Saving Grant Ward

Chapter Thirty-Seven

It took a few moments for all of us to get up and moving again. We were still a little quiet, recovering from shock, as Phil gave us instructions. He sent Fitz and Simmons to move the device to the lab, with the rest of us assisting as needed. He headed upstairs to go check on May, and I started to move closer to Fitz and Simmons, until Grant headed off in the other direction.

I frowned, then followed him.

"Where are you going?" I asked as we cleared the doors to the lab.

"To patch myself up. I got hit back at the temple."

My heart dropped, although I recovered quickly enough, since Grant clearly wasn't losing significant amounts of blood. I took a deep breath, then walked a little faster so I could fall into step beside him.

"A month on solo missions clearly made you forget, but usually, we patch each other up after a mission."

Grant shot me a look, but he didn't argue. We reached a med pod and he peeled off his jacket, then lifted his shirt. I grabbed the nearest first aid kit, then stood close beside him.

"Mmm... doesn't look bad," I said. "Just a scratch, really. We'll disinfect it, but you probably don't need more than some gauze."

He just hummed, holding still while I got to work. I could feel myself relaxing as I quickly cleaned up his wound, then grabbed a gauze pad. The past hour had been completely insane, with a lot of confusion and panicked shouting. Going through the regular motions in a quiet room with Grant provided some space to breathe I hadn't realized I'd needed.

"...You think we're ever gonna get the three of them up to speed?" I finally asked. Grant let out a long, heavy sigh.

"I don't know. Today went terribly. We should probably all be dead right now."

"Yeah..." I straightened up, finished securing the gauze pad. Grant dropped the hem of his shirt and pulled his jacket back on, but neither of us moved an inch. "...I kind of don't want to go back out there."

Grant huffed. "Yeah, but we have to. We need to debrief, immediately. What happened today cannot be allowed to happen again."

I started to speak, but before I got the chance, Grant's attention caught on something outside the medical pod. He stood to leave, and I turned around to find Fitz, hurrying back towards the lab with a case in his hands. Grant walked after him with purpose, and I followed, too.

"Grant-" I started, trying to warn him to be gentle. Fitz hadn't gone through Ops and that particular brand of communication, and nobody liked being yelled at. But he caught up to Fitz and started talking before I could get a word out.

"Fitz," Grant called. "What happened today can't happen again. Next time something's threatening the safety of the team, I need you to explain to me, clearly and quickly, what the threat is and how to deal with it."

"That's what I did!" Fitz shouted. I groaned as I trailed after the two of them, especially as Grant moved ahead of Fitz, striding with purpose back to the lab. This wasn't going to be pretty. "That's exactly what I did!"

"No, it's not. You talked plenty, but never once did you explain what you meant!"

"Are you mental?" demanded Fitz as we reached the back door to the lab and it slid open, revealing Simmons and Skye. Simmons had the device out on the table, but she turned to look at the three of us as we came in. "I did explain in great detail exactly what I meant using the queen's bloody English!"

"I use normal English," Grant shot back, his tone notably sharper than it had been a moment before. He followed Fitz as Fitz moved past him to unpack his case at the table with the 0-8-4, hovering over Fitz's shoulder with a glare. "Words like 'duck' and 'run' and 'might blow us to pieces'."