Chapter Twenty-Three

After a few days stay in the hospital, Grant and I were back on our feet. We still weren't cleared for missions or any kind of training or physical exertion, but we could walk around and we didn't have to stay in the medical rooms anymore.

"C'mon, I want to go find Coulson and Garrett," I said to Grant as we finished checking out of the 'hospital'.

"I think that's a good idea," he said, making me narrow my eyes at him. He was clearly hiding something, but I wasn't sure what.

No one had visited us while we were confined to our hospital beds, because the doctors said it might put too much stress on us to start thinking about our mission. I had been going insane lately, desperate for information. I'd managed to weasel one of the doctors into telling us how long we'd been gone, and I'd started yelling in disbelief when he'd answered with 4 months. 4 months. 4 months of our lives gone, wasted in that Siberian hellhole. With another week in the hospital, it was now early February. We had left in October.

Maybe they were right about the stress.

Either way, I was now thanking God that Grant and I were back on our feet, finally able to walk freely again.

"I bet you agree with me now, huh?" I asked Grant as we went to find Coulson and Garrett.

"On what?"

"Hating the cold and camping."

Grant gave a small laugh, which I was relieved to see. "Yeah, I could probably do without cold or camping for a while."

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked.

"Yes, we're meeting in one of the conference rooms."

"Wait what? We're having a meeting? Why?"

"You'll see."

I gaped at him. "Seriously?"

"Seriously what?"

"We just survived an icy hell together and you're keeping secrets?"

"It's more of a surprise than a secret."

I rolled my eyes and huffed, but continued to follow him down the hallways. I had to admit, I was starting to get seriously curious about what this surprise could be.

I walked into one of the many conference rooms ahead of Ward, and found Coulson, Garrett, and May waiting for me.

"Surprise!" They yelled.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking to Phil with the best puppy-dog eyes I could. He seemed most likely to break.

"After a review of the events and your actions in Siberia, it has been decided that you have proven yourself capable of being a full agent," said Phil, grinning as he held out a badge with my name on it.

"OH MY GOSH! Really? I'm a full agent now?" I asked, my face breaking into a huge smile as I looked around the room.

"Yup, it's for real," said May, coming over to stand with Phil.

"THIS IS INCREDIBLE!" I yelled, jumping up and down as I took the badge from Phil. I turned to Ward. "You can't pull rank on me any more!"

He was smiling, but it turned into a frown when I said that.

"No, no, no, that's not true, I'm still a level 2, you're only a level 1."

"Hmm... well I'm just going to have to kick ass until I pass you up then, aren't I?"

Grant looked dumbfounded at my words, which only made me feel happier. I turned around and gave Phil and May a big hug.

"Thank you guys!" I said happily.

"No problem," said Phil.

"You earned it," agreed May.

They left shortly after, apparently there was some crisis they had to deal with, but they made sure to assure us that the Maw' Tej labs had been completely destroyed, everyone now in custody of SHIELD, the technology destroyed so no one else could use it to wreak havoc on the world. Grant and I had saved the day.

"Nice job kiddo," said Garrett, coming over to shake my hand before he left.

"Thanks!"

"And thank you for keeping this one alive," Garrett added, gesturing to Grant.

"He kept me alive as much as I did him. Neither of us would have made it out of there if we hadn't been together."

Garrett nodded, seemingly thoughtful, then gave Grant a pat on the back as he left.

Once everyone was gone, I turned to Grant and gave him a big, crazy smile.

"I'm a full-fledged agent," I repeated. It still hadn't fully sunk in.

"Congrats," he said, smiling and wrapping one arm around me.

"Let's go somewhere with limited clearance. I want to unlock something with my badge."

Grant laughed. "Alright, sounds good to me."

"So when's our next mission gonna be? When did the doctors say we'd be cleared?" I asked as we walked down the hall.

Grant stopped and looked at me. "What do you mean? You're a full agent now, and Specialists work alone."

My mouth dropped open in shock. This had to be a joke!

"Are you kidding?" I asked, not feeling any of the happiness or excitement I had before.

"No. That's how it works. Garrett was my SO, then when I became a full agent I ran my own missions."

"That's complete crap! We survived Siberia for four months! I thought you were gonna be my partner now, not that we'd just go our own way, just like that, after everything we did together!"

Grant sighed. "Look, Slater, that's just the way the SHIELD works. Specialists collaborate occasionally, but mostly we get in, get the job done, and get out. Alone."

"If it were up to you, would you want to become partners, or work alone? And be honest Grant, seriously, even if the answer is work alone."

Grant sighed again, this time deeper and heavier, like he was admitting something to himself.

"I'd want to be partners," he mumbled, "But that's just not the way the world works."

"Like hell it's not. If you just sit back and accept things, you're going to get nowhere in life. All I needed to know was that you want to be partners, too. Now, I'm taking matters into my own hands."

I marched off in the opposite direction, heading for the elevators.

"Slater? Slater! Samantha, where are you going?"

"Director Fury's office. He's supposed to work in this building, isn't he?" I saw a look of panic on Grant's face before he rushed to catch up to me.

"Slater, you can't just barge into the office of the director of SHIELD. What kind of plan is that?"

"My kind of plan," I answered, hitting the elevator button for the highest floor. I just hoped Fury was here, and not on the Helicarrier or some secret base I didn't have the clearance level to know about.

Grant shook his head and looked about ready to tear his hair out, but he was still on the elevator next to me, which I took as a good sign.

The elevator dinged as it reached the top floor, and I stepped out to see a long hallway with guards at the end of it. Hopefully, that meant Fury was in the building.

"This is a terrible idea," muttered Grant, looking at the floor of the elevator instead of at the guards now staring us down.

"This is a brilliant idea," I countered before walking forward confidently. After surviving 43 near-death experiences, approaching the director's office was nothing.

"Halt. Who goes there?" asked one of the guards. His partner elbowed him in the side.

"Cut it out Jones. This is serious. What if these guys are a threat?"

"Oh, lighten up Matt. I'm sure they're just lost newbies or something."

The second guy, Matt, shook his head, but Jones didn't give him a second look as he approached Grant and I.

"Hey guys, this is the office of the director. Nobody unauthorized is allowed up here. Can I see your ID cards?"

"Sure," I said, smiling brightly as I handed my new badge over to Jones. This was an awesome first use.

"Level 1? So are you lost then?"

"No, actually, I'm here to see the director. I think the no partners rule is BS and I'm going to convince him to change it." He flipped up the visor on his tactical helmet to get a better look at me.

"How long have you been at SHIELD, exactly?"

"As a full agent? Less than an hour."

Jones looked shocked, then he started laughing.

"You got guts, I'll give you that. This the guy you want to be partners with?" he asked, gesturing to Grant.

"Yup."

"I'll need to see his badge, too."

"Of course. Grant?"

Grant rolled his eyes, but handed over the badge anyway.

"Grant Ward... hey, are you the two that just came back from Siberia? I heard you did a killer job with the Russian Embassy mission Agent Ward."

"That's us," I answered as Grant nodded a thank you.

"Well, congrats on making it back home. The director doesn't have any appointments right now, so I don't see the harm in letting you in."

Matt, the other guy, had been silent until now, but apparently felt the need to step in.

"You don't see the harm? Jamie, are you kidding?" I guess Jones's first name was Jamie.

"Yeah. Come on Matt, what are they gonna do? They just got back from Siberia, they just want to stay partners, it's sweet. What kind of people would we be if we didn't help them out?"

Matt's jaw dropped to the floor.

"What kind of... What kind of people? Really? Well I know what kind of people we'll be if we let them in. JOBLESS! And potentially COURT MARSHALED!"

"They do that at SHIELD?" I asked Grant in a whisper. He just shrugged.

"Oh, come on Matthew," said Jamie, "We gotta-"

"What? What is so important that you gotta yell about it in my hallway?" The doors behind Matthew and Jamie had opened without either of them noticing, revealing a clearly unhappy Fury.

"The no partners rule," I said, not giving Matthew or Jamie the chance to talk as I rushed towards director Fury, stopping right in front of him, "Sir, the rule that Specialists can't work as partners is, with all due respect, ridiculous.

"What are you talking about?" asked Fury, "Agents do missions together all the time."

"Yes, but they're temporary team ups. Agent Ward and I have survived 43 near-death experience together and kept each other alive and sane through all of them. I think it's ridiculous that we can't be permanent partners anymore just because I'm now a full agent."

Fury looked at me like he couldn't believe I was real. He was noticeably taller than me, and I'll admit I was starting to feel a bit intimidated, but I was not about to quit now.

"You kept count of your near-death experiences?"

"Yes sir."

"And you came all the way up here, completely unauthorized, just to ask permission for you and your boyfriend to stay together?"

"He's not my boyfriend, but otherwise, yes sir."

Fury sighed and looked up at the ceiling, then looked back to me.

"If you're that determined, then fine. I can make an exception. But you two better be the best, most productive team this agency had ever seen."

"Will do sir!" I said, saluting for good measure as I turned towards Ward and the elevators before he could change his mind. I swear I heard him chuckle as I grabbed Ward by the arm and dragged him away as fast as I could.

"Thanks Jamie, bye Matt," I said in passing, jamming the 'down' button on the elevator until the doors were all the way closed.

Once we were alone again, I turned and looked at Grant with a triumphant grin on my face.

"Well?" I asked.

"Well?" he parroted.

"Am I brilliant or what?"

"I'd go with crazy," he replied.

"Well, whatever you go with, my plan worked. We're partners now," I said, bumping his shoulder with my own.

Grant sighed. "I'm starting to get the feeling I might regret this."

"You know you love me," I said, giving him a friendly punch in the arm.

"Ha. Sure, whatever," he replied, not looking at me as we stepped off the elevator together.

We walked a few steps down the hallway, then something occurred to me.

"Do you think we're going to have to write a report about the four months we spent in Siberia?"

"I'd be willing to guess yes."

"Ugh. Even after the trauma we went through? I'm going back up to talk to Fury," I said, spinning around to face the elevator.

"No! No no no no no," said Grant, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me back.

"Relax! I was kidding. But I'm still just going to summarize most of the wilderness survival stuff."

Grant shook just shook his head as he let go of my waist. "Whatever Slater."

"C'mon," I said, "Let's go down to the cafeteria and get some good food. We're gonna be eating together all the time now that we're official partners."

"Wonderful," said Grant. He meant to be sarcastic, but I got the feeling that he secretly meant it.