Saving Grant Ward

Chapter Four

The next morning (at 6am sharp, no matter how much it pained me), I stood in the main hall waiting to meet my guide. I'd rolled out of bed twenty minutes ago, thrown on my SHIELD uniform, and stumbled down to the main hall still half-asleep. Hopefully my guide knew a place we could get some caffeine before this whole tour thing started.

I glanced around the main hall, trying to pick out the guide in question, but nobody paid any attention to me. I glanced at my new SHIELD-issue watch as the minute hand moved past twelve. Apparently guides weren't expected to be here at 6am sharp.

I waited for another few minutes, taking in my surroundings and gradually waking up a little more, when I saw a familiar face stride through one of the far doors.

Agent Grant Ward was heading directly for me, walking with purpose.

You have got to be kidding me, I thought. Part of me wanted to duck out of the way, maybe go back to that lady at the desk and request a different guide, but realistically I knew that wouldn't be an option. My only choice was to take a deep breath and stand firm.

"Samantha Slater?" asked Agent Ward when he finally reached me, like we hadn't just met yesterday.

"Yeah, and Grant Ward?"

"Yes." He paused, glancing at his watch without looking at me. I felt confident he was doing it as a dramatic pause. "Have you memorized your map yet?"

"Yup." I grinned broadly, feeling proud at the surprised look on his face. It was only there for a second, but it was there.

"Well, you might be ahead of a few others, but it won't last past today. You're going to shadow me for the next week and then you'll officially be a student in the hardest SHIELD academy, Operations."

"Sounds good," I replied with a smile. Although Agent Ward still seemed a little rough around the edges, he didn't seem quite as hostile as yesterday, and we'd apparently be spending the next week together. It felt like I had a choice ahead of me: did I want to spend the next week arguing and bickering with this guy, or did I want to move past that and try to build some kind of a positive relationship? I decided to go for the latter.

"Follow me," he ordered and began walking out of the main hall.

"Where are we going?" I asked, hurrying to catch up and fall into step with him. He cut a glance in my direction, then went back to staring straight ahead.

"Training."

"...What kind of training?"

"Physical training."

"Like running or lifting or what?"

"Running."

"How far?"

"Five miles."

"Five miles! Are you kidding me?"

I was truly outraged. I'd been fit enough doing martial arts and preparing for hiking and backpacking in a gap year after high school, but I'd always hated just running for the sake of it, and I did not feel prepared to drop everything and run five miles, especially this early in the morning. Before I could say more about it, though, Agent Ward stopped dead in his tracks and whipped around to face me with a frown.

"Five miles is nothing," he said. "I normally go on fifteen mile runs to start my day, because when you're running for your life? Endurance matters. And you're supposed to be shadowing me. Shadows don't talk."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, calm down. I was just trying to be friendly."

"Specialists aren't supposed to be friendly. We get in, get the job done, and get out."