All of Me - Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D

Chapter 67

THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SCENES FROM CATWS ... also added on slight changed scenes or as I like to call them deleted scenes.

CHAPTER SIXTY SEVEN

Phil had closed the door upon Grant’s request and then made his way towards the table, pulling out the chair and taking a seat. He was now sitting opposite the younger man and could tell that something was seriously troubling him. “Grant?” he spoke after a moment. “You know that you can tell me anything. Is this about Skye?”

Grant felt the guilt wash over him. “No,” he answered with a shake of the head as he slumped his shoulders. “I’ve been keeping something from you - from this team,” he revealed after a moment. “I am not who you all think I am,” he added in a graveled ton, lifting his gaze to meet the older man’s.

Phil leaned back in his chair. What was he talking about? He was Grant Ward, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.  “You’re not making any sense.”

Grant could see the confusion etched across the older man’s face and knew that he was waiting for him to explain himself. The dark haired Specialist never thought that this would be this hard, not that he ever had planned on telling the team. John had sent him in to do a job and he had failed that job - got attached and fell in love. Something Grant didn’t think he was capable of.

“I was sent to this team to spy on it,” the words spilled from his mouth. “On you,” he finally revealed, feeling a weight left of his chest.

What? Phil quickly stood from his chair, taking a step back from the table. He had not expected that nor did expect to be having this late night conversation with the younger man. Was this a joke? Was Melinda or John playing a prank on him? This had to be a joke, but the look on the younger's face was indicating otherwise. “What do you mean that you were sent to spy on our team … me?” he asked with disbelief.

“S.H.I.E.L.D isn’t what you think it is,” Grant confessed, his voice stone cold. “It’s tainted and has been for a long time, there is darkness lurking in it. Another organisation implanted within it, just waiting for the right time to take over and rise from the shadows.”

Phil was gobsmacked with what he was hearing. S.H.I.E.L.D has been compromised, Nick's voice rang in his head. “Who?” he demanded, his voice growing colder.

Grant closed his eyes, knowing that his time was up and he now had to face the music and surrender. “HYDRA,” the word fell from his lips as his eyes reopened and locked onto the older man, absorbing in his reaction.

Phil was in shock. HYDRA? No, no, no, that cannot be possible. He began shaking his head. “Wait - stop, slowdown, rewind and repeat?” he quoted his daughter. “Captain America, Peggy Carter and the Howling Commandoes eliminated HYDRA a long time ago,” he defended in disbelief. “It’s not possible.”

“HYDRA just made them think that,” Grant revealed, feeling the lump form in his throat. “They knew that the SSR and later on S.H.I.E.L.D would keep on fighting until there was nothing left of them, so they decided take a step back into the shadows and wait it out. Grow stronger. Over the years, they began recruiting within S.H.I.E.L.D and if you were picked - you two options … join or die.”

Phil still couldn’t believe what he was hearing. HYDRA … this was the threat that Nick was worried about. Did he know it was HYDRA? That’s when it dawn on him. “Are you telling me that you’re HYDRA?” His daughter was in love with a HYDRA agent!  Anger bursted through him.

Grant could see the coldness in the older man’s steely blue eyes and heard the bite in his voice. He was angry and had every right to be. “Not technically,” he admitted, swallowing hard. “I don’t share their beliefs, but I was introduced to them before joining S.H.I.E.L.D. I was informed how S.H.I.E.L.D was poisoned and how HYDRA would one day raise for the shadows. He saved me,” Grant revealed, thickly. “He saved me from hell … so, I owed him my life. I was sent here with one goal … find out how you’re alive and I failed that - failed him. I was never meant to feel anything or care for the people on this plane,” he declared. “I was never meant to fall in love.”