Chapter Forty

When we touched down in Norway, I was just starting to feel awake. I'd had like five cups of highly-caffeinated tea, and I didn't even stumble as I got off the plane.

Coulson, Grant, Simmons, and I were headed for a national park, where apparently some whack-jobs had chopped down a tree and stolen an ancient scepter. As we trekked through the forest, I breathed in the outdoorsy smells. Being in the middle of a forest just felt so fresh and clean.

I sighed. "Norway.  I love it. Now I can finally cross it off my bucket list."

"Since when is Norway on your bucket list?" asked Grant, looking skeptical.

"Since now."

Grant rolled his eyes, but I ignored him and kept walking happily. Finally, we ended up at the fallen tree we were supposed to be investigating. Once we were on the scene, I started checking the ground and surrounding area for anything that might be useful while Phil talked to witnesses and Grant and Simmons investigated the tree.

Ever since almost falling to her death, Simmons had been terrified of anything remotely high up. I could hear her and Grant talking, and my heart swelled as I heard Grant coaching her up the tree like a caring older brother. I literally wanted to hug him. He was being so kind to someone he hadn't known for years! It was such progress for him!

After searching the site and not finding anything new, I headed back to stand with Grant. Simmons was scanning the thing in the tree to send back to Fitz. Suddenly, Skye and May came over the comms, patching us in to a news report about extreme rioting in Oslo.

"The rioting has left twenty injured, three in critical condition," said the reporter.

I glanced at Grant. This was not good.

"Reports indicate that the group of about a dozen was led by this man and woman," the reporter continued. I couldn't see their pictures yet since I didn't have my SHIELD tablet, but hopefully it was a good picture that would make them easy to find. "And though their motive was unclear, their message was hauntingly spelled out on the streets of Oslo."

Phil came over to Grant and I with his phone, holding up a still of the news broadcast. The message

WE ARE GODS

was carved into the pavement, spelled out in flames.

"Well I guess we know who they think they are," said Phil. I shook my head. I couldn't believe this. "Let's get back to the Bus and find these guys."

Grant nodded and I went to help Simmons pack up. Some people. Honestly. It felt like they just got crazier the longer I was at SHIELD.

****************

As soon as we got back to the Bus, we got an ID on our whackjobs and started digging into the artifact they pulled out of the tree. Phil knew a professor in Spain who he though could help, so it was wheels up for Seville ASAP. Coulson took FitzSimmons with him to talk to the professor with the model of the staff we pulled out of the tree, leaving Grant, May, Skye, and I behind on the Bus.

"Do you remember the last time we were in Spain?" I asked Grant, looking out from the ramp of the plane.

"How could I forget? It was the mission that resulted in Siberia," he said.

I gave him a "really?" look. "It was also the mission where we first talked about our lives before SHIELD. And the mission when I learned about your mud volcano trauma with Garrett. And when I realized you were a terrible driver. And when we started watching The Office!"

"You just had to bring up the mud volcano, didn't you?" asked Grant with a smile.

"Yeah, I did. That is the unprecedented best story about you."

"I'm glad you liked it so much," said Grant with an eye roll, "And I am not a terrible driver."

"Okay Grant," I said, patting him on the shoulder, "Whatever you need to tell yourself."

He scoffed and shook his head, then said, "It was a pretty good trip though, wasn't it."

"One of the best," I agreed. We stood there, looking out towards Seville, just being in each other's company. I wanted be closer to him, but I was worried any movement might be weird. What had happened? It was so easy to be close to him last time we were here, but now I was overthinking every little detail.

Before I could brood for too long, Phil and FitzSimmons drove up, back from their meeting with the professor.

We had a place to start looking for the rest of the staff, which meant it was time to get back to work.

****************

The original lead, some place in Canada, didn't pan out, but Skye dug up some Norse history that pointed to a church in beautiful Seville, which meant we wouldn't even have to fly somewhere to start the search. Grant, Skye, and I were in charge of searching the tunnels and dungeons under the church, which I was not entirely happy about. Even worse, we had to split up.

"This feels like a horror movie waiting to happen," I said before the three of us parted ways.

"Calm down Slater, you're a Level Seven. You shouldn't be scared by old hallways," replied Grant.

"That's exactly what the first person to die says. And I swear, if I'm right, my final words will be 'I told you so'."

Grant shook his head and started down the creepiest tunnel to the left, making me even more sure that he was going to die first.

I sighed and started for my own tunnel, leading in the opposite direction. "Good luck Skye. See you in a bit."

"Yeah, see you," she said as she began the inspection of her dungeon.

As if the dark, creepy tunnels weren't bad enough, there were massive spider webs everywhere, which almost definitely meant massive spiders. One of my least favorite things in the world was massive spiders.

After a few minutes of cautious exploration, I head Fitz and Coulson over the comms, checking in with everyone's progress. Grant hadn't found anything, and neither had Skye. She had called Grant her SO, and I couldn't tell if it was the comment or the spider web that was making my skin crawl. I also had to report that I'd found nothing, which meant we had to stay in the tunnels longer.

"Ward," I heard Fitz say over the comms, "Your spectrograph is reading something near you.

"I don't see anything," was his reply. I sent up a silent prayer that nothing would happen to him. As much as he annoyed me sometimes, I didn't really want him to die like in a horror movie.

"Well, it's right in front of you," insisted Fitz cautiously, "Oh wait. No. Uh, okay, hold on. It's moving. Northwest."

"Visual contact," barked Grant. I could hear in his voice that he was running, and I decided to head back towards his tunnel in case he needed backup.

"Okay Ward, turn left," directed Fitz. I sped up, starting to get worried. I knew Grant could take care of himself, but Skye and I were far enough away that he had virtually no backup.

"Ran into some unexpected com-" started Grant, cutting off mid-sentence. He started yelling and grunting like he was in serious pain, and I broke into a full sprint.

"Ward what's happening?" asked Phil. He didn't respond.

"His device just went down," added Fitz, and it took all my training not to completely panic.

Skye was already on her way to Grant, but she had almost no training. She wouldn't be able to help him if something was seriously wrong. I sped up, pushing my body as fast as it could go.

I managed to catch up to Skye, who was hurrying through the tunnels, but still with some degree of caution. She was probably smart to be careful, but I didn't care. I needed to get to Grant.

I flew past her and around a corner to see Grant lying on the floor, not moving.

"Grant!" I yelled, kneeling down next to him, "Please, please be okay."

I reached out to grab his shoulder, and the minute I touched him he gasped and jolted upright, scrambling backward in a panic.

"Oh my God, Grant, Grant, calm down, it's okay, it's okay. It's okay, breathe."

He leaned up again the nearest wall, still breathing heavy. I reached out and put a hand on his arm, trying to gauge his expression. He looked more shaken than I'd ever seen him before.

By this time Skye had caught up, and she was standing behind me, looking worried.

"The staff," said Grant suddenly, barely able to get the words out, "He has it."

Skye relayed the communication to Coulson through the comms, but I didn't take my eyes of Grant.

"Skye, go help Coulson," I said, still not looking away.

"I don't think I should leave," she said.

"Coulson doesn't have backup because Fitz isn't an Operations agent. He might need help. I'll take care of Grant."

She sounded reluctant, but I heard her turn and head back down the tunnel. Once she was gone, I moved closer to Grant.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I touched the staff," he said, shaking his head and still not sounding anything like himself.

"What happened when you touched the staff?"

"It showed me the well. It made me relive the entire memory."

The first time we were in Spain was the first time he told me about his past, but over the past three years of being together in the field, he'd told me everything about growing up and training with Garrett, up until the day I met him, including his worst memory. The time his older brother made him throw his younger brother down a well.

I knew there wasn't anything I could say that would make it better, so I didn't say anything. I just moved in and hugged him, with my head on his chest, and waited for his heartbeat and breathing to slow back to normal.