#karainward

[joanbeauforts]

911.         it isn’t the storm that makes the ocean dangerous.

[joanbeauforts]

we’ll defy the rules until we die.

kara/grant/raina in which raina falls in love, from the bitter end to the beginning. ao3.

five.

If she closes her eyes, Raina can pretend she’s not trapped by dark cell walls. She can pretend they’re not gone. She can pretend she’s not alone.

If she closes her eyes, she can still feel Kara’s hands on her waist, Grant’s fingers tracing her collarbone. She can remember their kisses, their smiles.

She can still remember the plans they made. She can almost force herself to believe that they’ll come true—that they’ll still buy a house and settle down and get away from Shield.

It’s like that promise, that future she could have had is still taunting her.

Maybe this is her fault. She shouldn’t have pushed Kara towards revenge on Shield. The universe must be punishing her for something, she’s sure. Her soul must be more bitter and blackened than she’d realised if she deserves this.

She has to remind herself to breathe.

She’s hardly seen a soul since Shield threw her down here. Doctors checked her stitches, and once, Coulson came down to do little more than gloat.

She thinks they might be trying to send her mad, until she spills all her secrets. She’s not sure what they want from her. What could she tell them? How she’ll never forgive them for stealing the only two people she loves in the world?

She hopes they’ve not come down because they’re scared of what she’ll do. Somehow, thought, she doubts they fear the shell that’s left of the girl in the flower dress.

Maybe they just have no use for her. They’re just going to leave her down here until she rots.

 four.

They drag Bobbi from the jet, tie her to a chair, and Grant prepares their equipment as they wait for her to come back to consciousness.

Raina’s got that feeling that she’s had in her chest for months now, that feeling that something is so, so wrong, but it’s growing now. It feels like a warning—something’s coming for them.

She catches Kara’s hand. ‘You want to do this,’ she asks, ‘right?’

Kara looks at her, with determination covering up the fear in her eyes. ‘We have to,’ she says. ‘Don’t we?’

Raina’s not sure. She thinks so, but everything since Hydra rose has been a strange blur that’s hurt from the start. She doesn’t know how they got here, exactly. This was never what they intended—they just wanted to feel safe, for once.

She just squeezes Kara’s hand, tugs her a little closer. ‘If it’s what you need,’ she says.

Kara nods. ‘I need it,’ she says, and Raina tries not to think that it sounds like she’s trying to convince herself more than anything else.

‘Well then,’ Raina says, and she holds Kara’s hand a little tighter still. ‘Are we ready, Grant, baby?’ she calls.

‘We’re ready,’ he says.

 It’s dawn when the Shield jets touch down.

 (Raina stayed up to watch the sunrise with her grandmother, sometimes, when she was a little girl.

‘It means new beginnings,’ her grandmother would say. She’d stroke Raina’s hair. ‘You’ll have one, one day. You’ll become.’)

 It’s a hazy blur, after that, that Raina will never be able to completely make sense of. There’s a bullet in her shoulder and one in her leg, and she’s helpless, forced to watch.

Most of what she remembers from the end is the pain. She remembers screaming until her throat was raw and hoarse, screaming for them to wake up, not leave her here. She remembers Kara and Grant’s blood staining her hands, her dress.

She remembers the handcuffs locking round her wrists instead, the agents dragging her to her feet. She remembers waiting and waiting to bleed out. It doesn’t come.

 three.

They find Kara is San Juan just as Shield finds Whitehall and Hydra and honestly, it couldn’t go worse. Shield are, as always, adopting a policy of shoot first and ask questions later, and to make it all that little bit worse, they consider Grant a traitor for leaving.

Shield are too preoccupied with the underground city, though. Raina finds it almost funny—they’ve no idea what they’re letting themselves in for. Once, she’d have been down there too. She’d have been fulfilling her destiny, becoming what she’s supposed to be.

But Kara is so much more important.

Raina isn’t usually one for killing. She leaves that up to Kara and Grant. She keeps a pistol on her anyway—Grant says it saves him from worrying a little.

She shoots Whitehall eight times in the chest.

Once for Kara. Once for Grant. Once for herself. And another five times, just for good measure. Just to make sure he stays dead.

Kara wakes in Grant’s arms. She sobs and sobs, hands shaking, clinging to the both of them, hardly able to speak.

Afterwards is hard.

It’s spent in the kind of hotel rooms where they can lock the door, and no one will ask questions when Kara smashes vases or wakes from nightmares screaming. They hold her and try to tell her it will be okay, but it’s a lie, it’s such a lie Raina can barely force the words out.

Healing is slow, not that they would expect anything different. They find the man who designed the mask that’s fused to Kara’s face, and they force him to fix it as well as he can.

When Kara is sleeping, Grant and Raina kill him. Grant’s more merciful than Raina would like—he just puts a bullet between the man’s eyes. As far as Raina is concerned, he should have died as slowly as they could manage. Anyone involved in what happened to Kara should pay.

They track down the man responsible for Kara’s capture next. They try to keep it from her—it wouldn’t be good for her to know what they’re doing. She’s not ready.

It’s hard, though, to keep a prisoner from your girlfriend when you’re living in such close quarters and constantly on the move, and Kara finds him tied up in the bathroom of their motel.

‘What is this?’ she asks. ‘Why is he here?’

‘You weren’t supposed to see it,’ Raina says. She’s suddenly guilty, unsure if what they’re doing is the right thing.

‘We’re sorry, baby,’ Grant says quietly. He holds his arms out for her and she moves into them. ‘He hurt you. We were going to hurt him for it.’

‘We can stop,’ Raina says. She reaches across to stroke Kara’s cheek.

Kara stares back at Bakshi, seeming unaffected, but Raina sees her stuff her hands in her pockets to cover up her shaking hands. ‘No,’ Kara says. ‘He deserves it.’ She clenches her jaw. ‘But don’t kill him. Let him rot.’

They leave him, bruised and bloodied, on Shield’s door step.

It’s quieter again, after that, but they’re constantly having to stay one step ahead of Shield and Hydra and everyone else interested in the three of them.

‘I remember,’ Kara says one night. She doesn’t look at them, but stares at the wall of their hotel room with that hurt, scarred look that Raina needs to find a way to stop.

‘What do you remember?’ Raina asks. She curls an arm around Kara, worried she’ll slip away.

‘I remember who handed me over to Hydra. I know who gave up my safe house.’ She looks up at them. ‘Bobbi Morse.’

 two.

Hydra rises when they are all miles and miles apart. Raina’s been laying low from Shield after they took down Quinn, who’s been funding her for a year or so.

Grant contacts her as soon as he can to check she’s safe and confirm he’s okay. Kara takes longer. Raina’s starting to panic, alone in her hotel room, when the call finally comes to say she’s safe, or alive at least.

They agree to check in with each other every day as they make their way to Grant’s safe house outside LA.  

Raina hitchhikes, calls in favours, steals cars to get herself across the country. It’s hard, and she’s scared, constantly looking over her shoulder, sure Hydra or Shield or someone is going to find her. The fear is crushing, but she presses on with the knowledge that she’ll see Grant and Kara soon—the people she loves, the people she needs.

Raina’s a day from the safe house when Kara doesn’t call. She’s still not called when she reaches Grant. They wait, sure she must have been delayed or run out of money or anything other than that one thing that Raina refuses to consider: that Kara’s not coming home to them.

 one.

Raina’s known Grant a few months—since he’d been sent by Garrett to her labs to check in on her research for the Centipede project.

Raina’s good at people; she’s good at knowing what they want. But there’s something different about Grant. Different and dangerous.

She likes it.

They manage to keep in contact. It’s a little difficult—there’s times he goes off the grid for months at a time, and there’s times she’s too busy with work to find the time to talk to him. But she enjoys it; it’s been hard to form anything real with the life she’s lived.

And then John Garrett dies.

She feels a little guilty—she’s more upset about her funding suddenly drying up than about hearing that he’d died on a mission. She goes to the funeral. It seems only respectful, and she tells herself it’s not just an excuse to see Grant.

She finds him after the service. He’s got a look that’s almost more lost and despondent than grieving. He gives her a little nod of acknowledgment, and the woman with him, holding his arm, stroking it comfortingly, looks across to Raina and waves her over like she knows her.

‘You must be Raina,’ she says. ‘Grant’s told me about you.’

‘Oh,’ Raina says. She tilts her head slightly, but all he does is acknowledge it with a nod.

‘I’m Kara,’ she says. She holds out a hand for Raina to shake, which she takes. Grant’s mentioned Kara. He’s mentioned her a lot, actually. He’s never really specified what their relationship was, but she could always tell he at least admired her. Now though, Raina feels it’s safe to assume that Kara is Grant’s girlfriend.

She’s not sure exactly how she feels about that.

‘It’s nice to meet you,’ she says. ‘Though the circumstances are unfortunate. Did you know Garret well?’

‘I suppose,’ Kara says. She pauses, slowly, as though she’s picking her words carefully. ‘I didn’t like him.’

‘Oh?’ Raina asks.

Kara looks up at Grant, pained. ‘Yeah,’ she says. ‘He wasn’t…’ she starts. ‘He wasn’t a great person, I guess.’

Raina feels like there’s something she’s missing—something sore and dark between Grant, Kara and Garrett. At least, Kara doesn’t seem sad to see Garrett gone, and somehow Raina instinctively trusts Kara far more than she’s ever trusted Garrett.

‘I guess I didn’t know him that well,’ Raina says.

Grant lets out a slightly choked noise that sounds like it was supposed to be a laugh. ‘Not many people did.’

Kara glances up at him, frowning in concern. He’s still got this slightly distant look, but it’s less lost. ‘Time to leave?’ she asks.

He nods. ‘It’s probably best if we do,’ he says.

Kara hums in agreement. She turns to Raina. ‘Come to dinner with us,’ she says.

Raina considers, for a second. It seems like a mistake, to go to dinner with the first person she’s really connected to in as long as she can remember and his sweet, stunning girlfriend.

‘Sure,’ she says.

 zero.

When she is a little girl, Raina’s grandmother tells her she’s special. She tells her that her story will be beautiful, worthy of folklore.

Raina knows her grandmother is always right.

[joanbeauforts]

i'll see you in the future when we're older

kara/raina/grant (+ background skye/lincoln)

skye tracks down raina a few years down the road and finds not exactly what she would have expected. ao3.

set a few years post this.

Skye flicks through the pictures laid out on her desk again as she waits for Coulson to pick up.

He answers with, ‘You’re speaking to Director Coulson.’

‘Sir,’ she says. ‘It’s Skye.’

‘Skye!’ He sounds pleased to hear from her at least. ‘Are you heading back to the base soon?’

‘No,’ she says. ‘I needed to check something over with you.’

‘Certainly,’ he says. ‘What do you need?’

She takes a breath. ‘My team has located a confirmed Inhuman and her child.’

She can hear Coulson humming thoughtfully. ‘A child does complicate the process,’ he says.

‘No,’ she cuts in. ‘It’s not just that—we’ve succeeded in the evaluation process before when the gifted has children. This is more complicated.’

‘Oh?’ he asks.

‘It’s Raina,’ Skye says.

There’s a pause on the other end of the line. ‘What’s Raina doing with a child?’

‘From what we can tell, it’s hers,’ Skye says. She glances down at the surveillance photo on the top of the pile—one of the first they captured—which shows Raina holding the hand of a little girl.

‘Huh.’ Skye can understand perfectly how Coulson feels, if she’s honest. ‘Raina’s certainly dangerous,’ he says. ‘She needs to be brought in, but the child could make her more difficult to deal with. What about the rest of her... family?’

Skye smiles. She can’t help herself. There’s just something so ridiculous about the whole thing. ‘You won’t believe this,’ she says. She picks up one of the photos from further down the pile and stares at it because honestly, she can’t quite believe it herself. ‘I think Ward is the father.’

There’s an understandable shocked silence from Coulson. Skye takes the opportunity to continue.

‘And,’ she says, ‘I’m pretty sure they’re still with Agent 33.’

‘Kara Palamas?’ Coulson confirms.

‘Yeah. There’s another girl—younger—we guessed she’s Ward and Palamas’s kid, but maybe she’s Raina’s too,’ Skye says. ‘We’ve not been able to confirm if either of the children have powers yet.’

She thinks she hears Coulson give a frustrated little sigh. ‘So you’re saying that not only are we dealing with a dangerous Inhuman and either one or two children who may or may not also have powers,’ he says, ‘but we’ve also got two dangerous criminals who have been on Shield’s most wanted list for years?’

Skye pauses. ‘Yes,’ she says, ‘pretty much.’

He groans. ‘Okay. I’ll send in backup for you.’

Skye hesitates. He must notice.

‘Skye?’ he asks.

‘No,’ she says, ‘if you want to send in backup, go for it.’

‘Skye,’ he says again, ‘this is your operation. How do you want to play it?’

‘They’ll have an escape plan,’ she says. ‘As soon as they realise we’re here, they’ll run. Sending in backup could reveal us.’

‘True,’ Coulson agrees.

‘Give me a day,’ she decides. ‘I’ll work something out. And if I can’t, you can send in a team to take them in.’

 **

 Raina sits delicately at a table for two outside a cafe on a busy street, in clear view of Skye’s surveillance van.

‘They know we’re here, don’t they?’ Skye says.

Beside her, Lincoln nods. ‘It looks like it.’

‘I have to go out, don’t I?’ she says.

Lincoln doesn’t exactly look thrilled with the idea. ‘Probably,’ he says. ‘She could want a deal.’

Skye nods. She turns her earpiece on. ‘Make sure our team is prepped in case I need to call them in.’

‘Sure,’ he says. ‘Stay safe.’

‘I’ll try,’ she says as she leaves the van.

Skye sits opposite Raina, who smiles like she was expecting to see Skye.

‘Skye,’ she says, ‘it’s been a long time.’

‘Not long enough,’ Skye says. ‘You know why I’m here.’

Raina smiles. ‘To take me in, I assume. But let’s not rush, we have so much catching up to do.’

‘Sure,’ Skye says. ‘Let’s catch up. How about we start with your family?’

Raina’s smile becomes a little more dangerous, but she doesn’t say anything.

‘You have two daughters, right?’ Skye asks. ‘What are their names?’

‘So you know what to put them down as on your wanted list for Shield?’ Raina asks.

‘You didn’t answer my question,’ Skye says. ‘We’re just catching up. I’m just interested in your family.’

Raina tilts her head, and Skye feels like she’s being calculated, examined. ‘Iris and April,’ Raina tells her.

‘How pretty,’ Skye says.

Through her earpiece Lincoln adds, ‘They are, actually.’ Which, while true, is not helpful.

‘You’re not going to touch them,’ Raina says. ‘Not while any of us are still breathing.’

‘And "any of you" being... you, Ward and 33?’ Skye confirms.

‘Kara,’ Raina corrects, and Skye nods, conceding.

‘How did you end up with those two anyway?’ Skye asks.

Raina shrugs lightly. ‘It’s a long story.’

‘One that ends in happy families,’ Skye says.

Raina smiles. She leans forward against the table between them. ‘It’s funny, isn’t it?’ she says. ‘To you, we were the monsters, the criminals. And yet we’re the ones with the family.’ Skye knows Raina’s just trying to get a rise out of her, just like Skye’s been doing to her.

‘Do you wish it was you?’ Raina continues. ‘Do you wish you were the one with the family? You were so close.’ Her expression shifts to faux sympathy. ‘And then you lost it.’

‘Skye,’ Lincoln says in her ear, ‘don’t let her get to you.’

‘I have a family,’ Skye says, but she realises that must have been the wrong answer, because Raina’s smiling like she’s winning.

‘Yes,’ Raina muses. ‘Shield. They’re the kind of family that abandoned Kara. Is that right?’

Skye’s pretty sure this isn’t a conversation she wants to have, but she also knows it could anger Raina enough for her to let something slip. ‘They don’t stand for traitors.’

‘No,’ Raina agrees. ‘They hunt them down years later.’

‘We protect people,’ Skye says, ‘from threats.’

‘So my children are a threat?’ Raina asks, and there’s poison in her voice.

Skye has to admit, the thought of dragging children into this mess makes her feel a little sick, but she just shrugs. ‘They need evaluated,’ she replies. ‘You know why.’

Raina smiles dangerously. ‘I know you have the power to level this entire street,’ she says. ‘But so do we.’

‘But you wouldn’t,’ Skye says. ‘Not if your children are nearby. You wouldn’t risk anything happening to them. So does that mean they’re already escaping with Ward and Kara? Should we be putting out an APB?’

Raina stays silent, giving nothing away.

‘Why did they leave you?’ Skye goes on. ‘Let me guess—you’re the distraction. They’re taking your kids to safety, then one of them will come back for you.’

Still, Raina remains impassive, giving Skye nothing to work with.

‘Unless,’ Skye says, ‘it’s one of your daughters that has the power to—what was it—level the entire street?’ She frowns. ‘Would you really send them through the mist this young? Would you use them that way?’

Something dangerous flashes in Raina’s eyes. ‘Don’t you dare suggest I’d ever let my daughter be harmed,’ she hisses.

‘Daughter,’ Lincoln repeats through Skye’s comm. ‘Singular. Skye, which could mean just one of them is Inhuman.’

‘Does that mean you’ve not let them transform?’ Skye asks.

Raina sighs. ‘You know,’ she says, ‘I’m tired of talking.’ She glances across the cafe and then back at Skye. ‘We want a deal.’

Skye almost laughs. ‘Of course you do,’ she says. ‘What are your terms, then?’

‘For a start,’ Raina says, ‘we won’t kill you.’

Skye blinks. Then, there’s the click of a gun cocking. A woman two tables away is holding a gun to her under the table. She raises a hand to her temple, and her face flickers, revealing Kara.

‘So I have to take two of you?’ Skye says.

Raina smiles, and points a finger at Skye’s heart. She looks down to see the red laser dot of a sniper rifle. Ward must be somewhere in the buildings around them.

‘I’m listening,’ Skye says.

‘It’s simple,’ Raina says. ‘Leave us alone. You can name your price, and we’ll let you walk away afterwards.’

Skye’s starting to regret not taking Coulson’s backup and just sending in a strike team; then again, though, if they knew Shield were coming that could just have ended in a bloodbath.

She holds a finger to her earpiece. ‘Lincoln,’ she says, noticing the way Raina’s eyes immediately flicker to Shield’s van. ‘Talk to me.’

‘The team is ready, and we know which building Ward is watching you from with Iris and April,’ he says. ‘But I can’t guarantee that we can capture any of them without you being harmed.’

Skye grimaces. ‘Understood.’

This is the kind of hard call she’s learned to make over the years of running her team. It’s still difficult, though, and more difficult given how personal the situation is.

‘Fine,’ Skye says. ‘We want any information you’ve got that’s relevant to Shield’s interests, and we want to evaluate and index anyone in your family with powers. After that, you’re free to go.’

Raina looks at Kara, and Skye feels like there’s a conversation she’s missing. ‘We won’t go anywhere with you,’ she says. ‘If you evaluate us, it’s on our terms.’

Skye nods. It could be worse. ‘Sure,’ she says.

Raina and Kara stand. Kara’s still got a gun trained on Skye. ‘We’ll take this up to Grant,’ Raina says. She turns to Skye. ‘You can take two agents up.’

Skye nods, standing slowly. ‘Lincoln,’ she says into her earpiece, ‘you and Sebastian are with me.’

‘Got it,’ he says. ‘We’ll be with you in a second.’

By the time she’s crossed the street with Kara and Raina, Lincoln and Sebastian are waiting. They’re led into the building opposite the cafe, and up to a fifth floor apartment.

Kara opens the door. Skye’s greeted with a sight she’d never expected to see: Ward’s got a baby in one arm, a gun in his other hand, and his other daughter is hiding behind his leg.

‘What happened?’ he asks. ‘Why are they here?’

Raina’s mouth twists into a frown. ‘We had to compromise. They’ll be gone soon, and we can start to back up.’

‘Pack up?’ Skye repeats.

Raina laughs. ‘Did you think we’d stay here?’ she asks. ‘It’s useless now that you’ve found it.’

Skye doesn’t answer, instead taking a moment to take in the apartment. She’s not sure why she’s so surprised to realise it’s their home, complete with mismatched furniture and their daughter’s toys and drawings.

Lincoln’s explaining to everyone what they need to do. Usually they’d to this together, but this time Skye knows it’s better him than her—there’s less bad blood.

She watches Grant squeeze Kara’s arm comfortingly and hand over the baby to her. Kara moves through towards the kitchen with her, passing Skye as she goes.

She gives Skye a slightly pitying look. ‘Give me a hand making tea?’ she asks, and Skye can see her ignoring the glare Ward, who is now holding the older daughter, is shooting their way.

Skye nods and shuffles after her. She’s got a nasty feeling of being utterly useless and out of place. She stands a little awkwardly by the wall, watching as Kara takes mugs and packs of tea from cupboards.

‘Do you need any help?’ Skye asks. ‘I can hold the baby if you want.’

Kara turns. Skye doesn’t miss the momentary look of fear in her eyes as she looks between the baby and Skye, before she nods slowly. ‘Sure,’ she says, passing her gently over.

‘So is this April or Iris?’ Skye asks, shifting the baby in her arms.

‘April,’ Kara says, and Skye can see her smiling. ‘She’s a year and a half old. Iris is three.’ She glances out the kitchen door, looking worried again, to where Ward’s holding Iris and talking to Lincoln.

‘And it’s Iris that’s...’ Skye begins.

‘Inhuman,’ Kara finishes. ‘Yes. She’s biologically Raina’s.’

‘Does she have her powers?’ Skye asks.

Kara frowns. ‘She’s three.’

‘So no?’

Kara gives her an appraising sort of look, and April takes the opportunity to make a little whimpering sound, grab a handful of Skye’s hair and tug.

Skye thinks Kara’s probably laughing at her, and she doesn’t offer any kind of help as she finishes off the tea. Skye gently attempts to pry April’s fist off, but only succeeds in ending up with the baby holding her finger instead.

She doesn’t try to make April let go this time. For a start, she’s not going to come into Kara, Ward and Raina’s house and make their baby cry. But April’s also looking up at her with big dark eyes, and it feels cruel.

When the tea’s done, Skye follows Kara back through to the others. Ward’s still shooting her glares, but it’s not like she ever expected anything else from him. She did shoot him last time she saw him, and maybe that was over three years ago, but she can’t really blame him for holding a grudge. She’s got a few of her own.

Raina’s sitting rigidly, having blood taken, and she reaches out for Kara with her free hand. Kara takes it and wraps an arm around Raina’s shoulders, so Raina can rest her head on Kara’s stomach.

‘What’s she doing with April?’ Raina asks. Skye sees her gripping Kara’s hand tighter as the needle goes in.

‘It’s okay,’ Kara says. ‘She won’t hurt her.’ It sounds a little like a threat, and Skye can feel their eyes on her. She sips her tea and focusses on April instead, pointedly not looking up.

‘No,’ Raina agrees. She sighs gently. ‘We’ll be safe again soon.’

Skye knows it’s wrong—these people are terrible—but she feels suddenly guilty. Like she’s reopened a healing wound.

April babbles at her and smiles in that wonderful, innocent way children do. Skye softens. At least someone here likes her.

‘Hiya,’ she whispers to the baby. She wonders if April will remember any of this. She wonders if she’ll just be a bitter story told to April, or if she’ll never be mentioned at all. Not that she should be anything more. Not that she should want to be.

April gurgles something like "hello" back, and Skye can’t stop herself from smiling—she’s not been children in a long time, maybe not properly since the orphanage. She’s forgotten how lovely they can be.

She moves over to where Lincoln is with Ward and Iris.

‘Thinking of stealing her?’ Lincoln asks, nodding towards April in Skye’s arms.

‘Oh god,’ Skye hisses, ‘don’t even joke about that. If they think I’ve even considered it they’ll have my head.’

Lincoln laughs. ‘True,’ he agrees. ‘She’s sweet, though.’

Skye hums in agreement. ‘Are you done?’ she asks.

Lincoln nods. He takes a step away from Ward and Iris so they can talk a little more privately. ‘We’re just finishing up, but they cooperated,’ he says. ‘Grudgingly, but they cooperated.’

Skye almost laughs. ‘Grudgingly is better than I’d hoped for,’ she says. ‘No one was seriously injured, so I’m going to consider it a success.’

‘Especially considering we’ve invaded their home and tested their child,’ Lincoln says.

‘You’re making us sound like monsters,’ she complains.

Ward, who had been quietly talking to Iris, snorts. Skye raises an eyebrow, but Lincoln cuts in before she can say anything.

He kneels down so that he’s on level with Iris. ‘We’ve just got one more little test to do,’ he says.

‘Will it hurt too?’ Iris asks, and Skye can feel her chest tighten.

‘No,’ Lincoln promises. ‘It won’t hurt a bit.’ He holds out a tablet. ‘I just need you to put your hand on the screen,’ he says.

Iris looks to Ward for confirmation then spreads her little palm out against the screen.

‘All done,’ Lincoln says when it beeps, and he turns away to study the information collected.

Iris smiles. She turns her attention up to her sister and to Skye. ‘Who’re you?’ she asks.

‘That’s Skye,’ Ward says, before she can answer. ‘She’s a Shield agent too.’

Iris nods, frowning slightly. ‘Are you bad?’ she asks.

Skye blinks. ‘No,’ she says, a little taken aback. ‘I mean, I try to do my best.’

Iris looks unconvinced. ‘Okay,’ she says. She hops off her dad’s knee, curls bouncing, and heads for Kara and Raina.

Ward watches her go. He stands, turning to Skye.

‘I can take April off you,’ he says. Skye hands her over, a little reluctantly.

The soft look on Ward’s face when April says "daddy" is hard to connect to the Ward that Skye last knew.

‘It’s been a while,’ Skye says. She feels utterly out of her depth; standing with Ward in his home feels wrong.

He doesn’t look at her. ‘It must be about four years,’ he says. ‘How is everyone?’

Skye’s not sure if he’s really asking, but if he is, she can’t really answer—with her own team, she hardly sees their old teammates any more. ‘Good,’ she says. ‘I think.’

He nods, but doesn’t ask her to go into detail. She can feel that they’re gently skirting round all of the multitude of sore subjects between them.

‘Have you been doing well?’ Skye asks. ‘I mean obviously you have been—you’ve got this.’

‘Yes,’ he agrees, and the soft look is back along with a small smile. ‘I’ve got this.’

Lincoln returns to her side. ‘We’re all packed up,’ he tells her.

‘Right,’ Skye says. She glances at Ward again. ‘We’ll get out of your house, then.’

Just as she’s leaving, Kara passes her a piece of paper with a mobile number. ‘Just in case,’ she says. ‘And Skye, don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope we never meet again.’

Skye nods. ‘I hope we don’t have to bother you,’ she says.

‘Being around Shield never ends well for us,’ Kara says. ‘We just want what’s best for our family.’

‘Of course,’ Skye says. ‘I understand.’

She follows Lincoln and Sebastian out. April’s waving from Ward’s arms.

Skye waves back. ‘Bye!’ she calls.

‘Bye,’ Iris says. She’s holding her mothers’ hands, and Kara gives a slightly half-hearted wave.

She turns to glance back at the apartment once she’s outside. By tomorrow, she knows Kara, Raina, Ward and their daughters won’t live there anymore. She wonders, briefly, if she’s made a mistake and she should have left them alone.

She was just doing her job. It could have been worse. She could have taken Coulson’s backup. And now they can all go their separate ways.

Except that Iris is on Shield’s system now, and can never get off. Skye panics suddenly that her first memory will be of the agents who threatened her parents and took her blood.

Lincoln comes back down the street, catching her hand. ‘Are you okay?’ he asks

‘Yeah,’ Skye says, and then, ‘did we do something wrong?’

He gives her the sort of look that makes Skye think he understands. ‘We did the same as ever,’ he says. ‘And it went better than half the cases we’ve handled.’

Skye nods. She can’t help thinking that he didn’t answer her question.

[joanbeauforts]

our eyes are never closing; our hearts were never broken

kara/raina/grant (+ raina/grant & kara/grant)

raina visits grant to drop off something -- someone, really -- and nothing goes as she’d expected. ao3.

Raina likes to think that usually she can make the right call. She’s always been a good judge of situations and of people and she knows when to make her escape.

This was not one of those times. And while she would like to make an escape, unfortunately it’s not really an option.

She takes a deep breath, steadying herself, and knocks on the door.

Grant answers. He’s got one hand on the gun tucked into his waistband.

‘This is yours,’ Raina says. She hands over the bundle of blankets before he can object.

Grant stares in shock. She can’t really blame him. ‘This is a baby,’ he says.

She sighs, a little exasperatedly. ‘Yes,’ she says.

He’s already cradling the baby gently and looking her a look of wonderment that makes Raina ache a little. ‘When you say it’s mine,’ he begins, and looks up at her in a way that finishes the question for her.

‘Ours,’ she confirms, softer than she means to, ‘yes.’

He hums, and the baby gurgles up at her father. ‘What’s it called?’ he asks.

‘Iris,’ she says, and she can see him trying it out silently.

‘A girl?’

Raina nods. ‘Yes.’

‘What happened to you,’ he asks, ‘in San Juan.’

She almost smiles, mouth twisting up. ‘I can see the future,’ she says. ‘You know, she’s inhuman too.’

Grant looks down at the baby in his arms, suddenly looking concerned. ‘Is she okay?’

‘She’s fine,’ Raina says. ‘Her powers haven’t been activated.’

‘She’s beautiful,’ he says. He looks up at her again, too serious. He’s missing the mask of charisma he put on with Hydra, and she’s not sure how she feels about it. ‘I’m sorry if you regret what happened on the way to San Juan, he says. ‘It was probably a mistake.’

She should say something, brush him off, but she’s not sure if it was a mistake.

‘And I’m sorry you were on your own,’ he adds, ‘when you had her.’

‘It wasn’t a problem,’ she says. It’s a lie – she was alone and terrified, but he doesn’t need to know that.

She takes a step back.

‘Are you leaving?’ he asks.

She smiles. ‘Why would I stay?’

He takes a moment to answer, shifting Iris in his arms. ‘What about her?’

‘You and Kara will take good care of her,’ she says. He looks a little surprised that he knows about Kara but of course she knows. ‘Where is she?’ she asks. ‘Wouldn’t she want to know who you’ve been speaking to for so long?’

Grant frowns slightly. ‘She’s on a supply run,’ he says. ‘She should be home soon.’

The word “home” is a strange kick in the gut. A reminder that she’s giving him what she’ll never have – a family.

‘I should leave,’ she says.

‘You can’t just leave me with a baby,’ he protests. ‘What do I feed her? I don’t have a crib for her –’

‘You’ll figure it out, I’m sure,’ she says.

‘Come inside,’ he says. ‘Just five minutes.’

She’s not sure why she doesn’t say no, but she follows him in anyway.

He’s still holding Iris, rocking her gently, as he puts on the kettle and sets about making tea.

She leans against his kitchen table. It’s all disconcertingly domestic.

He hands her a mug, and she takes it with a quiet ‘thank you’.

Against her better judgment, she asks, ‘So how have you been?’

He smiles, in the sarcastic, twisted sort of way that makes her think of how well they fit before she can stop herself.

‘Skye shot me,’ he says, ‘four times. I escaped with Kara. We’ve been running ever since.’

Raina looks around the kitchen. ‘This looks a little more permanent than on the run,’ she says.

He shrugs. ‘It gets tiring,’ he admits.

Raina hears the front door opening, and then Kara enters with a bag of groceries in each arm. She stops in the doorway, staring.

‘Grant,’ she says carefully. ‘What’s happening?’

Grant looks slightly lost for a second. ‘This is Raina,’ he says, gesturing towards her.

Kara nods, setting her shopping down. ‘She was in San Juan.’ She narrows her eyes at him slightly. ‘Why do you have a baby?’

‘She’s… mine. Ours,’ he says, and Raina isn’t exactly sure who “ours” refers to.

‘Grant,’ Kara says, exasperated, and Grant at least looks a little sheepish. ‘I said yes to a dog not a baby.’

Raina smiles despite herself.

Iris makes a little mewl of complaint, and Raina can see Kara melt slightly. Raina hates herself a little for how sweet she finds it.

She scoops the baby up out of Grant’s arms, rocking her and cooing gently. ‘This doesn’t mean I don’t think we should discuss this,’ she says.

‘Do you want to?’ he asks.

Kara frowns. ‘No,’ she admits. ‘She’s wonderful.’

Grant beams, and Raina feels strangely warm inside.

‘What about her?’ Kara asks, nodding towards Raina.

‘Oh,’ Raina says, speaking for the first time since Kara’s entered. She sets down her mug on the table behind her and straightens. ‘I’m not staying.’

Kara tilts her head, with a look of kindness that Raina isn’t used to. ‘Are you sure?’ she asks. ‘You’re her mother.’

This wasn’t how Raina saw this going. She shouldn’t say yes – the whole plan was to leave Iris and never look back.

She’s not ready to be a mother. She’s not supposed to be a mother.

‘I shouldn’t,’ she says.

Iris picks this opportunity to burst into tears. Grant looks suddenly terrified.

‘I’m sorry,’ he tells Iris, rocking her gently. He looks up between Kara and Raina, waiting for one of them to tell him what to do.

Raina frowns, because this was so not the plan, but she thinks if she doesn’t step in now Grant is going to start crying too.

‘Pass her here,’ she says, reaching out, and Grant hands Iris over.

Raina settles Iris in her arms so the her head lays in the crook of her shoulder, swaying and shushing her daughter as she learned to do in the first few days after her birth.

Finally, Iris goes quiet. Raina sighs softly. She doesn’t meet Kara and Grant’s eyes because she knows they’re both watching her – and if she sees the way they’re looking at her, she knows she’ll give in and stay.

‘She probably needs a feed or a change,’ she says.

‘We need to go shopping,’ Kara says. ‘We’ve got nothing for her.’

‘I don’t know what we need,’ Grant says, and Raina knows what they’re doing.

She caves anyway. ‘I could help,’ she says.

Kara breaks into the kind of smile that is all kinds of radiant and thoroughly unfair on Raina’s resolve to keep her distance. ‘Thank you,’ she says.

‘This doesn’t mean I’m staying,’ Raina insists.

It does.

[joanbeauforts]

shuffle meme ◇ karainward + 10am gare du nord     ➥ for suckitdomitian

[joanbeauforts]

what do you mean i’m not getting a spinoff show about raina + grant + kara living in a cute little house by the sea and walking their dogs and working on their mountain of issues together??? why else would they be basically writing the characters out of the show??