Saving Grant Ward

Chapter Eleven

The minute we stepped off the plane, we were undercover. Grant and I were a cheesy, touristy couple, Kayla and Derek, who were on a crazy, whirlwind tour of the world for their honeymoon. They were constantly acting peppy and excited about everything they got the chance to see in their trip around the globe. As we walked away from the airfield, Grant grabbed my hand and started swinging it back and forth with his, smiling interestedly at the surrounding countryside.

It was bizarre.

Like, I know he's a spy, but damn. He pulled a complete 180 in .2 seconds as we stepped off that plane.

We strolled into town hand in hand, walking to a cute little hotel. The countryside rose up all around us and despite the cold I was really happy to be here. It was so beautiful.

We walked into the hotel together and Grant checked us in. It was small but it was cute, and as we walked to the room together I started to feel accomplished. I was becoming a world traveler through this new job at SHIELD.

As soon as we were in the privacy of our room, I turned to Grant.

"Dude. You could give Tom Hanks a run for his money with that performance."

"What?" he asked, looking completely bewildered as he checked out the room.

"You went from cranky and surly to a lovey-dovey stereotype in seconds."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "That's our job. We're spies."

"I know but still! It was freaky to watch." He rolled his eyes at me, but I didn't care. He had called me a spy, and that was proof that he was finally starting to respect me as a coworker and not some starry-eyed beginner.

I walked into the bedroom, determined to pick the bed by the window before he could, but I stopped in my tracks when I got through the doorway. There was only one bed.

"Ward!" I called. He joined me in the doorway.

"What's the problem Slater?"

"Our room only has one bed."

"And?"

"And why is that?"

"Because we're married."

"Ok, Kayla and Derek are married, but you and I are not."

"We're playing a happy couple. If we asked for two beds, we would look suspicious. People would think we were having relationship problems and our cover might be hurt. Besides, some missions might take you out into the middle of nowhere for months with your partner, or even with me. Sleeping in the same bed isn't a big deal, and you need to get used to it at some point," he said, giving me a pointed look.

"Well," I said, already deciding I was NOT going to give in the easily, "I don't care what you think, one of us is taking the couch."

Maybe it wasn't a big deal in general, but it felt like a big deal to me.

Grant rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll take the couch. But someday as an agent you might be in the middle of nowhere with your partner and you're not going to have a choice but to grow up or freeze."

"Wow. That's grim," I noted, "But you don't have to take the couch, I'm smaller I'd be fine."

He just waved me off and pulled the couch out into a bed.

I smiled to myself and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. It was sweet of him to be willing to take the couch, and I hadn't expected him to do that. I still had a lot to learn about my SO.

Greenland was two hours ahead of New York, so even though it was only about nine to us it was eleven local time. We wanted to get our body clocks adjusted as soon possible, so even though we'd just landed we were going to bed.

I finished in the bathroom and climbed into bed. A few minutes later Grant was done in the bathroom and he headed into the other room to the couch.

"Goodnight Ward!" I called.

"Night Slater," I heard him mumble, barely audible from the other room.

****************

I woke up suddenly, absolutely freezing. I rolled over to look at the clock.

2:30 am

"You have got to be KIDDING me," I mumbled. Didn't this stupid hotel have a heating system?

I rolled over and pulled the covers around me tighter, trying trap the heat in. I laid there for almost ten minutes, curled tight in a ball and freezing. I made a frustrated grunt into my pillow then rolled out of bed.

I was tired and cold, and therefore desperate. I shuffled into the living room, half asleep, and nudged Ward awake with my shin.

"Ward," I mumbled.

"What?" he asked, sounding fully awake. It must be all that spy practice. I could hardly form a sentence without slurring my words.

"I'm freezing."

I heard him take a deep breath in and a long sigh out before rolling over to the other side of the fold-out bed, pulling back the covers for me as he went.

I smiled to myself. Maybe he was just too tired, but I was really grateful he wasn't making this awkward just to mess with me.

I laid down next to him, pulling the warm covers up over me. Now I might actually be able to get some sleep.

"Thanks Ward," I mumbled as I drifted off to sleep.

"Go the hell to sleep and stop waking me up... and you're welcome."

I feel asleep with a smile on my face, laying comfortably next to Grant Ward.