Saving Grant Ward

Chapter Thirty-Five

A/N: Just a heads up, since the TV show already had a lot of the dialogue, I'm going to be focusing more on the parts that take place off-camera. There will still be some quotes from the TV show, especially before "Turn, Turn, Turn", but I'll still be creating new scenes and new dialogue to keep it interesting 😄

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"...What?" I asked, letting out a little laugh of disbelief. A split second later, from the balcony and much louder, came Grant's voice.

"What?"

Phil smiled at me, both of us ignoring Grant. I shook my head, still trying to process that he was actually here in front of me, that any of this was real.

"...How?" I finally managed to ask. The corner of Phil's mouth pulled up.

"Director Fury faked my death to motivate the Avengers. I stopped breathing for forty seconds. But I woke up in the ICU. Once I stabilized, I spent the next month recovering in Tahiti."

I shook my head. "I... I watched you die. I watched you bleed out, they pulled a sheet over your head when they carried you out!"

"...I can't say for sure, but I'd imagine that was part of the plan to fake my death. Make sure people saw it clearly, and believed it, so the Avengers would, too."

I couldn't help grinding my teeth and holding on to Phil a little tighter. Theoretically, from an incredibly zoomed-out perspective, I understood why that would've been necessary. Why agents believing they'd witnessed Phil's death would've helped make it credible to the Avengers, especially because of the call I'd made to Steve. But from a very personal level, I couldn't help wanting to kill Fury.

"So why am I just hearing about this now?" I asked. I couldn't keep a sharper edge out of my tone, although I tried. "Why didn't you tell me yourself that you were back before now? I- Phil, if it hadn't been for May, I don't think I ever would've come out of my room again. It devastated me to watch you die, and completely believe that I'd never see you again-"

My voice broke a little bit at the end, so Phil immediately pulled me back into a hug. I closed my eyes and focused on the feeling of holding onto him. I took a couple deep breaths and got the surge of emotions threatening to explode in my chest back under control.

"I know. I'm so sorry, Samantha," said Phil. "But I was completely off the grid for the recovery process in Tahiti, no contact with anyone. And when I got back to officially put this team together, you were at the academy, preparing to give a speech."

He pulled back this time, and I let him. He grinned at me.

"Nice job with that by the way."

"Nice job? You heard how it went?"

Phil shook his head. "I watched it. Ward managed to get in touch with one of the professors for a live stream while we were in the air, heading to LA for our first mission together."

My jaw dropped, and a few happy tears welled up again, although this time I managed to keep them in check.

"I... I can't believe you got to watch it. I'll be honest, the entire time I was up there, I was trying to channel you."

Phil gave me a warm smile. "You did a fantastic job."

"Except that we're never going to be invited back," Grant said, finally joining Phil and I. The other person I didn't recognize, who'd come back to the plane with Phil, stood just off to the side, watching us with confusion. I felt bad for not doing something to better include her, but I was still a little overwhelmed with processing, even as I turned to Grant.