Roman Holiday || Skyeward
Grant Douglas Ward was fifteen years old when he was saved the first time. He had just tried to set his house on fire and tried to kill his brother.
The second time was when he was sixteen. He was living in the wilderness with nothing for a dog for company and a man who he had only seen once since he had abandoned him here. Grant thought it had been around seven months times since he had said yes to him, and was pretty sure that he was going to be spending the rest of his life here. That was before she had waltzed into his life though.
The third time was when he was twenty-seven, and she changed everything. Again.
At the time of the second saving, Grant was beginning to think that he had made the wrong decision. After all, what was he supposed to be learning throughout this? How was shooting a gun and learning to hunt and steal stuff going to make him a man? Make it to where no one could ever mess with him again? Was he just supposed to shoot them? Was that going to solve all his problems?
He shouldn’t be questioning Garrett’s motives, Grant knew that, after all the man had literally pulled him out of hell, but Grant couldn’t help but wonder if this was what every new recruit for S.H.I.E.L.D. had to go through because it didn’t seem well . . . legal. Not that he knew much about the legal system, but it just didn’t seem to be right when he couldn’t even get into an R-Rated movie.
He was driven out of his thoughts by the bark of his only friend, who he had told to stay in the front living room of the small cabin that he was currently raiding. After months of observing he had learned the patterns of the people who lived here, and he knew that the family who lived here had just had a crew in here leaving supplies for their visit next week. It should have been the perfect opportunity for him to come and get some equipment to patch up his tent with and maybe even a little food. There was no way that family was already here. So why was Buddy barking so anxiously?
Stepping quietly into the hallway, Grant rested a hand on the gun he kept in the back of his jeans, ready to pull it out at a moment’s notice. Before he could make it though, he heard the door open and voices bounding through the entry way. Grant immediately dove into the first room, and ran to the closet as fast as he could, closing the door behind him.
“Dad! Look! A dog!” A young girl’s voice said happily. “Can we keep him?!”
Hey, that was his dog . . .
“Daisy,” a patient voice replied. “We’ve talked about this. You know with all our traveling, a dog isn’t a good idea.”
Grant let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“You’re just saying that because that’s what mom said,” the young girl, Daisy, complained.
“That’s because mother’s always right, remember?” Another voice, this one female, probably the mother Grant assumed, reminded her.
“Yes, mom,” Daisy replied half-heartedly. There was mindless chatter for a while, and Grant had a few moments to ponder how the hell he was going to get him and Buddy out of here without alerting the family.
There was always the gun. Grant could practically hear Garrett whispering in his ear. Grant knew that’s probably what Garrett would want him to do in this situation.
But could he actually do it?
Grant liked to think that he could. It shouldn’t be hard, should it? Taking what he wanted, putting a bullet through them, and leaving as if he was never there. He could do it. His hand reached back for his gun as he creaked the closet door open slightly.
Then Daisy’s laugh filled the room, and he was reminded of his little sister. His innocent little sister that had to endure so much at the hand of his father and brother, and he couldn’t bring himself to pull the gun out of his jeans. He knew what Garrett would call this, a weakness, but it was a weakness that he couldn’t get rid of. Besides, it would probably be too messy to kill them here and leave them for someone else to find. No, he would just have to find another solution.
Eventually Grant decided that his best choice was to just wait. It was fairly late, and eventually the family would have to go to sleep, so when they did, he would grab Buddy, sneak out and find his way back to his campsite. After all that was all he could do anyway.
Unfortunately, the family wanted to stay awake for a long time. Grant couldn’t hear all of the conversation because apparently the parents didn’t want to talk around Daisy, but it seemed as if they were looking for someone. Grant had no idea who, he hadn’t even heard of the term Inhuman before, and had no desire to figure it out. Before he could hear anything else though, the parents ordered little Daisy to bed.
Even more unfortunately, Daisy decided to stay in the room he was currently hiding in, Buddy happily bounding behind her.
Grant had to fight back the urge to scramble to the back of the closet which would have obviously created some unnecessary noise. He focused on his breathing instead, covering his face with his mouth, hoping that somehow that would help stop the girl from hearing the sound.
Apparently that wasn’t the sound that Grant needed to worry about.
Grant watched, his expression becoming more and more panicked by the moment as Buddy sniffed around the room while the little girl set about making the bed comfortable. Grant actually held his breath as Buddy moved to right in front of the closet he was currently hiding in. Buddy stopped, sitting down in front of the closet, facing it, and gave out a large bark.
His whole body froze, his mind going a thousand miles a minute as he saw the little girl frowning through the cracks, going over to Buddy’s side and stroking his fur. “What’s wrong?” She asked the dog.
Buddy barked again, jumping up on the closet doors and pushing them open to reveal Grant standing there, his mouth open slightly in shock, and his eyes wide in panic as the girl, who Grant would guess to now be around ten or eleven, stared at him, startled, but no fear to Grant’s surprise, on her face. Her head tilted to the side slightly as she looked at him, and before he could stop her, even though Grant wasn’t sure how he would have, she had opened her mouth. “Daddy! There’s a tall boy in my room!”
The words spurred Grant into action, and faster than he ever had in his life, he dove past the girl, racing for the door, not even noticing as the gun he was carrying in the back of his jeans came lose and stumbled to the floor. All he was focused on was getting out of there and not getting caught. He couldn’t go back to jail. He couldn’t go back to juvie and face all of that again. Grant was sure that Garett wasn’t going to come save him a second time. No, he knew he would know that Grant wasn’t capable of being a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent after that, and Grant’s future would be ruined for good. It seemed that the universe was against him though, because the next thing he knew, a hand was wrapped around his throat, and he was shoved against a wall. He clawed at the man’s arm, struggling for breath as his grip threatened to crush Grant’s throat, but he might as well have been digging into pure steel.
“What were you doing in my daughter’s room?!” The man roared.
Grant tried to speak, he really did, but the man’s grip was so tight he couldn’t get a word out.
“Dad! You’re hurting him! Stop! You promised you wouldn’t anymore!” Grant could faintly hear the girl calling out to her dad, and thought he saw her, but his vision was going blurry.
So this was going to be the end of Grant Ward. Maybe it wasn’t so bad going down this way so he didn’t have to see the disappointment on Garrett’s face, just like everyone else’s.
“Dad, stop!” Daisy yelled, but he could barely hear her over the blood rushing in his ears.
Suddenly though, he was free. He crumpled to the floor, clutching his throat tightly as he stared at the man above him, his eyes wide with terror as he tried to force air back into his lungs.
Then a gentle hand is touching his arm, and he doesn’t think anyone’s ever looked at him with so much care in their eyes before. “Are you okay?” Daisy asks softly.
He can’t speak, and he doesn’t know if it’s from the pain in his throat or the sheer force of the way that she is looking at him.
Before Daisy can say anything else, another face is in front of him, filled with scars and curious eyes. “What are you doing here?” She asked, and he assumed this was Daisy’s mother.
“I was just – I was just getting some supplies, and then you guys showed up.” Grant choked out, still rubbing his throat.
“Do you live here?” Daisy inquired.
Grant froze. He didn’t know what to say.
“Where are your parents?” She asked, obviously not bothered by his silence.
His lips still won’t move.
“You can trust us. We’re not going to hurt you. Cal just has a bit of a . . . temperament problem.” Daisy’s mom said, frowning up slightly at her husband whose eyes are still looking at Grant filled with suspicion.
Nobody says anything for a while, but then Daisy puts her hand on his knee, and he looks at her, and she has those trusting and caring eyes again, and before Grant even realizes what he’s doing he’s spilling his guts. About everything. About his parents, his brothers, the well, the arson, juvie, Garrett, and by the time he’s done he doesn’t think he’s ever talked so much in his life. He can’t help but notice the weird weight off his shoulders from his words. It feels so . . . good to finally tell someone everything. Even if it is to this woman with the scars and a man that tried to kill him and a girl who should not be looking at someone who was hiding in her closet with so much sadness.
By the end of his speech, Daisy is infuriated while her mom looks just the same. It turns out that Daisy’s mom knows of S.H.I.E.L.D., and she tells him horrible things that have been done in the name of the organization that make Grant want to throw up thinking about after he had almost joined them. Grant couldn’t go back to his little corner of the woods, and he doubted by the look on Daisy and her mother’s face that they would have let him anyway. Grant had no idea where he could go though. They tell them they have a place set up where he could stay with other people. These Inhumans that he heard about earlier. Usually humans aren’t allowed, Jiaying, Daisy’s mother, tells him, but he can blend in for now. He can go to public school, go to college, whatever he desires. He doesn’t have to live the life Garrett insisted that he did, and he would be a lot better off, they promised him, and Grant listened . . . the deal didn’t really sound all that bad, and if he ended up not liking it, well . . . he could always run right? He did have one more question before he agreed to go though.
“Can I bring Buddy?”
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Grant spent the next three years of his life living in an Inhuman shelter in the mid united states. Grant went to high school. For the most part everything went well, but . . . Grant still wasn’t perfect. He got in fights, specifically with people who mentioned his “freaky family” as they were once called, but the longer that Grant stayed there, the less they were talked about. It helped that one time Daisy and her twelve year old self showed up and kicked the guy who had been threatening Grant in the balls. Normally, Grant probably would have been embarrassed, but instead he had to admit he found it at lot more amusing seeing the big guy, which was saying something coming from Grant, brought to his knees by a spunky twelve year old. Everyone shut up after that, and the fights became less frequent, and Grant had to admit, he even made some friends. He had the whole high school experience, Daisy forced him to take her to football games, Jiaying bought him clothes for the dances, that he actually managed to have dates for most of the time, and the whole family, and a few Inhumans that were able to actually show up went to his graduation.
At that point was when Grant officially decided to go out on his own. He spent the next four years at a local college and started training to become a vet. With help from Cal, he eventually helped open a practice with him at the age of twenty-four. Cal was mostly there in name, since him and Jiaying were mostly spending their time tracking down other Inhumans and their families to bring them to any of the safe havens they had created, Grant knew for sure there was more than just one now, and up until Daisy turned around seventeen she had gone with them, but the older she got, the more she started to rebel.
She started begging to stay behind with Grant, and then begging him to take her out to all the other things that normal people did. She would sneak out at night and often go somewhere, Grant had no idea where, and end up at his door totally hammered with only him to take care of her, which he did without batting an eye. There was no question that things had definitely evolved for them in their relationship as Daisy turned into a young woman, the prettiest that Grant had ever seen, but Grant knew it wouldn’t be wise to act on it. Besides, it wasn’t like Daisy returned those feelings no matter how many countless nights he took care of her in the little apartment above the veterinary clinic. Grant just hadn’t realized how unhappy Daisy had been until one particular night though a few months after her eighteenth birthday.
“How was your prom?” She had asked him suddenly.
Grant frowned slightly at the sudden change in subject as he took a sip of his coffee. “It was okay I guess. I don’t remember much about it honestly since it was about six years ago now.” He replied, watching her carefully as he fed Buddy a part of his biscuit underneath the table.
Daisy sighed, gazing at something just over his shoulder, and Grant tilted his head slightly to look behind him, watching a couple of teenagers in beautiful dresses and crisp tuxes making their way into a limo.
He watched her silently for a moment before speaking. “Daisy? What’s going on?” He asked her.
At his words she finally brought her attention back to him. “I want to go to prom.” She told him.
Grant choked on his coffee. “Prom, Daisy? Really?” He scoffed, once he had caught his breath.
“I’m eighteen years old, Grant, and I’ve been stuck in an Inhuman haven my whole life when I’m not off with my parents hunting more Inhumans, or living vicariously through you. Do you know how much that sucks?” Daisy asked, glancing after the limo willfully.
He looked down at the table, putting his glass down for a moment before looking at her. He knew Daisy hated being coped up, she was constantly sneaking into his apartment to tell him so. She wanted adventure, she didn’t want to be held down where she was, and spending too much time hacking into different illegal things that Grant knew she shouldn’t be. “Daisy . . .” Grant started, but she cut him off.
“You might think it’s stupid -”
“I don’t think it’s stupid.” He quickly interrupted. “My prom was stupid, but I don’t think you wanting to go to one is stupid.” He told her, and he didn’t. He knew Daisy wanted to live a normal life more than anyone, and he hated that he couldn’t give that to her.
Daisy smiled softly at him and reached over to place her hand on top of his, and Grant tried to ignore the tingle that motion sent up his spine. “It’s just . . . not fair, you know? I never asked for this life. I never asked for this . . . destiny.” She practically hissed the words. Her father had said them so many times in Grant’s presence, and he knew she hated them.
“I know you didn’t,” Grant replied.
She was silent for a few moments, something that she normally wasn’t, but Grant was patient, had to be to be her best friend, and finally she spoke again. “I don’t want to go through the mist.” She finally said.
The words didn’t necessarily startle Grant. Daisy generally hated being told to do, and this was the one thing in her life she had been told constantly she was going to do. It was only natural that she would be opposed to it. Grant didn’t know if it would do any good though with her mother pretty much running the Inhumans, and Cal going along with whatever his wife said almost religiously. “Have you talked to your parents?” Grant asked, even though he knew it was pointless.
The look Daisy gave him said as much. “You’ve known them for like seven years now, how do you think that conversation’s going to go?”
Not well, Grant knew, but he didn’t see any point in saying so. “What are you going to do?” He asked her simply.
“I’ve thought about running away.”
Grant shot her a sharp look. “I don’t think you should do that.”
A little smirk settled on her lips before speaking. “You don’t think I should, or you don’t want me to?” She asked curiously.
Her words gave him pause. He could practically feel all the tension in the air between them as his gaze locked on hers. Her words were light, teasing, but her eyes showed something else. They were dark, serious, and Grant felt completely trapped in her gaze. He found himself unable to lie to those eyes. “A little bit of both,” he told her.
Her expression softened, and one corner of her lips upturned in an adorable half smile that had Grant’s heart racing embarrassingly. “Like I’d go anywhere without you.” She replied.
He cracked a smile of his own.
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This was stupid. This was possibly the most ridiculous thing he had ever done in his life, and he knew that Daisy was just going to laugh at him the second that she walked into this room. He would laugh if he was her. Who wouldn’t laugh at the absurdity of this? It didn’t even look that great, but in Grant’s defense, he hadn’t had much time to set up. The idea had just struck him a week ago, and he had just found out that Daisy’s parents were going on another Inhuman hunt, and Daisy wanted to stay with him a couple days ago. That didn’t give him much time to prepare.
Grant took another glance around the room, wondering if he still had time to rip everything down and pretend that he had never even attempted to create this absolute disaster. Unfortunately, time was not on his side he realized as there was a loud and obnoxious knock at his door. Grant froze, unable to decide what to do.
“You do realize I’m just being polite right? If you don’t open the door in a few seconds I’m just going to come in!” Daisy called from behind his door, and Grant panicked as he heard the key he hid on top of his door moving into the lock.
“No, wait! Just a second!” Grant practically ran out of the room, kicking balloons out of the way as he went and quickly squeezed himself through the opening Daisy created, leaning back against the door to his apartment to block it from her view. Before he could say anything though, his gaze was captured by her outfit. When he had sent the cryptic text to her the night before to dress nice, he hadn’t known what to expect, but . . . God, she looked gorgeous.
Her dress was black, and landed a little above her knees, but that wasn’t what had Grant’s attention, no, that was the expanse of skin the dress revealed. The bottom half of her dress was normal, simple plain black, but the top half was cut into a sort of x-shape, straps going up and around her neck. He just couldn’t take his eyes off all the skin she was showing, the smooth, dark, flawless skin that Grant wanted nothing more than to just reach out and touch. Daisy cleared her throat, a little amusement obvious in her voice, and her face Grant noticed when he finally drew his eyes away from her skin. “Enjoying the view there?” She asked curiously.
Grant cleared his throat awkwardly. “I – uh, it’s a nice dress.” He finally managed. He was saved the trouble of sounding even more of an idiot by a loud pop followed by Buddy’s bark causing them both to jump slightly.
Daisy raised her eyebrows. “What was that?” She questioned, trying to peak around his shoulder, which was pretty impossible considering how even though she was in heels the top of her head barely even reached his shoulders.
Well, it was now or never. “Close your eyes,” he told her.
She gave him a look, but sighed and closed her eyes, a small smile gracing her perfect and soft lips, covered in a beautiful shade of red that just made Grant want to lean forward a little more to see if they were really as soft as they looked – “Grant?” She interrupted his gazing, her expression amused once again.
“Right, sorry,” Grant mumbled, placing a hand on her hip as he opened the door behind him, trying not to focus on just how soft and heated her bare skin felt underneath his hand. He led her into the room carefully, making sure she didn’t step on any balloons or none of the streamers hit her in the face. “Okay, you can open your eyes now,” Grant said nervously, letting go of her hip and stepping back, watching her face carefully.
At first there was confusion in her eyes as she took in everything, then her eyes took in the haphazard banner that he had put together just hours before and her eyes shone. She brought her eyes back to his, shaking her head slightly at him. “You did all this for me? Because I said I wanted a prom?” Daisy asked incredulously.
Grant breathed out a sigh of relief he didn’t know he had been holding as he reached over to the table beside them, picking up the corsage he had made for her and taking her left hand in his, slipping the purple daisy flower around her wrist, her namesake and her favorite color. He wanted to say something romantic, something to take her breath away like she always took his, but the only word that came out of his mouth was, “yeah.”
A wide smile was in place on her lips when he finally situated the corsage correctly and looked back up at her. “Does this mean you’re my date?” She asked him.
God her smile was beautiful. “I mean it’s the least you could do since I set this all up, you know?” Grant teased. It made him so happy to see her so happy, and all Grant wanted to do was to keep that smile on her face forever.
She let out a laugh, a full, head falling back, eyes closed laugh, and Grant’s heart clenched while she took his hand, entwining their fingers together. “I guess you’re right,” Daisy teased, looking down at their hands for a moment before glancing back at him. “I’m assuming you’ve got food? Because you know I can’t dance without some, and you need some in your system too if you’re going to keep up.” She added, patting him in the stomach.
“I think you might be surprised,” he said. At least there was one good thing that came out of his childhood. He had learned to dance just about any dance you could imagine. He was confident he knew how to sweep her off her feet with his dancing at least. Of course all that confidence melted away as he felt Daisy’s lips against his cheek and her quiet thanks before heading into the kitchen, pulling him along.
He was thankful he had gotten her favorite from the Italian place nearby, even when she had jokingly, at least he thinks it was jokingly, suggested that they share the spaghetti a la Lady and the Tramp version. He had just rolled his eyes at her. Conversation flowed smoothly, just as it always had, but there was a difference now. Normally there was always an edge of tension to their conversations, an underlying feeling of wanting more, but not knowing how the other would react, at least on Grant’s part, but tonight those lines seemed to have been shattered. She touched him at every available opportunity, flirted openly with him, and Grant found himself reciprocating easily, encouraging her with his banter, and it was honestly the easiest thing he had ever done. He was almost disappointed when she insisted it was time for him to show her what he was made of with his dancing. Tonight was her night though, so Grant dutifully made his way over to his iPhone dock, and pressed play on the playlist he had previously found. All it took was two seconds of the song to start playing before Daisy burst into laughter. “Oh my God, Grant is that the Beach Boys?” She asked, and if Grant didn’t know her so well, he probably would have been offended by her reaction.
“I have no idea . . . It was the first prom playlist I found on 8tracks.” Grant admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, the music that was obviously from around the fifties or sixties echoing in his ears.
Daisy took the hand that was scratching the back of his neck and pulled him to her. “It’s perfect. Totally you,” she told him, and the smile on her face was full of excitement. “Now show me how to dance, Grant Ward,” She insisted, reaching for his other hand.
He happily let her.
The problem with dancing with Daisy was although Grant knew steps and timing like the back of his hand, Daisy most certainly did not, and did not want to dance like that anyway. No, she wanted to feel the music and let it guide her, not the steps. It was disorganized, it was messy, but Grant found each second he spent dancing with her, the more that he loved it. It was so unique, so totally Daisy, he should have known it would be like this. They spent a lot of time dancing, and even Grant, who usually prided himself on his stamina, found himself breathless by the end of the fifth song and was thankful when the music slowed, at least until he realized what that meant. “I can – uh, change it if you want?” Grant asked her.
She shook her head, entwining their fingers together with one hand while the other slipped around his neck, pulling him into her and resting her head against his chest comfortably. “Don’t you dare,” he heard her mumble.
Grant’s chest shook slightly with laughter as he wrapped his own arm around her, holding her completely against him. The song was a classic, one he had heard before in several commercials and old time radio stations, Moon River, he thought it was called, and as he listened to the lyrics, he couldn’t help but realize how perfect they were for this moment, for the two of them. He leaned down, unable to resist the urge to take in the vanilla scent of her hair, and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head, something he had done before, but never before had it felt quite so romantic.
At the kiss, she pulled back slightly, just so she could look at him. “Grant?” She asked quietly, seriously.
“Yeah?” He replied, rubbing soothing circles into her back.
“Why did you do all this for me? You know you didn’t have to, right?” Daisy asked, concern in her eyes, as if she was actually worried he thought he had to do this.
“Because I want to see you happy,” he answered honestly, without a moment’s hesitation, “and yeah, I knew that.”
She watched him for a moment, and Grant felt like her gaze was going straight through him, unlocking all his secrets and thoughts, not that it mattered, she knew all of them anyway. He didn’t dare break the moment by speaking though, wanting to keep it lasting as long as possible. At least he thought he did, but he found the moment could get a lot better.
Before he had even realized that she was leaning up to him while simultaneously pulling his head down to meet her, he felt her warm breath on his lips, and what felt like minutes later, when in truth it was only seconds, Daisy had kissed him. Not a soft peck on the lips either, no, this was a full contact, she knew exactly what she was doing, kiss, and Grant struggled to catch up. He wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass him by, not when the girl he cared about so much was finally kissing him as if there was nothing more than she wanted to do in the moment than kiss him. He knew that was definitely the case for him at least. He had no idea how long the kiss lasted, getting lost in the taste of the fettuccini and champagne she had minutes before as she slipped her tongue past his lips. First kisses weren’t supposed to feel this natural, right? There should be fumbling, and noses bumping, from Grant’s experience at least, but this was none of those things. They seemed to know exactly how to move with each other, and Grant knew in that moment, like he had known for a while now, Daisy really was the girl for him.
The song had changed since their kiss had started, but neither of them had realized it until Daisy pulled away, Grant’s lips chasing hers briefly in a desperate attempt to keep the kiss going, causing the most adorable giggle to leave her lips as she looked up at him, the adoration he was sure was on his face echoing clearly in her eyes. She smiled at him, a much softer one as her fingers brushed across his cheekbone and her eyes roamed over his features. “Thank you,” she said quietly after a few moments of silence.
Confusion settled in his eyes as he looked at her, leaning into her hand slightly, “for what?”
The look that she gave him was practically dazzling. “For letting me just be regular Daisy for a night.” She replied simply before pulling him down for another kiss, but she stopped just before their lips met for the second time. “Oh, and pretty much giving me the best night of my life.” She added, as if an afterthought before finally meeting his lips again, giggling slightly as he lifted her into his arms happily, spinning her around.
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Parents have left the building. Feel like coming over and keeping me company? ;)
The message brought a smile to Grant’s face as he glanced over the message.
Give me twenty.
Grant gave a sleeping Buddy a pat on his head as he passed him, taking off his coat and heading upstairs to his apartment, changing quickly and wasting no time in making his way over to his girlfriend’s, he still loved being able to call her that, house. It was a cold November night, and Grant hoped that she wouldn’t be long in answering the door because he hadn’t brought a heavy jacket. Fortunately the door opened before he even made his way up the stairs. “Only seventeen minutes, I’m impressed,” Daisy told him, a playful look in her eyes as she let him in, barely giving him time to slip his coat off before she was kissing him with a fervor that left him no room to protest. He didn’t hesitate at all with her kiss, returning her enthusiasm while his hands slid down her soft body, cupping her ass in his hands before lifting her into the air, her legs immediately wrapping around his hips snuggly, grinning against his lips at the groan that left him as she moved against him so delicately.
“You’re going to be the death of me,” he grunted, pulling her even closer.
She smirked at him, reaching a hand to tangle in his hair, and his eyes closed at the sharp tug he gave, the pain shooting pleasure straight through him as she leaned in to whisper in his ear. “At least it’ll be a good way to go.” She told him before playfully nipping at his earlobe, causing him to jump, which of course made Daisy giggle at his reaction. “Still ticklish, huh?” She teased.
Grant growled as he placed her on the couch, looking at her for a moment before settling between her thighs. “You should be more careful, Daisy, remember I know all of your ticklish spots too,” he said mischievously, sliding a hand up her shirt and deliberately onto her bare side, his fingertips barely brushing against the skin, causing her to squeal with laughter before shoving his hand away. “Grant, stop,” she whined, pouting up at him.
He so wished he could ever resist that face.
He also wished Daisy didn’t know that he couldn’t resist that face.
She took advantage of his momentary distraction to pull him back down for a kiss, taking his bottom lip between hers and nibbling gently, something she knew always got him riled up. He moaned against her lips as he felt her leg wrapping around his hip, pressing his pelvis against hers in a way that felt divine. He pulled away from her lips, taking a few moments to look at her expression, her lips red, her cheeks flushed, her beautiful brown hair spread out like a fan on the pillows behind her head before making his way down her neck with teasing kisses and gentle bites followed by marks against her skin claiming her as his to anyone who ever thought any differently. Within moments she was writhing underneath him, tugging at his hair and begging him not to stop, her hips moving desperately against his as she tried to bring herself to a release without even taking her clothes off, and Grant couldn’t help but feel a little smug that within minutes he could turn his sarcastic, playful best friend and girlfriend into a whimpering mess just from his kisses and the movement of his hips.
“What is going on here?!”
Grant rolled off of Daisy quickly, his eyes wide in panic as he glanced up at her cowering father, and all his mind could think of, no matter how many years it had been since that moment, was the time that he had picked Grant up like he was nothing and almost strangled him to death. He couldn’t bring himself to respond, but luckily Daisy was there to do that for him. “I’m making out with my boyfriend, what does it look like?” She answered, sitting up and pulling Grant up with her, standing between him and her father. It was almost amusing how this tiny woman was standing between the two of them, but Grant knew if anyone was going to stop Cal from killing Grant, it would be here. “What are you two even doing here? You’re supposed to be gone.” Daisy questioned, no doubt trying to turn the conversation away from what her parents had just witnessed.
It was an admirable attempt.
“Were you about to deflower my baby girl?!” Cal yelled.
Daisy scoffed, “oh please, Dad, I was ‘deflowered’ years ago.”
That was definitely information Grant hadn’t wanted to hear.
“Oh come on, I’m twenty years old! You didn’t still think I was a virgin, did you?” Daisy asked in disbelief.
“Daisy -” Her mother, ever the voice of reason, started to interrupt, but Grant cut her off.
“We’ve been dating for over a year, sir,” he said, placing his hand on Daisy’s back, trying to relax her, even though he wasn’t sure if the touch was more for her or himself.
“Over a . . .” Cal couldn’t even seem to form the right words.
“Yeah, and you would know that if either of you were ever around.” Daisy snapped, wrapping her arm around Grant securely.
Jiaying sighed and put a hand on Cal’s shoulder. “Daisy, you know we have a job to do. We have a whole race to save and soon there will be war. S.H.I.E.L.D. is getting closer and closer to discovering us every day -”
“God is that all you can talk about?! Stupid fucking S.H.I.E.L.D. and the other Inhumans?! I just told you two I’ve been dating and fucking -” Grant cringed slightly at the venomous glare Cal sent his way at that. “The guy you’ve known for forever, and that’s all you can think to talk about is that stuff again? I’m so sick of this! Don’t you care?”
“Of course we care -” Cal started to say, looking just the slightest bit upset that his daughter was obviously angry with them.
“You know what we have to deal with Daisy. You haven’t seen it first hand, but once you go through the mist -”
“I don’t want to go through the mist!”
Silence met her words. It was so deep and tense, it was almost physically painful to be in it. Grant’s grip on Daisy tightened, unsure of what was about to happen with her revelation to her parents. He could tell that she hadn’t meant to say it, that she hadn’t wanted it to come out this way, but it had, and there was nothing she could do about it now. There was also something dark stirring in her eyes, something filled with pain, and the fear, the fear was so evident, and Grant knew that anyone could see it so easily if only they bothered to look.
Her parents never did.
“You don’t mean that, Daisy,” Jiaying told her.
Daisy looked at her, her voice pleading. “Yes, I do . . . I don’t want to go through that. I just want to be normal.” She told them.
“But you aren’t normal!” Cal yelled, and Grant’s grip on Daisy tightened. “This is his fault -” Cal said, stepping towards Grant threateningly.
“Grant had nothing to do with this! I’ve been thinking this for years!” Daisy insisted.
“You have a gift, Daisy. I know it’s a difficult change, and it will be a lot to go through, but -”
“Aren’t you listening?!” Daisy screeched. “I’m not doing it, and you can’t make me!”
There was a dangerous tone to her words, her eyes practically daring her parents to tell her anything else, but her mother met her gaze with ease, matching the look with one of her own. “I am not going to let you be selfish and waste this opportunity. Grant, I think it’s time for you to leave.”
Grant looked down at Daisy, who was clutching onto him almost painfully and looking at her mother like she couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of her mouth. “Are you really trying to tell me that you’re going to force me to go through the mist?” Daisy asked in disbelief, choosing to ignore her mother’s other words and just tighten her grip around Grant.
“Go home, Grant,” Jiaying insisted.
“Not if she doesn’t want me to,” Grant said.
“This is Inhuman business and has nothing to do with you. You need to leave.” She insisted.
“I’m not -”
“I’m not having this conversation. If I can’t decide my future about being an Inhuman or not, I’m not letting you decide whether we have this conversation in the future or not.” Daisy said, “We’re leaving,” she insisted and fisted her hand in the back of Grant’s shirt, tugging them both towards the door.
Cal started to speak, but was cut off by Jiaying again. “You’ll think about this and realize it’s the right choice.”
Daisy just scowled at her as she slammed the door behind them.
------------
It wasn’t long before Grant was out of a job. Obviously Cal didn’t take too kindly to his and Daisy’s new relationship, and fired him almost immediately. He hadn’t told Daisy about it. He told her that he hadn’t wanted to work for him any more after the fall out, and had moved out. Unfortunately, getting a vet job in the area was next to impossible, and he found himself working security at the nearby city park with a small apartment he could barely afford.
It was six months after he moved that Buddy died.
Grant was sad of course, the dog had been with him since he started his journey, but at the same time, he knew it was time for his friend to go. He had been with him for a long time, and he was just miserable in his age. Daisy actually seemed to take it harder than him while she helped dig a grave for him. He held her close, feeling an ache in his chest that was impossible to ignore while they said goodbye.
Daisy moved in after that, and everything seemed to be going well. Their arguments between her parents and herself had been dying down, according to her, and their relationship was in a great place. Fantastic place actually. Which was why he had been so determined to make her twenty-first birthday the best it could be in this dingy apartment with the little money he had saved up.
He just had to figure out how he was going to do it. He was racking his brain over and over, trying to figure out a solution when he got a text from the woman in question on his phone.
Where are you?
Guarding the city pool from juvenile offenders. It’s a very cool place to party you know.
Grant loved getting little texts from her throughout the day, but this was different. Grant knew it as soon as he saw her first message, and her second message practically confirmed it.
Stay there.
Daisy had always been straight forward with him and everyone, but this was different. This lacked the playful tone that her texts usually carried, and it worried him. He spent the rest of the time until she arrived worrying, wondering what must be wrong with her. Finally though, she pulled up right outside the pool, and he met her halfway as she ran into his arms, her whole body covered in dust, and her hair a mess. She held him as if she was afraid he’d slip away at any moment, and he held her back just as tightly even though he wasn’t sure why. His worry grew even more as he felt the shakes wracking her body. “Daisy . . . What’s wrong? What happened?”
“They did it,” She said simply.
“They did what?” Grant asked in confusion, watching her face as she pulled away. It was then that he couldn’t help but notice the change in her. There was no longer any . . . playful innocence to her, no smiles or happiness, no . . . whatever emanated from her was dark. Dark and dangerous, and Grant couldn’t deny it scared him a little, seeing the woman he loved so . . . angry.
“They forced me through the mist.” She practically hissed.
Grant’s eyes widened. He knew it would soon be time for her to make the decision once and for all, and he knew she was going to turn it down, but he hadn’t suspected that her parents actually would make the decision for her, take away her life and future without her consent. “They didn’t -”
“They did. They just . . . They had an Inhuman knock me out from behind . . . tied me up with zip ties . . .” She showed him the marks on her wrists. “Just kept telling me how it was my destiny. I had to accept my gift . . . it would be for the good of others . . . but all it does is cause destruction.” Daisy finished, looking down at her hands.
“Daisy . . . What did you do?” He asked, cupping her face in his hands.
She kept her eyes locked on him, those dark eyes filled with pain and anger. He was so lost in her gaze he almost didn’t notice as the ground started shaking beneath them. He looked around in confusion, trying to find the source of the shaking, before it dawned on him, and his gaze drifted back to Daisy. “Daisy, are you . . .”
“The earthquake brought down the whole city . . . They took me to Afterlife to accept the crystal . . . I killed everyone, Grant. Everyone except me. They kept trying to get me to stop, but . . . I didn’t know how, and I was just so mad and angry, and I didn’t want to . . . Not after what they did to me. Not after what they did to us. I know he fired you, Grant. I know he’s the reason you’re not doing what you love. You never deserved that -”
“We’re not talking about me, we’re only here to talk about you.” He wrapped his arms tighter around her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“How could they do this?!” Daisy asked, but Grant was sure she didn’t really want an answer. “I told them I didn’t want it! I told them I just wanted to be normal! Why couldn’t they listen to me?! They had to expose me to this . . . this horrific ‘gift’ that just leaves nothing but death and destruction in its wake!” Daisy laughed, a sound with no humor to it, a far cry from the last time he had heard it as he lay between the sheets with her. “I guess it’s only fitting that when they destroy me, I destroy them.” She added.
“You’re not destroyed . . . you’re just changed,” Grant tried to assure her, running his fingers through her hair gently, but knowing his words held no comfort to her.
“No, Grant, I’m not . . . I’m not Daisy any more. I don’t want to be. I won’t let the memory of them dictate the person I am now.” Daisy told him.
There was something hidden in her words. Some darker meaning that Grant didn’t understand, so he didn’t say anything, just looked down at her as she pulled away slightly so she could look up at him, her fists clenching into the material of his shirt.
“Grant . . . We have to take them down.”
He ran a hand gently through her hair. “What do you mean?”
“We have to take down the rest of the Inhumans. We can’t let anyone else go through this that doesn’t want to. We have to destroy all the crystals.”
Grant could see the reasoning behind her thoughts, but breaking into so many Inhuman sanctuaries? Not to mention they would guard all the crystals until their last breath, could they actually do it? Or would it be suicide? As Grant looked at her though, he knew the truth. The fact of the matter was, if Daisy wanted to do it, he would follow her anywhere. “Are you sure?” He asked finally.
She nodded. “We have to stop them.”
“Then we will.” Grant said simply.
That’s the third time that Grant Ward was saved.
------------
If anyone asked Grant, the worst part about being stuck on the run, was having to live in a van. He hated it. It was always messy, there was never enough room, not to mention the crappy van that they had been able to afford was constantly in need of repairs that Grant had to make. It was always stuffy, and Daisy – Skye, he corrected himself since that was what she wanted to be called now, always ended up on top of him when they fell asleep at night. He wasn’t complaining about that part though.
He was pretty sure the least favorite part for Skye was the fact that there was no wifi. Until she fixed that of course, and once she had, they were unstoppable.
It was slow going work, but they set out what they accomplished. At least so far. They had taken down three Inhuman bases, and two boxes of terrigan crystals. Not to say it was easy, it wasn’t, but Skye was ruthless. It was beautiful to watch, the way her hair flew out behind her as she held her hand out, and buildings just crumpled to dust. The raw power that moved through her body was just incredible to behold, and Grant didn’t think he’d ever get sick of seeing it.
He was even getting better himself. Grant had always been a pretty decent fighter, but after more and more battles with the Inhumans, his hand to hand was getting better than ever. He was sure the self-defense classes he had taken before they had gone on the run helped some, but he was still pleased with his progress and even started teaching Skye some strategies even though he knew it was pretty pointless considering with her powers she could protect them both pretty easily.
Both of them were new to this though, didn’t know how to cover their tracks properly, and it was only a matter of time before someone caught up to them to question them about what they were doing. First it was only one time, then the next time they were there at the gas station, the third time at the hotel they had stopped in, and that was all the proof Grant needed to know they had to find a new strategy.
“We can’t keep doing this,” Grant told her one night as they laid in the back of the van, her head resting on his chest while his hand stroked through her hair.
“I know,” she sighed softly, tilting her head to look up at him. “They’re getting too close, and they can’t figure out what we’re doing. Any ideas?” She asked.
He was silent for a moment before finally speaking up the only solution he had been able to think of. “I could get myself captured.” He told her.
She didn’t speak for several moments before shaking her head and laughing slightly even though her eyes weren’t in it. “Yeah right, now isn’t exactly the time for jokes, Grant.” She told him.
“I’m not joking. Think about it, Skye,” He sat up slightly, pulling her with him. “They don’t know it’s two people. I could go in, get captured, say I’m just a mercenary, hired on to do the work. They’ll be curious, and I’ll lead them some false intel. It won’t hold them off forever, but it’ll give you time to do some work.”
Skye bit her lip. “They’re going to want to know who’s paying you.”
“I’m pretty sure you can create some trail that leads to nowhere?” He replied, raising an eyebrow at her.
Skye looked down at the ground for a moment before glancing back up at him. “You’re coming back.” She informed him. It wasn’t a question. There was no doubt in her mind. Grant would be coming back to her.
He cupped her face in his hands. “I’m coming back. Well, you’ll probably have to help me with that actually.” Grant replied, his eyes roaming over her face as if it might be the last time he ever saw her.
Grant smiled as he caught sight of the girl he fell in love with again in her eyes. Don’t get him wrong, he loved every single version of Daisy/Skye that would ever exist, but that one? The one he had grown up with? He missed her every once in a while, and it was nice to see her those few occasions she popped out. “Well, duh, as if you could actually ever do anything without me.” Her words were teasing, and he wasn’t even sure if she knew the ring of truth that was in them.
“I love you,” he told her, because he couldn’t think of anything else to say in that moment, and he wanted her to know that no matter how many times he might have said it in the past, he still meant it every single time.
A soft smile formed on her lips, one completely reserved for him as she pulled him close for a kiss. “I know you do.” She muttered before pressing her lips against his in a bruising kiss.
That night it was different between the two of them. They had sex several times before, but that night it was all loving caresses and worshiping each other’s skin as they gently shred each other of their clothes in the small van. Grant made it his personal mission that his lips touched every inch of her skin, committing the scent and taste of her to his memory because he didn’t know when the next time he would get to see her like this would be, and he wanted this to always be with him. Her chest moving up and down steadily with her heavy breathing, her eyes closed in pleasure as he worshipped every inch of her, their hands entwined while they explored each other’s bodies with their mouths.
She was such a beautiful creature, and the van shook with her orgasms as he brought her to climax not once, but twice with his tongue before she was begging him to be inside of her.
Of course he could never deny her anything, not when it was something he so desperately wanted too.
When he slipped inside of her, it was like coming home, and Grant knew no one could ever make him feel the way that Skye did. He never even wanted to try to find someone that would. As his thrusts became erratic, and her lips pressed against his neck, urging him on, he wanted nothing more than to stay in this moment forever, keep them connected as long as possible as he spilled inside of her. He wished everything could be as easy as his feelings for her.
They never were.
The next day, Grant Ward found himself in the custody of local police. He was really dreading spending the night in the station and being away from Skye didn’t make it any easier. His hands tightened into fists as he sat in his cell, wondering when he was finally going to get to do something other than just sit here, because this was driving him mad.
Grant sighed in relief as his name was finally called, but to his surprise, he wasn’t led to the holding area, but instead the visitors center where he was sat across from a balding man in a suit, a file folder in his hands. “Who are you?” Grant asked suspiciously.
“Grant Ward. We’ve been looking for you.” The man put the file down on the table, entwining his own fingers as he looked at him. “My name’s Phil Coulson, I’m an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and I have a proposition for you.”
Grant’s eyebrows raised.
------------
Not six months, and a ridiculous amount of training that Grant couldn’t help but love, later Grant Ward was on what Agent Coulson liked to refer to as “the Welcome Wagon”, as a consultant. S.H.I.E.L.D. had apparently taken notice of all his work with the Gifteds, as they called them, the name almost made Grant snort the first time he heard it, and thought he could be an asset in dealing with them. The arrangement was perfect really. Grant could keep an eye out to make sure that no one ever noticed Skye, while also feeding her any information he could. If he had a way of contacting her that was. He hadn’t spoken to her since he got out of jail, and he had to admit it was slowly killing him. Grant pushed through it though, knowing she had to be busy and that she could easily take care of herself without his constant worrying.
“Mike Peterson. We think he’s a gifted.”
Coulson’s words brought Grant out of his thoughts as he watched the man on the screen, taking in his motions and actions carefully. He didn’t think this man was an Inhuman. No, if Inhumans had super strength, it was stronger than that. What the man was reminded him more of Cal than anything. Of course he wasn’t going to tell Coulson that.
“We touch down in an hour.” Coulson added, and everyone nodded their understanding as he dismissed them and went about their business for the last hour or so. It was about that time when Grant felt his phone vibrating against his leg. He frowned slightly since the only people who had this number were the ones on this bus, but quickly opened the blocked message.
See you soon, babe, and just so you know, you’ve got a lot of lost time to make up for. ;)
A smirk formed on Grant’s lips that caught Coulson’s attention.
“Everything okay, Ward?”
“Perfect, sir,” Grant replied easily, locking the phone, and not even trying to hide the grin on his face.
Finally.