Facing Your Destiny [Book 2]: A Grant Ward FanFic

Chapter 11 - Arguments And Reminiscing.

Aftershocks.

Taylor's torso begins to break first, then down her arms. After she breaks out of it completely, she feels as if her body's on fire. She's the first to be released. She sees Tripp and sobs. She sees Tripp, as he crumbles into nothing before her very eyes. The losses were bad, but she couldn't bear this. Devastation was an understatement.

Taylor's still inside the isolation pod as she awakens from her dream. She rubs her eyes and flips onto her back, and she can see someone sitting in a chair just outside her pod. It's Coulson sitting in the chair, Taylor looks over at him.

"I haven't been able to sleep either." Coulson states. Taylor sighs and sits up on her bed facing Coulson.

"I keep thinking Tripp is gonna come see me. Make fun of me for being stuck in quarantine, call me a hamster or something. And every time I wake up..." Taylor says. Her voice breaks as tears fill her eyes. "I remember it all over again." She looks down sadly. "I just can't believe he's not coming back. He should not have been down there."

"You all went in for a good reason." Coulson told her. She looks up at him with unbelieving eyes. "To prevent HYDRA from starting a cataclysm."

"He was trying to save her." Taylor spat, pointing at a sleeping Skye.

"He may have saved all of us." Coulson replied. He stands up from his chair and walks to the glass separating them. "The Obelisk triggered a massive earthquake. Imagine how much worse it could have been if he hadn't destroyed it. He died a hero." Taylor nods sadly. "Once medical clears you, we'll get you out of there. You'll just be stuck underground, like the rest of us."

"How's everyone doing?" She asks.

"Just trying to keep busy. Everyone deals with it in their own way. When you sign up for this kind of life you accept that loss will be part of it, but you never get used to losing one of your own. Especially when it's a good man like Tripp. It happens too much. And over time, it makes it harder to let people in. Sometimes, just makes you want to pack up and run." He explains.

"Is that what you want to do, run?" Taylor asks. He's nodding sadly at her.

"Sometimes. You?" He replies. She sniffs and looks around her cell.

"Couldn't if I tried." She gets off the bed and starts to pace. "How long did it take for Mack to get out of quarantine?"

"He cleared pretty quickly. Whatever took over his system is gone, but he's pretty shaken up." He explained.

"And Simmons, is she back?" She asked, hopeful. Coulson shakes his head.

"Not yet. She has a team documenting whatever they can in the tunnels, cleaning up. But it's slow going with no electricity. She'll assess the structural integrity of the place and if possible, blow one of the vertical shafts under the ocean floor, flood the city with water." He explained.

"And drown it for good." Taylor finished.

"Hopefully, the bedrock wasn't too badly damaged by the quake. The temple collapsed on itself. It's a miracle you two are still alive." Taylor looks down and away from him, almost looking guilty.

"Did you find Raina's body yet?" She asked

"There's a lot of rubble to dig through, but not yet. Whatever gas came out of that Obelisk hit you two, too. That's why we're being extra cautious. It's hard to make sense of all this." He told her. She looked confused at him.

"What? What–no. No, it isn't." She started. She stops pacing and looks at him. "We lost. We failed."

"Taylor, don't say that." He told her.

"It wasn't because of HYDRA. It was because of her." She spat.

"Don't blame her. She's already blaming herself." She gets angry and begins to yell at Coulson.

"Good. If she didn't go down there, I wouldn't've followed and you could have blown the place!" She shouts. "I wasn't the one who was curious!"

"That was one battle, this is a war."

"And Ward and my father–" She tries to continue.

"Taylor." He warns.

"The rotten core at the centre of everything!" Coulson hits the glass hard, getting her attention.

"We did not fail! Tripp prevented a disaster and Whitehall's dead. We cut off the head. And while HYDRA scrambles for a new one, I will crush them! I'm gonna make somebody pay, whoever the hell it is." He told her. But this still didn't stop her from arguing.