Saving Grant Ward

Chapter Eleven

From our first steps on the ground in Qaqortoq, we were undercover. Agents Grant Ward and Samantha Slater were no more; we'd been replaced by Kayla and Derek Monroe, a cheesy, touristy couple on a whirlwind tour of the world for their honeymoon.

Kayla and Derek loved everything they saw. They were over the moon to be on the trip they'd been dreaming about for over a year, ready to enjoy and experience it all as a couple. We paused to wave to the (fake) pilot of the Quinjet as it took off into the air again, giant smiles on both our faces. Then, shock of all shocks, Ward's smile stayed on his face as he took my hand and started swinging it back and forth between us as we walked towards town.

If anything stood a chance of breaking my cover, it was that. I'd known Ward was a good spy, but but to see him make such a gigantic shift in personality so quickly had my head spinning.

I managed to keep it together, though, and focus on our reality as Kayla and Derek as we strolled into town together. We walked hand in hand to a cute little hotel, staring in awe at just about everything we passed. The countryside rose up all around us and, despite the cold, my smile and excitement were real. This place was gorgeous, and I was happy to be here.

Ward checked us into the hotel while I hung back, taking in the lobby both as Kayla and as Samantha, canvassing the place. It was small but cute, without anyone of particular interest hanging around other than the person working the front desk. I let myself take it all in without worrying about cover for an extra second as I rejoined Ward and we walked to our room. For someone who'd never left New York as of last week, I was becoming quite a world traveler.

High school Samantha would have been proud as hell, if she could see me now.

Our hotel room fit the design of the lobby, small but cute. As soon as the door closed behind us, I turned to Ward with my hands on my hips.

"You know, you could give Tom Hanks a run for his money with that performance."

"What?" he asked, looking genuinely confused as he turned back to me.

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

He frowned, making it clear Grant Ward stood in front of me, not Derek. 

"That's our job. We're spies."

"I know, but still! It was freaky to watch." Ward just shook his head and moved to unpack his bag. As soon as he looked away, I smiled.

He had called me a spy, included in that "we". Not an ounce of doubt or hesitation about whether I really fit the bill of Specialist. That was progress if I'd ever seen it.

I left Ward to his unpacking in the living room and kitchen area and headed for the bedroom so he couldn't catch my smile and comment on it. Besides, I was determined to pick the bed by the window before he could.

I got through the doorway, then stopped dead in my tracks. So much for picking the bed by the window, since there was only one bed in the room.

"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."

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

Ward shook his head. "We're playing a happy couple. Asking for two beds would look suspicious, especially since this is supposed to be a honeymoon. 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."

"Alright, lecture noted," I said. "But I don't care, one of us is taking the couch. No offense, but I barely know you. We've spent, like, a week and a half together, including our time at the academy."

I trusted Ward, and I'd even started to like him, but that wasn't going to budge me. Maybe sharing a bed wasn't a big deal in general, but it felt like a big deal to me.

Ward let out a long sigh, but I could tell he'd given in. 

"Alright, fine. I'll take the couch. But someday, in your career 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, then turned to him. "But you don't have to take the couch. I'm smaller, I'd be fine."

He just waved me off, turned on his heel, and started working on the pull-out couch.

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.

Ward and I had both had incredibly long days, and thanks to the two hour time difference, the time in Greenland was just past 11pm. We headed to bed without further discussion, both more than ready to sleep; we'd still been in Costa Rica this morning, after all!

I let out an audible sigh as I finally laid down in bed. Ward had settled into the couch-bed in the other room, but we'd left the connecting door open just in case. Just before closing my eyes, I sat up halfway and called out to the other room.

"Goodnight, Ward!"

"Night, Slater," he grumbled in return, just loud enough to hear from the other room. I flopped back down with a smile.

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

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 but still freezing cold. I made a frustrated grunt into my pillow then rolled out of bed.

Literally shivering for the rest of the night was not a reasonable option, not least of all because I needed to be rested for our mission, bright and early tomorrow. I was desperate, and not too proud to endure the storm of teasing I knew was probably in my future.

I shuffled into the living room, half asleep, and nudged Ward awake with my shin.

"Ward."

"What?" he asked, sounding fully awake. It must've been that light sleeping practice he talked about. I'd hardly managed to say his name right through the filter of still being half asleep.

"...I'm freezing."

He took a deep breath in, then let it out in a long sigh as he rolled over to the other side of the fold-out bed, pulling back the covers for me as he went. I smiled.

He didn't say anything else as I climbed in. I became warmer instantly, since he'd just been laying in the same spot where I now was. I wasn't sure if it was kindness or exhaustion, but either way, I was grateful Ward didn't seem to need to comment on the fact that he'd been right.

"Thanks, Ward," I mumbled, pulling the covers up to my chin. Ward grumbled from beside me.

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

I smiled, then drifted off, back to back with Ward as both of us got some much-needed rest for whatever this mission might throw at us in the morning.