Saving Grant Ward

Chapter Fifty-Four

"I'm Hydra."

I stared at Grant in shock. He had to be kidding, right? There's no way he's for real.

"That's not a very funny joke."

"I'm not laughing."

"Okay, well I refuse to believe my best friend is a murderous traitor, so why don't you explain?"

"I'm Hydra, Slater. I have been since the day we met."

I didn't say anything, mostly because I didn't trust myself not to scream, cry, or hit him. Or all three. I just waited for him to continue.

"When Garrett pulled me out of juvy, he didn't just recruit me to SHIELD. He recruited me to be a double agent within SHIELD. That's what I've been doing since day one at SHIELD. Lying and spying."

I looked away, closed my eyes, and held the bridge of my nose. It felt like everything was spinning. This could not be happening.

"What have you done?" I asked.

"I know, Slater. I know."

"No, you don't. I'm asking you what, exactly, you have done to serve Hydra in your time at SHIELD."

I heard Grant shift nervously in his seat, but I didn't open my eyes.

"I told Garrett about Audrey, Coulson's old flame in Portland. I've been lying in wait on the team, ready to do Garrett's bidding at a moment's notice. I was supposed to shoot Thomas Nash to mislead all of you, and I was supposed to shoot Victoria Hand and anyone else on this plane to free Garrett on the way to the Fridge."

I shook my head and opened my eyes, taking my hand away from the bridge of my nose. I gave Grant a confused look.

"Did you know about the plane that came down and shot Hand anyway?"

"No, I swear I didn't."

I sighed in relief and slumped back in my seat.

"Well then, Grant, you really didn't do anything! I mean, you told Garrett about Coulson's old girlfriend, but that's it!"

"You don't get it," he said through gritted teeth. "I was here, and I was going to take the plane. I wasn't going to shoot you, but I was going to shoot EVERY SINGLE OTHER AGENT! I was going to kill innocent people for John Garrett!"

"Yeah, but you didn't!"

"But I was going to! I was willing to, until you came along!"

"Yeah, and I was going to leave our long-term survival gear on the plane before the Siberia mission because I thought we wouldn't need it on an in-and-out mission, until you came along and convinced me to bring it! 'Almost' and 'could have' mean nothing!"

"SAMANTHA I AM A HYDRA AGENT! You should be more upset!"

"You said that in the present tense. Are you still a Hydra agent?"

"I-! Well, no, I guess not anymore."

"Okay, cool. You did nothing in the past, you're not going to do anything in the future, so problem solved. As in, THERE IS NO PROBLEM!"

"Why aren't you more bothered by this?"

"Because you started talking like you were an active traitor! But you're not, Grant. You literally did nothing but share a small piece of gossip about Coulson."

"I am not a good man, Samantha."

"Who fed you that line of BS? Garrett? Your parents? Whoever it was Grant, I'm going to find them and punch them in the face, because that's the biggest lie I've ever heard. You are an amazing man. You're one of the best people I know."