly, shifting so he was on his knees between Leo’s legs. He kept one hand on the bed, but the other stroked slowly up one thigh, and slowly down the other, while he left a pattern of wet kisses all over Leo’s clean skin. “What did your imagination give you, Leo? What did my mouth do to you?”

Grant wouldn’t be able to get up and walk away, now. He’d told Leo to rest, and he wanted him to. He also wanted to dote on him, and drink him in, and enjoy him, because there was every chance that, had there been another outcome, he wouldn’t have been able to take his time now. He wouldn’t have had the luxury of pulling Leo’s waistband back to trace his tongue along the faint impressions where it had been sitting.

“You’re resting, right?” Grant asked, backing off, finally. He stepped off the bed and stood up to his full height, looking Leo over. He’d left a map of red marks with his mouth, and Leo’s waistband was still flipped down on his hips. Before today, before admitting things to himself and to Leo, Grant could have gotten up and walked away, just to make Leo chase him, and cause a round of fast, hard sex on the kitchen floor.

Now, he was bending to loop his fingers in Leo’s waistbands, pulling his clothing away carefully, and leaving him naked in their big king bed. Now, he was climbing back onto that bed, between Leo’s legs, and settling himself down, fingers stroking in a teasing pattern up his thighs and over his hips, lips curved in a lazy smirk, so close to where Leo no doubt wanted them. 

Grant’s fingers trailed up Leo’s inner thigh, and over his hip, and back to curl around his cock, sliding from base to tip and back down. Slow, teasing, Grant ran his tongue over the tip, closing his eyes and swirling it around the head before he pulled away, hand moving slowly while he looked up Leo’s body, meeting his eyes.

“Keep resting. Just lay back and enjoy this.”

[hydragrant]

hydraleo:

“I know I don’t need to but I figured it couldn’t hurt,” Leo murmured, smiling as he felt Grant hook his leg around Leo’s. That guiding touch to his chin was soft, insistent but not demanding, and when Grant said he didn’t want to go anywhere else, Leo felt something inside himself melt. 

It was something that hadn’t shifted since before he’d even left SHIELD, probably since before he’d found out that Grant was HYDRA. There were walls he’d kept up from that moment onward, because if he hadn’t, everything that happened would have shaken him apart. Even after Grant gave in, admitted he wanted what Leo had been wanting for so long, Leo hadn’t been able to risk letting go of that protective shell around the deepest part of him.

It would be too easy to lose it all. Grant was volatile, liable to change his mind, get angry and send Leo packing, decide Leo was too much of a weakness, or too weak himself - but instead, here he was, embracing that weakness and telling Leo he only wanted to be here. With him.

This life Leo had chosen to join was harsh and unforgiving, exhausting in a way nothing else could be. But right now he and Grant were miles away from it, and drifting ever further with every kiss Grant went back for. 

By the time Grant had shifted enough to be holding himself above Leo, Leo’s skin was tingling all over, breath heavier, pulse thumping hard through his veins. He opened his eyes as Grant paused, noticing the other man’s were closed, and frowned slightly. The creases in his forehead smoothed when Grant said it. 

I…you know. 

He’d almost spoken the words. That had to be it, Leo knew. There couldn’t have been any other meaning. Something about today, about coming so close to losing each other, had pushed Grant to really understand what this was between them.

Leo let his gaze search over Grant’s face, raising a hand to tuck back a stray strand of dark hair from his forehead. “Me too,” he said softly, before shifting, raising himself up on his elbows to kiss Grant again. 

There was very little that scared Grant anymore. He felt like Garrett had destroyed a large chunk of it when he was a teen, and the rest had been eviscerated by everything since the fall of SHIELD. Everything but a few key points. Losing someone he cared about, deeply, was one of those things.

Ending up caring about someone deeply enough that losing them could constitute a real and absolute fear? That was another.

And that, Grant had realized, with the words caught in his throat, was what had happened here. Yes, he’d cared about Leo back on the Bus, but he’d done away with it - or tried to - when everything had turned around after Vault D. Leo didn’t care about him, that much was obvious, and he needed to move on. Let go. And he had, or so he’d thought. Whatever he had felt had stayed, deep down and hidden.

But it had been shaken awake more and more with every passing week, and now, with Leo laid out under him, stitched up and breathing hard, lips still wet from their kissing, Grant had been pushed to the point of nearly saying it out loud. Of giving it body and form and weight, and that was terrifying. That could drive Leo away, or, even if it was only the two of them in here, make him more of a target.

It didn’t change that he felt it. It didn’t change that Leo, from the soft words he spoke, understood.

Me too.

Grant felt those words in the part of him he’d learned to keep people out of. No prying eyes, no searching fingers had ever gotten through, in there, before. But Leo had just nestled those words - the ones said and the ones unsaid - right in that space, and the kiss he gave Grant lit them on fire. Grant wasn’t aware of the soft, desperate sound he was making until seconds had passed.

He pulled back from Leo’s mouth with a wet sound, and shook his head, lifting up on his arms. “No. No, you don’t--” This probably wasn’t coming across the way he wanted it to. Quickly, Grant reached for the other pillow, gesturing for Leo to sit up so he could put it behind his head. Then he pushed him down - gently - and laid down again, still being careful to mind his side.

“You’re supposed to be resting.” He murmured, kissing Leo again, taking his time tracing his tongue over Leo’s upper lip, closing his own around it and sucking before letting go. “What I... didn’t say... Means I want you to use this time to rest, and feel better.”

Grant’s lips were trailing to Leo’s neck, teeth nipping at his jaw. They had come this far, and this new openness between them... It could be a strength. What there was between them could only make them stronger. They’d made their promises, they knew their stakes. He didn’t have to be afraid.

He did have to leave Leo alone if he wanted him to get any rest, but that wasn’t what he was doing, taking his time leaving sucking kissing around the base of his neck. He could do this, though. This wasn’t their usual fare, and with what they had just not said, Grant couldn’t keep himself off Leo. He knew he should, but...

“Kick me off. Order me around. I’m being a fucking menace.”

[hydragrant]

hydraleo:

“I can try to seduce you any time I want,” Leo protested, even while he climbed carefully into bed and lay down with a quiet groan of relief. “I could get you to give in right now if I wanted, you know. I’m just humouring you because you seem to think I’m in worse shape than I am.” He watched Grant leave, listening to him rummaging around in the kitchen and reflecting that he may have almost gotten them both killed today, but it was almost worth it for this. The two of them holed up together, Grant being gentle, taking care of him, and making the place feel even more like a home. 

There was just something about that sound of activity in another room while Leo himself was relaxed in a comfortable bed that felt soothing.

He gave Grant a smile, more radiant and genuine than he thought he’d probably let through in a long time, when the other man returned with water and a bottle of pills. He only gave Leo one, to start, but Leo didn’t think he’d need more than that. The pain would be more than manageable once the edge was off.

“Thank you,” Leo said quietly, shifting to grab the water and use it to swallow the pill before setting it back on the side table. He settled back on the pillows, watching Grant as he climbed into the bed with him. That, Leo hadn’t expected. He’d thought perhaps Grant might order him to sleep, and then use the time to go make sure everything was going as planned in the rest of th warehouse.

Instead, well…

“Breathing is fine,” Leo replied, meeting Grant’s eyes with a smile. “Heartbeat is a little quicker than usual, but I think that’s just because of how you’re behaving right now. “Nearly making me weak, Grant.” He reached out, fingers brushing over Grant’s cheekbone and jaw, a gentle touch that was almost a caress, even if Leo would never want to admit it. “I wouldn’t mind you staying here with me if you’re not too busy. And maybe kissing me again. At least once.” Leo brushed his fingers through the short hair over and behind Grant’s ear. “You owe me for saving your life.” He hoped the grin on his face would stop Grant from actually getting annoyed with him. 

There was something different about this. For one thing, Grant wasn’t used to playing nurse for Leo, and much less was he used to how domestic this all felt. On the other side of the loft door, the guys were still going about HYDRA business, still doing and working towards highly illegal things. In here, Grant was trying not to laugh at the idea of fucking Leo and Leo trying to hide that it hurt. Their usual fare just wasn’t in order, here, and Leo was being a little ridiculous, trying to convince Grant otherwise.

It was like he’d forgotten that Grant knew what it was like to have a wound like that.

That was fair. Grant had nearly forgotten a lot of things when Leo smiled at him the way he did on his return from the kitchen. Now, he was laying next to Leo on the bed, waiting for the painkillers to kick in, and trying not to laugh, again, because Leo was...

Leo could be very persuasive. It was how he’d gotten Grant to agree to let him stay in the first place, and how he’d gotten his co-Director title. It was how he’d gotten his lab and his holotable, and, Grant was pretty sure, all of that just proved that Grant himself wasn’t immune the to man’s charms. Charms that were, despite being shot at and grazed, very abundant right now.

Grant had a soft spot for Leo. That had never been in question. Today’s events had forced a change in him, making him accept the reality that he could lose Leo one day if they weren’t careful, and that he would be utterly destroyed by it. Now, Leo was laying in their bed, bandaged up, waiting for the painkillers to kick in, smiling and brushing his fingers over Grant’s face, asking him to stay. Asking him for another kiss, because he’d saved his life.

Shifting on the bed, Grant rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to cite that as an excuse.” He said quietly, hooking his leg over Leo’s as he moved closer. His fingers brushed Leo’s chin, turning him just a touch more his way. “I’m feeling very generous this evening, and not like I want to go anywhere else, so...”

The kiss started as a light brush. Something chaste and gentle, and like the kiss Leo had given him in the shower. Leo had only asked for one kiss, and Grant could have left it at that, but he knew his own weakness well. Leaning up on his arm, he kissed Leo again, tracing the seam of his lips with his tongue before licking inside. He kissed Leo again, and again, slow, careful, and with each one, he moved, until he was holding himself on his elbows, his knee between Leo’s legs, one hand curled around the back of his head, holding himself up, barely touching Leo anywhere else.

“I...” Grant stopped, close enough that their breath was mingling. His eyes were closed, and his heart was beating faster, and this was all new, and he was all too aware that they may not have had this. “You know.”

[hydragrant]

hydraleo:

Grant didn’t protest Leo’s possessive streak, and Leo was pleased about that. He didn’t even question Leo’s insistence that nobody else should get this; rather, he agreed with it. That settled deep in Leo’s chest with a weight that felt like safety, and the closest to home he’d known in a long time. If the two of them had nothing else, at least they’d have each other, and now, he could be sure of that.

The touches Grant left on Leo’s skin, and his lip, had something inside him stirring, twinging for more, but Grant wasn’t wrong about Leo needing painkillers and rest. Not to mention he couldn’t risk popping the damn stitches. It was bad enough that Grant had had to do them in the first place. He’d done a good job, and as much as he teased, Leo would feel bad if he ruined them.

He opened his mouth to agree, but instead, Grant kissed him, something deep and with a possessive note that curled through Leo’s veins. Making a low noise in his throat, Leo kissed back, chasing Grant’s lips even as he pulled away, putting a bit of distance between them. 

“Hm…lucky me if you’re telling the truth about not being done taking care of me yet,” Leo said softly, licking his lower lip as he smiled up at Grant. “But…if you say so. I can be good and get dressed.” Trailing his fingers over Grant’s stomach, Leo stepped away, going to the dresser with a walk that was a little more show-offy than he usually went for. The effect was ruined somewhat when he huffed out a grunt of pain as he bent over to get his boxer briefs and track pants out of the drawers of the dresser.

It was easier once he had them on. Straightening up with a wince Leo hoped he hid quickly, he smiled again. “Uh…you mentioned painkillers?”

The sound that Leo made when Grant kissed him made it really, really hard to let him walk away. Normally, Leo made a sound anywhere in that neighbourhood, and the two of them made good use of the nearest flat surface. Now, Grant had to ball his hands into fists, and resist the urge to pull Leo back. Leo had narrowly avoided getting shot. The last thing he needed was Grant adding to his pain by getting him in positions that made strain that wound.

And considering that just bending down to get his clothes out was proving to be something of a struggle, Grant had a feeling anything more ambitious than that wouldn’t work out well.

“I’m not done taking care of you yet.” Grant repeated, walking over and running his hand over Leo’s back while he passed to grab out clothing of his own. He was dressed and ready before Leo, and that was the concerning thing. Leo also seemed to think he was hiding the pain he was in. He wasn’t; at least, he wasn’t doing a very good job of it.

“You can’t try to seduce me one second and then barely manage not to collapse in pain the next.” Grant pointed out, before pointing at the bed. “Lay down. By the time I get back you’ll probably be halfway finished.” He left Leo to it, going into the main room of the loft and digging into the cupboard over the sink. He kept a lot of different painkillers, because there was never any telling what he might need on hand. He was usually the one getting shot. Not Leo.

T3′s would probably do the trick. They wouldn’t mess with Leo’s head too much, but they would leave him feeling comfortably numb when it came to pain. He stopped by the fridge, getting out a bottle of water to go with the bottle of painkillers, and headed back into the bedroom.

Shaking the bottle, he set the water down on the bedside table, and then considered the T3′s. “2 should be more than enough for the first few hours... Maybe we’ll start you at one and work you up to 2 when the pain gets worse.” He twisted off the cap, shaking out one tablet and setting it next to the water. Then he capped the T3′s and set them on the dresser, before climbing into the bed on Leo’s other side, and examining the area around his graze.

“You’re bruising... How’s breathing feel?” He trailed his eyes from Leo’s wound up to his face. “And do you want me to give you space to pass out?”

[hydragrant]

hydraleo:

To Leo’s slight surprise, Grant’s tone stayed soft and even despite Leo’s teasing. Most of the time, it wasn’t exactly difficult for him to provoke the other man. All it took were the right words in the right moment to have Grant snapping back at him. But right now…well, maybe it was the effects of the day, and of Leo’s close call. 

Come to think of it, Grant had had a close call too, and Leo didn’t like to think too hard about what might have happened if he hadn’t reacted with that knife as quickly as he had.

Leo shivered slightly at the feeling of Grant’s thumbnail tracing down his spine, mouth curving in a smug smile while he stayed facing the window. Grant had never been this way with anyone else, that much Leo was certain of. Come to think of it, neither had Leo. 

That gentle touch over his hip and waist broke goosebumps over Leo’s skin, making him completely forget about the pain around his ribs. “Mm,” he murmured, closing his eyes and tipping his head slightly as Grant kissed behind his ear. “I keep my promises, don’t worry. And I trust you’ll do the same, because - it was too close. Me and that stupid knife won’t always be there.” His hand covered Grant’s for a moment, a soft touch, holding him where he was. 

“I was thinking about it,” Leo replied, eyes opening with a smile, gaze still forward as he drank in the feeling of Grant behind him. “What about you? I’m noticing…” He turned around carefully, looking Grant over and letting his hands move, fingers playing along the edge of the towel until they untucked it, letting it fall. “You’re not exactly decent yourself, Director Ward. Wouldn’t want you to leave here like that and let everyone see everything. All this…” Leo’s hands moved around Grant’s waist, sliding down over his ass before drifting up his back as he looked up and met his eyes. “Is mine.”  

There was a very good chance that Leo had been trying to rile him up, and that Grant’s opposite reaction would throw Leo for a loop. To the contrary, Leo seemed to adjust to it well, and that was good, because right now, the memory of finding Leo in that closet was still too fresh. To everyone else, Grant may be able to pretend that he wasn’t effected. To Leo, though, safe in their space, he could let himself get a little sentimental. A little attached. A little weak.

“I’ll keep my promise to you. I don’t usually mess up like that, so it shouldn’t be too hard.” He said it lightly, like it truly wasn’t a concern that he was harbouring, and though it largely wasn’t, he also wasn’t someone who could see the future. He needed to be more careful, because he’d promised Leo that he would, and that meant minimizing stupid mistakes. He could do that.

Once again, Leo was turning in his arms, completely naked, while Grant himself at least had the towel, this time. Not for long, because Leo’s deft fingers untucked and dropped it, leaving him just as bare, or, in Leo’s words indecent. Not that it was something that bothered him, especially not with Leo. It hadn’t been a problem since the night something in both of them had snapped, and it wasn’t a problem now, when Leo was running his hands over Grant’s skin and proclaiming him his.

There was something intoxicating about being wanted. It made Grant’s lips twist in a smirk, his hands gently pulling Leo against him, looking down while he searched his eyes.

“I wasn’t planning on leaving the loft for a while, Director Fitz. Doesn’t really matter if I’m decent or not, because no one but you will be getting this. Or seeing this. Or as you’re so helpfully demonstrating, touching this. I hope you weren’t planning on going anywhere. I think you know I wouldn’t let you out like this.” He let his own hand slip to Leo’s ass, running slow over the curve while his other hand came up, thumb brushing against Leo’s lower lip, pulling it down slightly.

“Not done taking care of you yet... But you need painkillers and rest and I don’t want to pull your stitches, so...” He leaned down, kissing Leo deep. Not hard, or demanding, but deep and possessive, tugging at his lower lip with his teeth before putting an inch or two between them. “I should let you get dressed.”

[hydragrant]

hydraleo:

Leo had never felt Grant touch him like this. There were countless nights, he remembered vividly, in the past, spent imagining a touch like this from this man. For a long time, it was all he’d ever really wanted. It had been a distraction. During the day, he could focus on the tasks at hand, and whatever madness the team was being dragged into. But at night, in his bunk, with the door shut and everyone else asleep, Leo closed his eyes and pictured Grant with him like this, so clearly he could very nearly feel his hands on him.

It was something he never thought he’d have, and now he did, in the most unlikely set of circumstances. Grant was holding Leo, just holding him, before stepping away and guiding Leo with him, leaning down to kiss him. He’d never kissed him like that, either. It was as good as the words neither of them were willing to say. 

“I won’t slip and fall,” Leo replied quietly, shifting the towel down to wrap it around his waist before following Grant out of the shower. He smiled. “Thought you weren’t even going to try again if I popped them.” Trailing after Grant, Leo left the bathroom, bringing a hand up to gingerly feel at the waterproof cover over his bandage. Nothing seemed to have leaked through. 

They were in the bedroom now, airy and open, bright from the floor to ceiling windows. Right now, Leo could just about forget where this bedroom was, and what he and Grant were really doing here. 

“Have to say…” Leo mused, taking the towel off and using it to carefully dry the rest of his body off, as he moved to look out the windows. “I’ve never seen you get that worried about me. Until today, I wasn’t even certain you cared that much.” The little smirk he shot at Grant over his shoulder said that he’d absolutely known already. “Should have given you a scare earlier, I guess.”

Grant had already wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out of the bathroom when Leo made the comment about his stitches. The most he could muster was shooting Leo a look over his shoulder, and looking away again to shake his head. And hide his smile. They both knew that, right now, if Leo did slip and fall and tear his stitches, it wouldn’t take Grant more than a second to start attending to him. It didn’t even need to be right now. That was the thing. That was what Grant had proven, back in that SHIELD facility, by showing up himself, all guns blazing.

If Leo was in danger, he would be the one to swoop in to try and save the day. That had everything to do with those fallen walls, again, but Grant wasn’t going to think about them, not now. It was too much to think about that and enjoy the time he had with Leo, now, guilt-free.

The bedroom - their bedroom - was, hands down, Grant favourite room in the entire base. Not the range, not Leo’s lab, this bedroom. There was something about it, be it the floor to ceiling windows, or the huge - massive - bed, or the dressers and throw rugs that made it look like it belonged in a mansion instead of a warehouse. There was something about that room, like the shower, that made Grant feel like he could achieve calm and quiet.

That wasn’t something he could easily give away. He couldn’t show the guys that he needed calm and quiet from time to time, because he was the Director, and chaos was supposed to be his lifeblood. With Leo, though, he could share this space, and know that they would both get something from it, without passing judgment.

Leo was silhouetted against the windows, using the towel to dry himself carefully. The bandage seemed to have held up well, and Grant was glad for that. Leo would have to be able to get through day-to-day activities and do long as it didn’t involve much lifting, he seemed like he would be okay. More than, judging by the sassy, snarky comments he was making.

“You knew, full well.” Grant said, moving around the bed to Leo’s side. His towel was still in place around his waist, his skin still a little damp, but it was drying quick in the open air. “And you better be glad you didn’t do something like this sooner. We got lucky this time.” He traced his thumbnail down Leo’s spine. “I don’t like being scared, Leo.”

He stepped closer behind Leo, bending to breathe him in. He smelled fresh, like their shower, the same products Grant had used, but, at the same time, he smelled like himself. The familiar smell that Grant was starting to recognize on his pillows, and even some of his own clothes. His hand drifted over Leo’s hip around his front, tracing his waistline. “You promised never to do that again. Don’t test me. I’m not writing you love letters, but I don’t think I should have to save you from collapsing fucking buildings for you to be sure I at least care about you.”

Grant bent to kiss the skin behind Leo’s ear. “Were you planning on getting dressed?”

[hydragrant]

hydraleo:

Even Leo, who’d approached in the gentle way he had, was surprised by the softness that had come over Grant. The way he looked at Leo was something Leo hadn’t seen very often at all, maybe only once since the days back on the Bus team. It left his chest feeling tighter as Grant moved away for a moment and Leo took the opportunity to rinse the rest of the soap off his body. I did feel a lot better to be clean, free of all the dust and sweat and, worst of all, dried blood. 

Leo held his breath for a moment as Grant moved up behind him, kissing his temple and his ear in such a tender way. And the words he was speaking…

The admission of fear, of being scared he’d find Leo dead, the way his voice shook slightly…Leo lifted his good arm to wear Grant’s was around his waist, laying his hand over top of the other man’s and rubbing his thumb over it. He turned his cheek in to meet Grant, a gesture of intimacy and comfort that he’d rarely dare show.

“You won’t lose me,” Leo murmured, turning as much as he could to nuzzle into Grant’s wet, clean hair, eyes closed. “You had me, you’ve always got me. And when you need me, I’ve got you.” He turned around in Grant’s embrace, shifting them both enough that Grant was under the spray, letting the soap slide off his skin before slipping both his arms around Grant’s middle. 

 “I promise I’ll never pull something like that again, okay?” Leo pressed a kiss to Grant’s collarbone, tasting clean water, hints of soap and shampoo. “Don’t you go doing anything stupid either, because - I can’t lose you either.” There were three more words that teetered on the tip of his tongue, but Leo bit them back, instead resting his cheek against Grant’s chest for a moment and just breathing, listening to his heartbeat over the rush of the water. He was never sure that there was a right time for those words. Maybe it wasn’t even something the two of them were supposed to say. Maybe it was enough to say what they already had. It meant the same thing, anyway, and Leo had no doubts that both of them knew it.

It was somehow more relieving and reassuring than Grant expected it would be to feel Leo’s fingers sliding over his. He’d spent a very long time throwing up walls so that no one else could get to him, or get through those walls to know anything about him. Then Leo had shown up, and, at first, Grant had been glad he’d put up the walls all over again. It was better to keep everyone, including Leo, out. Especially Leo. 

But things had changed. Slowly, but surely, Leo had found a crack in his wall, and chipped away at it, without even realizing it was what he was doing. Outside of these four walls, Grant still held his own mental walls in place. He kept Leo outside in every way that mattered.

But within these walls, Grant dropped the walls with what almost felt like relief. Every week they were falling further and further. And now, with Leo turning around in his arms, Grant was fairly sure they’d fallen completely. The blood from their mission had barely finished swirling away down the drain, but here they were, bare in every sense of the word.

“Thank you.” Grant said, running his hands up Leo’s bare, slick skin, and back down to his waist. This was more gentle, more loving, open and tender, than anything that had ever come before with them. They were saying things that sounded like other words. It was heavy, and terrifying, and Grant wasn’t sure he could bear to hear it. Hearing it meant that he needed to say it back; saying it back meant the two of them were entered into a huge contract, a huge attached deal.

It meant that there was no easy way out. It meant everything was out in the open and if Leo ever...

Grant couldn’t do that again. Not now. Not yet.

“I’ll be as safe as I can be. How’s that?” He asked, quietly. The soap was washed off of both of them now, their hair and bodies clean and free of anything that the mission had left on them. There was no point to staying in the shower, but Grant stood there for another minute, holding Leo in his arms, feeling him breathe, and knowing he was there, safe and close. No one had taken him today.

After a minute, he had to loosen his arms, stepping back, and away, out onto the bathroom floor, and the towel they’d thrown down there. He reached in to shut off the water, then grabbed Leo by the elbow, and guided him in, closer, the two of them separated by the lip of the shower, and leaned down to return the soft, gentle kiss Leo had given him.

Pulling back, he reached for one of the towels, and wrapped it around Leo’s shoulders, before stepping away so he could get out. “Don’t slip and fall. Like I said, can’t promise the same good job on those stitches again.”

[hydragrant]

hydraleo:

It wasn’t as though they had been doing this for a long time. Long enough that they’d developed an understanding that they didn’t talk about this outside this loft, but they’d both known that from the start anyway. Not long enough that Leo saw moments like this coming. That was the thing, though. He had a feeling Grant would always come out with something to surprise him.

Obediently, Leo closed his eyes as Grant rinsed his hair. He smiled at the feeling of Grant’s fingers in it in conjunction with the threatening nature of his words. He didn’t doubt that Grant meant them, and Leo had absolutely no intention of intentionally wrecking his stitches. It just felt good to get even the slightest rise out of Grant.

“Hmm…well, you did take care to do such a nice job on them, so I suppose I can be careful,” Leo replied, rubbing water out of his eyes again to reach for the body wash, uncapping it and lathering himself up. He watched Grant wash and rinse his own hair, and stood up, while Grant’s head was tipped back under the spray.

“I knew that,” Leo replied finally, stepping up to where Grant was standing, bare, soapy skin brushing Grant’s, letting the secondhand spray rinse him off as much as possible. He lifted a hand, rubbing a stubborn spot of dried blood from Grant’s shoulder with his thumb. Once Grant had looked down again, Leo smiled up at him. 

“You do give me what I deserve. I would say I like to do the same for you, but I know nobody but Grant Ward decides what Grant Ward deserves.” He glance down, letting a finger trail up Grant’s side as far as he could get away with without raising his hand too much. “But I am sort of wondering if you’d let me decide that you deserve this, for helping me.” 

With the arm on his good side, Leo reached up just enough to get his fingertips on Grant’s jaw, guiding him down while he stood on his own tiptoes to kiss him. It was a barely-there thing, Leo trying not to strain his reach too much, lips just barely brushing closed over Grant’s upper one. “Thank you,” he whispered, eyes blinking open to meet Grant’s.

“I did do a good job on them, and I can’t say that I would again, so you better just leave them alone. Plus, it doesn’t exactly feel good to pop your stitches. Sometimes.” Grant himself had enjoyed - or, rather, very far from it - the experience of popped stitches. It could be pretty uncomfortable. It would be better for both of them if Leo’s stayed intact.

Pushing his fingers through his hair, Grant couldn’t ignore the way Leo was moving into his space. Their skin was brushing, and Leo was rubbing at his skin, getting rid of spots Grant hadn’t even thought to pay mind to, yet. That, in and of itself, was apart from their norm, but Grant didn’t mind. He minded even less when he saw the smile Leo was wearing.

Leo knew him better than most people. Leo, in fact, now probably knew him the best of anyone that he’d ever known. That was a fact that should have scared Grant, but, rather, something about it made him feel safe and secure. He liked being known, only to one person. Especially when that one person was the one that he had, through a long series of messes and mistakes and right turns, ended up in this situation with.

Grant would have complained about Leo overreaching, but he wasn’t. He was being so careful about every movement, and the gentle way he was behaving was nothing but encouragement, coaxing Grant to lean down, his eyes closed. Leo kissed him, and warmth flooded through his body. Leo had been so adamant before that he hadn’t needed Grant’s help, but this moment was the direct contradiction to that. It left Grant blinking water from his eyelashes, and looking down at Leo in something akin to awe.

“I’ll let you decide that. This time.” He said, quietly. Leo looked clean, now, like he’d never been covered in blood. Grant still needed to scrub off of of the mess on his own body. “Stand here. Rinse off.” Grant moved around Leo, picking up the body wash from where he’d left it and setting to work on cleaning his own body. The spray against his back had taken care of most of that mess, but Grant still made sure to rub at it. Clean, they both needed to be clean.

Lathered up, Grant stepped up behind Leo, bending down to kiss at his temple, and then lower, against his ear. He hesitated, the words stuck in his throat, afraid to come out. To voice them was to admit weakness. But to Leo...

“You scared me. Really scared me. I thought I was going to find you dead in that closet.” He pressed another kiss to Leo’s neck, wrapping an arm around his good side. His voice sounded much less steady than he wanted it to, but it was Leo. He could say this, to Leo. Leo already knew. “I won’t lose you. I can’t let that happen.”