Chapter Forty-Seven

For the next two weeks, I started feeling stronger and stronger. Simmons still hadn't let me out of bed (although I'd had several unsuccessful escape attempts), but I was coping. Part of the reason I hadn't gone stir-crazy yet was Grant, who hardly left my side, not even to sleep. At first he slept in the chair, but once my more extreme tubes and wires were removed, I moved over and we shared the hospital bed. I felt immediately better when I was curled up next to him, tucked into his side.

Skye's recovery (and escape attempts) were going at about the same pace mine were, which gave us plenty to talk about over video chat. We'd tried a couple joint-escape attempts, with one of us serving as a distraction for Simmons while the other made a break for it, but nothing was working.

The team was pretty laser-focused on Skye and I, and it felt like Coulson was drifting away, until we finally got a new assignment. I was so excited, especially since we were supposed to be checking out Asguardian energy signatures.

At least, I was excited until Simmons told me I couldn't take part.

"Simmons, come on!" I protested, "Asguardians!"

"No! And that's final!"

"But I'm feeling so much better!" I yelled, trying to get her to listen as she walked out the door, completely ignoring me. Whatever.

I quickly dialed up Skye on video chat.

"Hey," I said once she'd picked up.

"Hey."

"Did you hear about the Asguardian stuff?"

"Yeah. For a shining moment I got excited before Doctor Simmons crushed my hopes and dreams."

"Same."

"You think we'd be able to escape once she's gone?"

"Doubt it. I'd be willing to be money that she's found a way to lock the doors on the pods."

"Damn, I bet you're right."

"Yeah. She's not going to be able to stop me from finally walking around the pod, though."

"Or so you think. Who knows, maybe she's got some magical science device that keeps our feet from touching the ground."

"Oh boy, don't give her ideas!" I said, laughing, "Honestly though, if that's the case, I'm going to jump on the bed just to spite her."

"Ooh, I like that idea. Poor Simmons."

"I know. She means well, and she's good at her job, but this bed arrest is killing me."

"Yeah. If it's not lifted in the next couple days, I'm fighting my way out. You with me?"

"I'm with you!"

"We can-- oh shoot, here she comes! We'll plan later!" said Skye, hustling to turn off the video chat.

"Sounds like a plan! Don't let anything slip!"

Skye nodded furtively before ending the call. I set the phone back down, then cracked open my book. I had been tearing though my TBR list, since I didn't have much else to do.

It was several hours before the team got back, with Sif the Asguardian warrior no less. They had a meeting in the lab, which I couldn't attend, but Grant caught me up on the whole Lorelei thing. I didn't want him to go.

"You heard Sif, Grant! Men are week! I want to be there to watch your back!"

"You know you can't be. And I'll be fine."

"No! Grant, I don't like this. I hate not being able to back you up. We're supposed to be working together as a team."

"The rest of the team will be there."

"No, you and I are supposed to be working together as a team."

"Samantha, you're still not okay to be back on your feet. I'll be okay until you are, but you're not going to be good backup if you can't fight."

"Gah! I hate it when you make a point!"

Grant chuckled. "Seriously, I'll be okay. Don't worry about me."

"If only it was that simple."

"No kidding. I'll see you as soon as I get back."

"I'm going to hold you to that. Please, please be safe."

"Safer than safe," he said, heading out the door, "I'll be back before you know it."

I growled in frustration. I officially had no idea what was happening. I hated being sidelined more than just about anything else in the world.

After hours of anxious waiting, Coulson came to my door. I got a bad feeling in my gut.

"Where's Grant?" I asked before Phil could get a word out.

"I was about to ask you the same question," he said grimly, sitting down beside me, "Lorelei has him. Skye's trying to track him with cameras, but I figured since you know him better than anyone else, you might know where's he's headed."

As soon as Phil started talking, I felt my heart drop. She had Grant. It felt like the room was getting smaller and smaller around me. I had to get him back. I had to.

I took a deep breath. Panicking was not going to help anything. I had to stay calm if I was going to help Grant.

"Okay," I said shakily, looking at Phil, "Where were you when you lost him?"

"In the desert. Just outside Las Vegas."

I nodded. "He'll have to go into the city then. That place is full of cameras. Are you getting Skye's help too?"

"Yes. She's already working on finding him."

I didn't say another word. I swung my legs out of bed, grabbed my laptop, and headed for the door. Skye and I were going to have to help each other if we wanted any chance of finding Grant quickly.

"Uh... Samantha, I don't think you're supposed to be out of bed," said Phil, sounding worried.

"If Grant's in trouble then I sure as hell ain't staying in bed." I burst into Skye's room, completely ignoring Simmons' shocked face.

"Samantha! You need to get back in bed, right now!" she said, rushing over to me.

"Fine," I said, moving next to Skye. She quickly caught on, and slid over so that the two of us could fit on top of the hospital bed. "I'm back in bed."

"You know that's not what I meant."

"Simmons, I'm fine. At least, I'm fine right now. But if something happens to Grant? I won't be fine anymore. I won't overexert myself or whatever, but Skye and I need to work together to find him."

"It's not a bad idea," said Coulson, who had just joined us.

Simmons let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine! But no getting up, no running around, no jumping up and down, or anything besides typing on a keyboard."

"Alright Warden," I said, giving Simmons a playful eye roll, "Whatever you say."

Coulson smiled and turned to leave, and Simmons followed him out without another word.

"Okay, so, where do you want to start?" asked Skye, opening her laptop.

"Well, Coulson said they were just outside of Vegas, which makes it more than likely that he'll at least have to pass through. If you can, try to hack the cameras in the city and see if you can find him. Maybe run a facial recognition through Instagram and other social medias too."

Skye nodded and set to work, while I started up my own laptop. Grant and I shared drop boxes, so I was going to pull up a map and get a visual on what his options were. We'd known each other long enough that I was fairly confident I'd be able to figure out his plans. At least, I was confident as long as that Lorelei nightmare didn't mess with his head too much.

I had never wanted to put a drop box in Vegas (city of cameras=cover blown!), but Grant had insisted, and I was confident that would be his first stop.

"Okay, Grant and I always had a pact that we'd go to the Bellagio after seeing Ocean's 11, so check there first," I advised.

"On it..."

I squinted at my map, trying to think a couple steps ahead. If Grant were trying to evade us, that would be one thing, but from what I'd heard about Lorelei, they weren't just going to disappear.

"As far as I can tell they're not in the Bellagio," said Skye, "I'm expanding my search to the other hotels."

I nodded. Honestly, I was a little relieved they weren't at the Bellagio. That was still our thing.

After a few more minutes of searching (I was helping Skye scan camera blind spots, since I knew how Grant normally avoided them), we found them.

"They're at Caesar's Palace!" announced Skye in triumph.

"Yes! Okay, call Coulson so he can go bring Grant back."

"With pleasure."

"And can you tell him to ask Sif to give Lorelei a black eye for me?"

"Definitely."

Once Skye was off the call, we both leaned back on the bed and sighed.

"Are you going to try to go with them?" she asked.

I sighed. "No. I thought about it, but despite what I'm telling Simmons, I'm not at a hundred percent yet. Our team can handle themselves, and I don't want to drag them down if they're fighting an Asguardian."

Skye looked away without saying anything, and I realized my explanation was almost identical to the one I gave her before going into Quinn's mansion.

"Hey," I said, nudging Skye with my shoulder, "I should've said this a long time ago, but thank you for coming in after me. That was really brave."

Skye snorted. "Yeah, and I didn't even make it to the basement before I got shot. You were right, I can't protect myself."

"Well, Quinn caught you by surprise with a gun, so that's not exactly a fair fight. And maybe you could use some more combat training, but it doesn't matter. You came after me even though the situation was incredibly dangerous. You have the heart of an agent, and that's the most important part. The other stuff just takes a little practice."

"Maybe," she said, staring at her hands.

"Definitely," I said, leaning into her.

Skye looked up and smiled, but before she could say anything else, Fitz came into the room.

"May just called," he said, "They weren't at the hotel. She wants you to keep trying to track them down."

"Ugh," I groaned, "Great. Any progress with the collar so we can shut that horrible witch up when we find her?"

"Yeah, I've just finished it. I'm going to go run a few searches of my own."

"Good luck!" I called as Fitz left. I turned back to the computer, and Simmons joined us a few minutes later.

"How are you two doing?" she asked.

"Feeling good," Skye and I answered at the same time.

"Hmm. I'm still going to have to check your vitals and such. And you're still not allowed out of bed again!"

"Wasn't planning on going anywhere," I said, "We've got a Ward to catch."

We spent a solid twenty minutes focused intently on our work, Skye and I tracking Grant and Simmons making sure we weren't suddenly going to drop dead. Fitz walked by once, but other than that, everything was uneventful.

Until the plane took off.

"We're taking off," noted Simmons, "Why are we taking off?"

"Maybe Fitz found them on a camera somewhere outside of Vegas?" I suggested.

"What is that banging noise?" asked Skye. I paused, and I actually could hear a faint slamming upstairs.

"I'll go investigate. You two--"

"Stay put. We know," said Skye, cutting off Simmons. Simmons got to the door, but couldn't get out.

"Someone locked us in," she said, turning back to Skye and I.

"Oh no," I said, suddenly realizing what was going on.

"What? What's wrong?"

"It's Grant. Lorelei wants to rule the earth, and we're the people standing in her way. They're not running. They're taking out the only people that pose a threat."