Chapter Five

A/N: Since Grant is a couple years ahead of Samantha, I'm going to skip over most of her time at SHIELD Academy since they wouldn't really cross paths much during that time 😄

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Despite my ambitious plans, Grant Ward didn't crack a single smile the whole week I spent with him. I gave it my best effort, but for whatever reason, he just didn't seem interested in making friends.

After that first week, I didn't have much time to spare thoughts for Grant Ward. Training picked up almost immediately, and I was working so hard to keep my place at SHIELD that I didn't have time to worry about Ward, or go out of my way to find him in the dining hall. I made sure to smile the few times I passed him in the hallway between classes, but I didn't get the chance to do much more than that.

Instead, I put all my energy into learning everything I could about becoming a SHIELD agent. The classes were hard and the training was harder, but for the first time in my entire life, I was actually doing well in school. Within the first few weeks I'd risen to the top of my class, and while it was one of the weirdest feelings ever, it was also pretty nice.

Of course, I'm sure it helped that I actually enjoyed the subject matter. It was a lot easier for me to sit down and study tactical analysis, canvasing, and dead drops than it had been to do the same with biology, history, and calculus in high school.

Finally, at the end of my first year, I was supposed to choose between becoming a Specialist and a Field agent. The choice wasn't hard; Specialists did everything I'd been dreaming about this whole time, and after a year at Ops, I realized I was actually good at the Specialist stuff too.

The only downside came in next three years of Specialist training. I quickly learned that Agent Grant Ward wasn't the only Ops Specialist who was hard to make friends with. Almost everyone in my classes had the same lone-wolf mindset, and none of them were eager to bond over books, giggling, and hot chocolate. Still, I got along alright with most of them, and I even managed to make a few friends. When graduation finally came four years after I'd first set foot on campus, it was harder than I ever thought it'd be to leave everyone.

I managed to graduate at the top of my class with full honors, I statement I never thought I'd be able to make. Even after four years of acing tests, it seemed incredible that I could actually be good at school.

I guess I just needed a school that taught weird stuff.

The next step after graduating Ops was training with an SO. When I'd first heard that, I had a bunch of questions, but thankfully someone else clarified that SO meant Supervising Officer (and not Significant Other) before I had the chance to make a complete idiot of myself in front of everyone.

Basically, our teachers had explained, we'd spend every moment and mission of the next stage of our training with our SO, learning from them and working with them until we were deemed worthy of becoming full-fledged SHIELD agents. Everybody I asked said it could take anywhere between a few months and a few years, so I was just hoping I'd get somebody good. I'd make the best of the situation either way, but if I had to spend the next part of my life with somebody, I hoped it was somebody I could at least get along with.

Straight after graduation, I said my goodbyes to my classmates and packed all my SHIELD stuff into a duffle bag. Most of them were moving into more permanent SHIELD housing before meeting their SO's, but apparently my SO was heading out on a mission ASAP. I was going to meet them and go on my first official SHIELD mission, and then I'd be able to deal with things like moving into a SHIELD apartment and processing graduation.

I took my duffle (which was mostly still full of books) and headed for the hanger, where I'd been told to meet my SO. We were going to Costa Rica, and we'd be flying out straight from the academy.

I tried to keep my cool as I got to the hanger and headed for the waiting Quinjet, but it wasn't easy. I was so excited all I wanted to do was jump up and down and squeal, but I thought that might not be the best first impression to make on my SO.

The ramp of the Quinjet was down, so I headed into the cargo bay behind the pilot's chairs. I passed several agents loading supplies into the plane, but none of them spared me a second glance.

Was one of them my SO? Was I supposed to go up to them first? Was this part of some initiation test?

I did my best to shake the thoughts out of my head as I stashed my duffle behind the copilot chair. I could do this. I just had to be calm and confident (or at least pretend like I was), and think logically. My SO probably just wasn't here yet.

I took a deep breath, and was about to turn around to start searching for my SO, when I heard a voice from behind me.

"You have got to be kidding me," said a familiar male voice. I turned around and my suspicions were confirmed when I came face to face with none other than Agent Grant Ward.

He did not look happy to see me.

Guess I'd just have to spend some time changing that. I hadn't been able to break him in a week, but we were about to spend a lot more time together than just those seven days. No way he'd be able to stay stoic and cranky that whole time.

"Hi," I said brightly, giving him the best smile I could. "I'm guessing you're my SO?"

"Apparently," he deadpanned. He stared at me for a few more seconds, then shook his head and walked past me to the pilot's chair. "Buckle up. We're leaving as soon as these agents are off the plane."

"Sounds like a plan!" I chirped, following him and taking the copilot's seat. "It's good to see you again, by the way."

"I meant buckle up back there," he said, completely ignoring me and nodding to the seats in the cargo hold.

"With the cargo?" I asked, this time not bothering to hide the irritation in my tone. Just because I was trying to kill him with kindness didn't mean I couldn't snap back at him every so often.

"Yes."

"You know, I'm pretty sure my SHIELD instructors said something about you training me..."

Ward sighed heavily, then started up the engines without looking at me.

"Fine. Just don't ask endless questions, and try to just learn by watching."

"No promises!"

He didn't respond to that, but I just smiled and sat back in my seat. Either my incessant smiling and friendliness would break through whatever walls he'd build around himself, or I'd get revenge on him for his attitude by annoying the hell out of him. In my book, that was a win-win.

I was distracted from Ward's mood as he maneuvered the Quinjet out of the hanger and we launched into the sky. Other than when we were learning how to fly Quinjets, I hadn't left the Ops academy in four years. Seeing the open sky ahead of us and flying away for my first real mission gave me a feeling like I'd never felt before, and made my heart soar.

The Ops campus shrank steadily on the rear display screen as we climbed into the sky, and I even got a glimpse of SciTech and Communications in the distance before we got into the clouds. I watched them until I couldn't anymore, then sighed and turned my eyes forward.

A new chapter had officially begun.

Once we got high enough in the air, Ward leaned a little harder on the yoke, and our plane shot forward. Even though I'd flown one of these before, I still wasn't quite used to just how fast they were.

I let the silence hang in the cockpit for a while, mostly to give myself some time to mentally shift from being an Ops student to being a probationary agent of SHIELD. I gave it just under half an hour, then finally, I decided to make another attempt at conversation with Grant Ward.

"So, what's our ETA to Costa Rica?" I asked casually, trying to sound professional and not like a little kid asking "are we there yet?" for the first time of thousands.

"Three hours. Quinjets are faster than the average plane."

"I know they are, I went through the same schooling as you," I reminded him. He just grunted and didn't respond.

I decided to change tactics.

"So what's our mission? Nobody briefed me on it, they just said my SO would catch me up to speed."

"SHIELD's been getting reports of a strange object in the middle of the rainforest sending out unexplained energy pulses. Nobody's been able to get close to whatever it is, so we're going to check it out and, if we have to, take care of whatever we find."

"Wait, nobody's been able to get close to it? So we have no idea what we're going into?"

"No. The rainforest is extremely dense in that area, and once the energy pulses were discovered, the government shut off access."

"Okay, back up. This rainforest is impenetrable to the locals? How the heck are we supposed to get through?"

"We have extensive training that they don't have."

"Yeah, well they also have lots of hands-on experience that we don't have. We never even trained for a rainforest scenario!"

"We'll just have to deal with it. That's our job, get in and deal with it. If you don't think you can do that I can ask HQ to send a different agent and you can stay in the village while we take care of things."

"I never said I couldn't do it," I grumbled. "I just pointed out that it would be extremely difficult."

"So are most things as a SHIELD Agent. You better get used to that if you want to last more than a week in the field."

I huffed and crossed my arms, then flopped back in my seat. I guess he had a point, but he didn't have to be rude about it. So much for starting a friendly conversation.

I stared straight ahead out the windshield, and with every passing second that we got closer to Costa Rica, I became more determined to go above and beyond on this mission.

I was going to do so well in the field that Grant Ward would have to eat his words.