Chapter Forty-Two

A/N: Sorry this one's a little late! Things have been getting crazy at school, so my updates might be a little all over the place, but I promise I haven't forgotten about this story 😊 also, since you guys seems to like Grant's perspective a few chapters ago, there's another part from his POV in bold 😄

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By the time we got to the church, it was already getting dark. It was abnormally quiet as we walked towards the alter. I hated to admit it, but I was actually getting pretty creeped out. I shifted a little closer to Grant.

"Still here," announced the professor, walking up to the alter. I stayed back with Grant, scanning the shadows and corners of the room. Call me paranoid, but I just got a bad feeling about the place.

Grant and the professor traded a few barbs, and then the professor lead us upstairs.

"It's quiet," May commented. Great minds think alike.

"Why do you think I trusted them with my secret?" asked the professor, "They take a vow of silence."

I looked over my shoulder, back down to the pews below. I didn't like this one bit, vow of silence or no.

"But, when you get them talking..." said a male voice, coming around a corner just ahead of the professor. The psychopath who had taken the first piece of the staff was here. My worst fears had been confirmed. "... they squeal."

He lunged forward and stabbed the professor in the heart.

"If you want to defeat a god, you must become one," he announced, a manic glint in his eye as he advanced towards us.

No one moved, the staff still sticking out of the professor's unconscious body, until Grant stepped forward.

"Grant," I lunged forward and put a hand on his arm to stop him, "You don't have to do this."

"Yes. I do."

He lunged forward and grabbed the staff, yanking it out of the professor's body. It started glowing red as Grant screamed in rage, then ran into Jakob the nut job and tackled him off the balcony. Off the freaking balcony!

"Grant!" I yelled, running to the railing. I wasn't sure if I should be relieved or worried to see him up, still rage screaming and apparently determined to kill Jakob with his bare hands.

I muttered a curse under my breath as I turned and headed for the stairs. I didn't know if there was a way for me to help, but I sure as hell wasn't going to sit and watch from a story up.

I got downstairs just in time for Grant to be thrown into a pillar. When he rose, he had an expression on his face like nothing I'd ever seen. He looked murderous. He'd said he was experiencing pure hate, but when I saw his face, I realized for the first time that he wasn't exaggerating.

He dropped the staff and sent Jakob flying into a wall, knocking him unconscious.

"Grant," I said, starting towards him. He needed to calm down now that the danger was over.

"Get back," he growled, looking angry and a little scared. I think he was worried he'd hurt me.

May and Skye joined me downstairs, but I didn't pay attention to them. I kept my eyes locked on Grant.

"I know you better than just about anybody. You will be okay, and I trust you," I said, never breaking eye contact. I stepped towards him, and he didn't recoil, which I took as a good sign.

Things were going great until a hoard of Jakob's wacko followers busted down the door and started coming for us.

"Get back," Grant ordered sharply. He stepped towards the oncoming mass and took each one down with scary efficiency, not giving any motion or action a second though. He worked his way through the aisle between pews until he got to the door, leaving a dozen corpses in his wake.

He absolutely lost his mind.

He fell to his knees at the end of the aisle when he was done, dropping the staff and keeling over.

"It's okay, it's okay," I said, babbling as I rushed to his side, "It's over. Grant, it's over."

I sank down on the floor next to him, putting my arms around him and not caring who saw. Grant was breathing heavy, but I also thought he looked better. Less angry.

Maybe working through all the hate and going through his whole memory somehow helped him to move on.

But, surprise surprise, the moment things were looking better, the girl, Petra, came through the door with her own piece of staff.

Grant sighed and started going for the staff again, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Grant, you can't. You can't do that again."

"I have no choice." He lurched for the staff again, but this time May caught his arm and pulled him back.

"This time, let me help," she said, so quiet I could barely hear her. To my immense relief, he listened to her, collapsing back against me.

"Thank God. C'mere," I said, pulling one of Grant's arms around my shoulders. Skye came over and helped me limp him to the side of the room.

By some miracle, May was able to hold the entire staff, and kicked the crap out of Petra. I knew she was seeing Bahrain, but I'd never known the specifics. I hoped she would be okay.

I wanted to help her and Grant so, so much, but I didn't know how. It didn't compare to anything my teammates were dealing with, but it was killing me to be forced to sit on the side, unable to do anything but be moral support. I leaned against Grant, doing my best to stay calm. He needed me, which meant I couldn't get worked up about my own frustrations right now.

After we dealt with some cleanup and all the aftermath of the events at the church, we headed to a nearby hotel to decompress. It was good to spend some time off the plane and in an actual building with a bedroom and private bathroom.

After I'd dumped my small bag in my room, I went to go find Grant. I checked his room first, then headed downstairs. I found him sitting at the bar, nursing a drink.

"Hey. What's a guy like you doing in a place like this?" I asked, sitting down next to him. He gave me a half-hearted smile. "It's good to see you smiling, if only a little bit."

"It's a bizarre ability of yours to make me do that. I just can't help but smile at your stupid jokes. I don't know why, and I don't like it," he said, leaning in and giving me a look, but still smiling.

"Well, have you ever considered that it's because I'm a comedic genius and your conscious mind doesn't recognize it, but your subconscious is telling you to laugh?"

"You know, for some reason, I don't think that's it."

"Mmm. Whatever," I said, looking away to stare at the bottles of alcohol behind the bar, "How are you doing?"

Grant sighed heavily. "Not great," he said, leaning back and looking away.

"I'm so sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help," I said, reaching out and putting my hand on his.

Grant turned to me, making eye contact and not looking away.

"Yeah, I know," he said, finally looking away and giving my hand a squeeze. I leaned over and put my head on his shoulder, and Grant moved his arm to wrap around my waist like a side hug.

My stomach did a back-flip. I wanted to stay like this. I wanted this to be normal.

Grant's hand started moving down my back, and I turned my head to look up at him.

"Samantha!" someone called from the doorway of the bar. Grant pulled away as Simmons came into the room, holding my phone aloft. "Oh dear. I'm sorry, have I interrupted something?"

"No, you're okay," I said, albeit a little reluctantly. I hoped I was believable enough for Simmons.

"Your phone has been ringing nonstop. I didn't answer but on the third call from the same number in twenty minutes, I thought I'd better bring it down to you," she explained.

"Oh shoot. Okay, thanks Simmons," I said, reaching out to take the phone from her.

"Not a problem." She smiled and headed back out of the room.

"You gonna be okay?" I asked Grant, "I can just check this out really quick and come back."

"No," he said, sounding tense again, "Whoever's calling clearly needs to talk to you badly. I'll be fine."

"Hey, talk to me. Seriously, whoever this is can wait if you need me right now."

Grant sighed heavily. "No. No, it's fine. Go."

He sounded calmer, and a lot more sincere, but I could see his hand was clenched into a fist.

"Alright..." I said reluctantly, "I'm just gonna be in my room though, so if you need anything, come find me, okay?"

Grant nodded. "Will do," he said, swirling his glass around and taking a drink. I was still reluctant to leave him, but I didn't think I could do much good when he was in such a weird mood. When my phone started ringing again, I decided to take it.

"Hello?" I asked, picking up in the hallway on the way to my room.

"Agent Slater? This is Jackie Andrews. From the Academy?"

"Oh my gosh! Yes! Hi Jackie! How's it going?" I asked, pulling open the door to my room. Jackie was one of the many recruits I'd spoken to when I gave my speech, and I had given her and her friends my phone number in case they needed anything.

"Pretty good," she said, sounding totally stressed, "There's a big test coming up though, and my friends and I are feeling less than confident. We were hoping you could help us study a little?"

"Sure thing! What's first?"

We spent a solid hour talking, and I fielded all kinds of questions from Jackie and her friends. It had been a long time since I'd thought back to the lessons of the Academy, but by the time we were done my memory was refreshed and everybody else was feeling ready for test day.

"Ugh, thank you Samantha!" I heard a chorus of voices say from the other end of the phone, once we were finally done.

"No problem guys! Good luck on your test! Let me know how it turns out, okay?"

"We will! Thanks again!" said Jackie.

"Sure thing."

"Bye!"

"Bye!" I hung up the phone and leaned back on my bed. It had been a long time since I'd had to think of things in a school setting. I definitely didn't miss it.

After I gave my brain a break, I decided to go check on Grant. I'd honestly expected him to come by while I was on the phone, and I was a little worried that he hadn't.

I got to his room and knocked on the door, but he didn't answer. There were no lights on inside, and he wasn't that heavy of a sleeper, so I was pretty sure he wasn't there. I decided to go check the bar.

I turned the corner to the doorway of the bar and to my horror, I found Grant and Skye sitting, talking, and holding hands. My mouth dropped open and I scrambled back from the doorway, then sprinted back to my room. I couldn't believe this was happening.

Since when did he like her like that? And since when did I care?

I sighed and tried to get a hold of myself as I realized I'd always cared. I tried to tell myself I was jealous of Grant and Skye's relationship because he was moving on as her SO, but that wasn't it. Now that I'd seen them holding hands, I couldn't lie to myself anymore.

I'm in love with Grant Ward.

I think I have been for a while now, I was just never willing to admit it to myself.

But now, after the bar, I might be too late to have anything more than a friendship with Grant.

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I left Skye at the bar. She was trying to be there for me, trying to be someone I could talk to, but the only person I wanted to be there for me was Slater.

Before her stupid phone went off I thought I might have had a chance at finally being something more than a friend to her. Now, I might never get the chance again.

I made it back to my room, but before I could go in, May came along. She didn't say anything, but she left the door to her room open and sent a clear message. I rested my head against my door. Part of me wanted to follow May, if only to forget the day I'd had.

I took a deep breath. No. I wasn't going to May's room. I had no idea how Slater felt, and the only way I had to completely ruin my chances was to get together with someone else. I was not going to give up on Slater because of a phone.

Maybe things hadn't gone like I wanted them to tonight. But I still had plenty of time to find another opportunity.

I was not giving up.