Saving Grant Ward

Chapter Seventeen

A/N: Quick shoutout to @voidstarkward for going through and voting on everything! Thank you to everyone for all the support!

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I woke up to a soft shake of my shoulder and a quiet voice, so I knew it wasn't Grant. I opened my eyes and found my head still resting on Grant's shoulder, but now his head was resting against mine. He had fallen asleep, too.

I smiled to myself. It was sweet, and it meant that Grant couldn't wake me up the way he normally does.

Turns out, Phil was the one gently shaking me awake. Yet another reason for me to seriously love that dude. He recruited me, he introduced me to May, he's nice and friendly, and he doesn't wake me up with an earthquake.

I nudged Ward awake and he looked a little flustered, but I thought it was cute. Although I'm sure if I told him that, it would've made him more uncomfortable.

We had landed the Quinjet a way out of town and we were going to drive into Málaga with a rental car that had been left for us. We left the Quinjet cloaked in the field.

"Nobody forget where we parked," joked Garrett, getting into the passenger seat. Phil was driving and Ward and I were stuck sitting in the back. Oh well.

"So what exactly are we doing on this mission?" I asked.

"Garrett and I are going to be brothers, Clark and Bill, here for some sibling bonding and fun before Clark's wedding. You and Agent Ward are going to be newly-graduated college students taking a whirlwind gap year in Europe before starting grad school."

"And you're dating," added Garrett.

Of course we are, I thought. Not that I really minded.

"You're going to be 'hitching a ride' with us into town since we happened to be staying in the same hotel, then we'll part ways to our separate rooms," finished Phil.

"What are our names?" I asked. I always focused on the important questions.

"Mark and Isabella," answered Phil.

"Mark?" I asked, squinting at Grant, "I guess I could see that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Grant.

"You just don't look like a Mark."

"Well what does 'a Mark' look like to you?"

"I don't know. Not like you."

Grant laughed and shook his head.

"Do you see what I have to deal with?" he said to Garrett with a smile on his face.

"Trust me, you were worse," said Garrett, giving me a mischievous look. Then it hit me. Garrett knew Ward better than almost anyone else.

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed, leaning forward against the seatbelt to get closer to Garrett, "You have to tell me every embarrassing story you have. Please!"

Grant's face went pale. "No!"

"Yes!" I practically cackled.

"Well, truth be told, Ward here was a natural. But the one slip he had was when we were by this big mud volcano." Grant groaned and leaned back in his seat, covering his face. "He wasn't watching where he was going during a mock pursuit and he was actually gaining on me until he face planted into the mud. I had to stop running I was laughing so damn hard. It took him five minutes to get up."