I don't own Agents of SHIELD and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

Warning: Mentions of abuse

Senator Maynard Christian Ward seems like a nice person who wants to help them, and Skye was more convinced than ever that Grant was lying about the abuse. She didn't know what possessed her to bring the subject up to him but she definitely regretted it later. "You know, for a politician, you seem like a stand-up guy. Nothing like the stories Ward – Grant – used to tell me."

Maynard smiled and tried to hold back a rush of anger at the sound of his younger brother's name. "Oh, and what did you tell you? Nothing bad, I hope." When they allowed him to see Grant – and they would – he planned on kicking the shit out of him and he didn't think anybody would blame or stop him. They had fifteen years of missed moments to catch up – and Grant needed to finally pay for trying to kill him in that fire.

Skye just frowned, thinking about all the lies Grant must have told growing up. "Just that you beat up him and your younger brother for eating your birthday cake. He implied it was sort of a normal thing and also said your parents were 'worse', whatever that means but I don't buy a word of it." Grant Ward was made of nothing but lies and she didn't believe a damn word out of his mouth. And maybe mining her anger like this was a bad idea but Skye didn't give a fuck. She loved the man and he betrayed them all because of his SO. They meant nothing to him.

He had to keep a tight grip on his phone so he wouldn't explode. "Did he know? Huh. What a shocker. I wanted to lock him up and throw away the key when he tried to burn the house down with me inside it but then he disappeared. Must be the fault of this John Garrett you've mentioned." Maynard didn't mention that he already knew about John Garrett because their father tipped him off about Grant.

Alarm bells started ringing in Skye's head but she pushed them away for the time being. "We're grateful that you're willing to help. Sorry about the bag over your head when you came here – we have to be careful."

Maynard waved off her apology. "Don't worry about it, Agent Skye." It would have been nice to know where exactly this secret base was so Talbot could finally track these people but he'd figure out a new plan soon.

Coulson joined them and the two men started shaking hands. "Nice to meet you, Senator Ward. I'm thrilled you were interested in our little operation." He's suspicious of the man but that's because he doesn't trust anyone anymore.

"Well, anything I can do to do help. Now, I heard from Agent Skye that you're holding my brother in the basement. Is it possible I can see him? She said there's some sort of barrier." He will convince them to let it down but they don't need to know that part of the plan yet.

Skye frowned. "Are you sure you want to see him? That might not be the best idea, Senator." And fuck, alarm bells are ringing again but she will not listen to them. It's just because she's talking to another Ward and not because she believes Grant's stories. She really needs to shake this bad feeling overtaking her but it's persistent and won't go away.

"You don't have to put yourself through that." Coulson understands why the senator wants to see Grant (most likely for closure) but there's no need to do so.

"Believe me, Director Coulson, I can handle this." Maynard is pissed now and running out of patience. Who do these people think they are to keep him waiting? They will definitely pay for this as soon as possible.

Coulson sighed and gave in. "Fine, you can go down there to see him but I insist that Agents Skye and May accompany you as a precaution. I have some work to do but they'll be happy to help you."

May glared at Coulson because she didn't want to baby-sit a senator (especially one that was related to the traitor downstairs) and knew she couldn't get out of it. She pasted a fake smile on her face and turned to face Maynard. "Follow us, Senator Ward."

"Gladly, Agent May." He followed the two women down the stairs to Vault D and tried to prepare himself to meet the brother he hadn't seen in fifteen years. He couldn't wait to see and enjoy the look of fear on Grant's face once he realized who came to visit him.

"He's definitely going to be surprised to see you." Skye wondered how Grant would react before realizing she shouldn't care anymore. It didn't affect her life anymore, except when she visited him to get intel.

When the door opened, Grant expected to see Skye or Koenig. He blanched and scrambled back as soon as he laid eyes on Maynard. He tried to find the words to tell the others to run but failed because fear seized him. "Nice to see you again, Grant Douglas. Are you delighted to be rotting away in this cell for the rest of your life? Bet you thought you'd never see me again, huh? Too bad," Maynard taunted.

Skye and May exchanged worried looks right before Grant finally spoke up with a tinge of fear in his voice. "Please don't hurt them," he pleaded. He didn't want Maynard to go after them just because he was (used to be) close to this team.

"Now why would I do that when you're locked up? Or maybe you won't able to protect them from behind there, is that it?" Maynard relished the look on his face and the fact that it looked like Grant was about to break down. Good.

"Maynard, don't. I promise I'll be good. You don't have to do this." Grant would have cringed at how childlike he sounded but he was too freaked out to realize it.

"What is he talking about?" May kept a hand on her gun just in case because it seemed like this was about to end in disaster. This had definitely been a big mistake.

Skye watched Maynard and Grant warily and tensed in anticipation. Against her better judgment, she spoke to Grant. "Are you okay in there? You look like you're about to fall apart at the seams."

Grant started backing away even further and watched his brother with a careful eye the entire time. "Don't hurt them," he begged again, his voice cracking.

"Skye told me what you told her. Nobody believed you again, huh? Oh, you never reaped the benefits of being a Ward, did you, Grant? You were always the bad seed, the family fuck-up. This is a sweet security system. Too bad we didn't have this when we were growing up. You locking your bedroom doors never helped, did it?" Maynard pursed his lips and stopped May from making a movie by disarming her. "You don't want to try, ladies. I'm much stronger than you."

Skye's eyes widened with horror. "Grant was telling the truth and we let you walk in here like it was nothing."

"Bingo!" Maynard aimed the gun in Grant's direction. "Let down the barrier. Or maybe you won't have to – I'm sure a bullet can pass through this thing. It's time this fucking bastard pays for what he did to me."

Grant whimpered. "Don't, Maynard."

"Aw, is poor little Grant begging me to stop again? I'll get in there eventually and you'll regret ever going after me fifteen years ago. You always regretted locking the bedroom doors. You never knew that I stole a key from one of the maids Daddy Dearest was fucking and used it whenever I needed to. You never could protect little Rose and William. And William paid for it, didn't he? He drowned in that well because you couldn't save him." Maynard snorted at the growing anger Grant started displaying – and couldn't use to his advantage because of the overwhelming fear.

"You're going to pay for this, you sick bastard," a furious Skye snarled. She just needed to find a moment and exploit it as soon as possible.

Maynard ignored her. "You used to hate it when I sneaked into your room at night. You were scared shitless but you listened when I told you not to tell anybody about our little games but it's not like they would have believed you anyway. Mother and Father made sure of it."

He was so distracted unspooling a monologue (no wonder he was a senator), Skye found her moment quickly and took advantage of it. She disarmed him and punched him. While he was writhing in pain, she quickly reached for her tablet and closed the wall so Grant wouldn't have to face his abuser anymore. May arrested Maynard and led him upstairs but Skye stayed so she could keep an eye on Grant. She re-opened the wall and her heart broke when she saw him curled up in a ball in the corner, rocking back and forth. Paying no attention to her own safety, she let down the barrier and raced to his side. "He's gone now, Grant. May arrested Christian … Maynard, and he's never going to hurt you again."

Grant's body shook with fear and sobs he refused to let loose. "I didn't want him to hurt you," he finally whispered.

Skye hushed him. "He didn't hurt us so you can stop freaking out about that. Damn, he played the part of nice, helpful senator pretty well and fooled us all. And I am sorry for accusing you of lying before. That was wrong of me." She was still furious beyond belief at him but was willing to overlook it for the time being, especially when Grant looked like he was going to fall apart any second now.

"I'm still scared shitless of my own brother and I couldn't even do anything to protect you and May. What if he had gone after Fitz?" Grant laughed hysterically and hated himself even more for putting himself in this position. He deserved this – would have welcomed Maynard killing him – but the others didn't deserve to pay for his mistakes.

"We're going to make sure that doesn't happen and none of us were in danger in the first place. We wouldn't have let him shoot you stop so thinking like that." Skye still knew how his mind worked despite all the lies. She'd be back to yelling at him later when he didn't look like a terrified child.

Grant stared at the floor and tried to pull himself together but all of his usual coping methods had been shot to hell. "Fuck." And then he finally gave in and burst into sobs. He pulled away from Skye because he didn't want her to have to comfort him when she clearly still hated him but she refused to let go and just held him as he cried. "I'm sorry."

"No apologizing. It's okay to cry," she soothed. Skye wished she had listened to her initial gut feeling and kicked Maynard out but it was too late now. "This is a one-time deal by the way, so feel free to cry as much as you want without repercussions."

He laughed before his breath hitched and the sobs continued. "You should probably go before you get in trouble with Coulson for letting down the barrier."

"The things you worry about when you're upset, Grant. Coulson's not going to be mad and if he is, I'll set him straight." She didn't understand him sometimes – Grant Douglas Ward was definitely a mystery - but Skye was determined to figure the man out now. She wasn't content to sit back and not ask any questions after today's fiasco.

After Grant tired himself out, Skye set up the barrier again and marched up to Coulson's office. "Maynard Christian Ward has been 'escorted' off the premises and will never bother us again. We technically can't arrest him so we'll be placing him under investigation," May explained as soon as she saw her.

"Great. We are getting answers because fuck staying in the dark. Ward came face to face with one of his abusers today because we weren't cautious and that is fucking unacceptable. I'm starting my own investigation in the enigma that is Grant Douglas Ward and don't you dare think of stopping me."

"Wouldn't dream of it." A furious Coulson was more than happy to let Skye figure this out on her own. What happened today should have never happened in the first place so he was willing overlook her anger just this once.

None of them were prepared for the answers they were about to get about Grant's childhood, the mysterious five years after he escaped from juvie and before he joined SHIELD, and the fifteen years of hell he lived in because of John Garrett. It shook their world up and started Grant on the path towards redemption.