Inseparably Combined
Chapter 2 – Inseparably Combined
"No, no! This is a cruel joke."
He thought his soul mark was some kind of cosmic mistake, a scientific anomaly. He always knew it was Jemma, even though she never spoke the words that run across his hip. He knew it was her handwriting, he had come up with so many reasons she never said them. He never thought she would come back from the dead, and stare at him with hate in her eyes.
***
Something is up with Skye. She is trying to play it off, but he trained her, has been under cover with her for years now, he knows her. Their discussion earlier was so bizarre. She kept looking at him in shock, she had no idea what he was talking about. She almost gave away important information when they were interrogating Vijay Nadeer. He had to punch the guy in order to stop her from revealing anything further. Skye looked at him like he was the one that lost it.
He decides to tail her to see what is going on, he follows her to a park. He’s kind of pissed at her for allowing herself to be tracked so easily. What is going on with her?
He is watching from the cover of a Beech tree. A small woman comes running up to her, they hug and are discussing something serious. This woman is small, he can only see her from behind and yet instinctually he knows she is beautiful. She makes a peculiar gesture, it almost reminds him of her, but it can’t be…
He is mindlessly walking towards them so he can get a better look at her. They don’t notice. Seriously what is up with Skye!
He finally gets a good look at her face, he nearly falls over.
Hydra must of found out about him and is using Jemma against them, it reeks of something the doctor would do. He probably created some kind of android that looks like her to trick him. His words escape before he knows what he’s doing. “Jem? It can’t be your gone.”
She is looking down, but he can see her broad smile, a smile he thought he would only see again in his dreams and memories. He is trying to keep himself in check, this is not real, that is not her. She, it, is just a really good imposter. Her smile drops suddenly, she looks up at him.
The face she is wearing makes him cold, what she says makes the world give way. “No. No! This is a cruel joke.”
A small part of him tries to keep in mind that this could still be a trap, but his body is losing control. He feels an almost electric feeling up and down his spine. His entire being is whole and warm and he has an involuntary grin on his face.
Skye’s voice brings him back to reality. “Ward, what are you doing here?”
He does his best to make his face passive and pulls his gun at them. “Who are you? Skye what is this?”
Not-Jemma scowls and says “Well it seems you already know who I am, or did Radcliffe just program you to say that to me?”
He and Skye simultaneously say “What?!”
Grant repeats, “What? Who is Radcliffe? Who are you? I know your not her.” That last part he says through gritted teeth.
She scoffs at him, to Skye she says “What is he doing here?” He can tell she is trying not to cry.
Skye says “He’s my boyfriend and partner at Hydra. He must of followed me here.”
Jemma makes a retching noise and callously says “And I thought the mass grave was bad.” Both women sadly smirk.
“What the hell is going on? What happened to you Skye? And… Jemma or who or whatever you are, why would the doctor make you like this?”
They just stare at him for a minute. Then they hear shouts and the stomp of boots. Skye says to him “She’s the subversive Hydra has been after.”
He puts his gun down and says “All right, follow me.” He starts to run towards his car, they hesitate, he adds “Unless you would like to be taken prisoner?” He may be making a huge mistake but he needs answers and he wont get any if they are all captured.
He is acutely aware of where Jemma is. She purposely sits in the back seat. He knows she does it to put distance between them. He can’t stand to see the hate and fear on her face, especially directed at him.
Cautiously Skye says “Where are you taking us?”
“My apartment for now, there we can get in touch with the resistance.” He doesn’t plan on taking them to base until he is certain, but he doesn’t think they are a threat. He can feel Jemma’s hate towards Hydra, although she feels similarly about him too.
Slowly Skye questions “You’re a spy for the resistance?”
“Of course, Grant Ward, always the double agent. I wonder if you could even be programed not to lie.”
Why does she hate him so much? Is it because he left her? She made him leave, he didn’t want to.
“Jem, what…”
“No!” she cuts him off her voice has a harshness that makes his stomach sink, “you don’t get to call me that.”
Sky interrupts them. “Look I know something is going on here, between the two of you.” She gestures her hand at each of them. “but it looks like Hydra has caught up to us.”
He can see the vehicles approaching them. It’s only a matter of time before the bullets fly. He grabs his backup gun from his pant leg handing it out to Skye. “Cover us.”
They all duck as the rear window is shot out. Jemma grabs the gun, and starts firing. She’s pretty good. This definitely isn’t his Jemma. Who is she?
Skye takes her own weapon and joins Jemma, while Grant speeds up trying to loose them.
When they eventually lose their them, he says “We are with the resistance Skye. Will someone please tell me what is going on?”
Bitterly Jemma says “So your like a double agent super couple.”
He abruptly stops the car to look her in the eyes, “No, I am not with Skye.”
She looks taken aback, her face softens for a split second, then becomes fierce again.
He starts driving again they’re close to his building. Skye scoffs and says “Oh yeah why did you wake up in my bed this morning?”
He parks, then just looks at her for a minute. Before he gets out of the car he says “We have been on this mission for three years. The relationship allows our covers to be accepted more easily. Any absences are considered normal for young lovers. We stay at each others places to keep up the façade.”
Jemma huffs. “The ever important cover.” He gets out of the car and walks to his building. They stay in the car a moment, clearly weighing their options. Eventually they decide to follow.
Once in his apartment he excuses himself to change. Or so he says, he wants them to talk to each other, and he’s guessing this Skye has no idea that they thoroughly bugged both their apartments, to be sure they caught any information they came across on tape to be sent to resistance.
Sure enough as soon as he closes the door…
“Wow, this is worse then we thought.” Skye says.
“Yes I think we better go back.” Jemma replies.
“We can come back for the others once we come up with a game plan.” Skye rationalizes.
There’s a long pause. For a moment he thinks they may have left, but he doesn’t hear the door. It’s purposely squeaky to alert him if someone enters unannounced.
Then he hears Jemma, “Damn, it didn’t work!”
“What? Why not?”
“I don’t know, but it would seem we’re stuck here with Grant Ward until we can figure it out.” He can practically see her eyes roll. His stomach turns.
“Okay what is going on with you two?” Skye pauses then says. “Hey I hate him too, I get it, but what’s with the jealous remarks? I am definitely missing something.”
Jemma is quiet a moment then “You know how I told you my soul mark is complicated?”
“Yeah?”
“Well…” He assumes she pulls down the top of her pants to show her.
Skye’s voice goes up an octave, “No way!” Her reaction sounds almost comical, but she was there when he lost Jemma, why is she surprised by this? “He said that tonight. Wha…?, Is he…? Are you…? Was the real Grant Ward your soulmate too?”
“No, I was his…and this,” she gestures towards her mark, “is his handwriting, but tonight is the first time he ever said that to me.”
“Does anyone else know?”
“Fitz, is the only person I” she pauses, “I told Radcliffe a little about it as a hypothetical though, and I never told him what it says. Ward was the only other…” together they say “Hive.”
“That must be it, Hive must have told Radcliffe, and he is using it to distract me.”
There’s that name again Radcliffe. Who is Fitz and Hive? And what in the world does “the real Grant Ward” mean.
If she is feeling the same physical reaction that he is, she keeps it to herself. But she must feel it, he can feel it, feel her in every cell. His skin feels electric, he can sense an almost pull to her, to be closer to her in anyway possible. He uses his years of training to suppress these impulses. He has too many unanswered questions to let the bond get in the way. Plus he finds it unlikely that she would let him touch her in any capacity.
The next morning Skye leaves and comes back with some History teacher by the name of Coulson. He seems to be at least somewhat in on what is going on though he keeps going on about soap.
Skye says she needs something from Hydra, hesitantly goes with her to get what she needs. He sends Jemma and Coulson to the resistance. Neither of them pose much of threat. He knows she is not with Hydra.
He manages to get back to the base after Hydra captures Skye. She was able to give him some kind of coordinates to find Radcliffe before she is taken. Jemma insists that she and Coulson go with him to find Radcliffe. He can’t deny her seeing as he is clearly in the dark on this and she seems to hold most of the answers. He doesn’t mind be around her anyway, even though she is clearly uncomfortable around him.
On the Quinjet, she comes up to the cockpit wanting to know when they will arrive.
He looks at her and says “We have a couple hours, I think we should talk.”
Coldly she says “I have nothing to say to you.”
He takes a deep breath trying to bite back his aggravation. “Well I do, and I would like you to listen.” He continues when she remains silent. “I don’t know what’s going on or how you’re back.” He looks down to avoid her glare. “I missed you so much, this doesn’t even feel real, and you have this rabid hate for me Jem…Jemma. I know I got to you too late when S.H.I.E.L.D. fell. I-I couldn’t save you, I am so sorry, I regret it everyday. I couldn’t be the man you needed me to be.” It feels odd to voice thoughts he has carried with him for so long.
She huffs at that. “You were there when I died? Did you kill me?”
He laughs mournfully, he can’t help it, “I think you were right about the whole cruel joke thing.”
She glares daggers at him.
He sighs and looks her in eyes, willing her to listen, to believe him. “No I didn’t kill you, I loved you. I…I was there though. I rushed straight to you when S.H.I.E.L.D. feel, but I was too late. You were shot, badly, you died in my arms, begging me to help the others. I couldn’t save you. I had to leave you, your body there.” His eyes are dark and glassy. “I could save the students you were with you begged me to with your last breaths. Skye was one of them, I looked out for her, after. I knew you would have wanted me too.“
She doesn’t say anything, just looks at him like he has two heads. After a time, she gets up and says “I think I will give you a moment.” He doesn’t have the energy to stop her.
***
The land on an island where a man is playing Croquet. She runs up to the guy and slaps him across the face. “How dare you use this against me! Its bad enough that you have them trapped against their will.” She’s practically in tears. He could rip this man apart for hurting her, but he needs answers. Unfortunately he doesn’t get any.
Radcliff is stunned for a moment, then he takes in Grant and he becomes stricken with fear. Grant says, “Who is this what’s going on?” He has a gun pointed at the other man, he is pretty sure is Radcliffe. He is becoming sick of constantly asking what is going on, he knows no one will tell him.
The other man calms down and smiles “Oh you’re not Hive at all, your what came before. I wondered what happened to you.”
Jemma says “What do you mean? He’s a part of your programming.”
“No, he’s not. When I was, uh working, for Hive I had a rough proto-type of the Framework made, which I was eventually able to build into this.” He gestures around him. “I needed to test it and there was enough remnants of his consciousness left in Hive that I could upload him into the Framework. He was a great test subject really, its not like I could have made anything any worse for him.”
Jemma looks likes she’s been punched in gut, he imagines he does as well. “No, that’s not really him, he’s just ones and zeros.”
“That’s a bit of an over simplification don’t you think?” Radcliffe says. She looks like she’s going to slap him again. “Alright, alright.” He holds his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t create him, no. This is him, or a version of him anyway, its hard to say what Hive held onto. But he is like the rest of your friends living what feels like a very real life in which he changed his biggest regret.”
“Your lying!!” Jemma yells at him. “Hive told you about my soul mark and now you’re using it and him,” nodding towards Grant, “against me.”
“What Jemma, I don’t? Oh that hypothetical you told me, it was you? And him?... Hive mentioned you a few times but never once in terms of soulmates. I don’t think he understood it really, a little beyond him maybe.“ He nods with a bemused smile.
She shakes her head in disbelief.
He continues “You know more than anything I couldn’t manipulate a soul mark, even here. Plus, Aida has taken over the Framework, she has twisted it into something dark. Soul marks are beyond her too, she wouldn’t understand enough to use it against you. Jemma, if you feel the bond now, you know I couldn’t program that.”
Does she feel it? Feel him? Like he can feel her? Grant is lost by this interaction, but he can feel Jemma’s, confusion and denial. She won’t look at him.
“How? How is he my soul mate, when the real him wasn’t? It’s not possible.”
“Well I don’t know about impossible, maybe just improbable. It’s possible that there was still consciousness from those before him.” He says pointing at Grant.
Jemma lets out a small sound of surprise, and just over a whisper says “Will?”
“And Hive might have taken some of him, it’s very possible that this mixture of give and take could create a whole new consciousness, a new soul, as one would have it.” Radcliffe is staring at Grant with a newfound expression of awe, “It’s fascinating really.”
She keeps shaking her head until she breaks down in a sob for a brief moment. She stops and says “When?”
“When what?”
“When did you…upload him?”
“Umm maybe a few weeks after Hive took me, before your team killed him.”
Her head drops again, she lowers her gun. Instinctively he hugs her wanting to comfort her. She gives in for a moment then starts to push him a way. They all still when they hear Hydra approach.
Radcliff tells them to hide.
They find cover in some bushes, “Jem-Jemma, what is going on? Please tell me…” He is cut off by the commotion of Hydra. They can see Madame Hydra and the Doctor, he grabs the woman Jemma called Agnes. He is threatening her to make Radcliffe give up their location. Grant trys to push away the guilt that comes clawing its way at him. If he had just left the woman alone, maybe she would have been safe. He raises his weapon when he has a clean shot at the Doctor.
“No” Jemma says quickly.
Its all he can do to keep his jaw from dropping. “What?! I cannot let The Doctor kill an innocent woman.”
“You can’t kill him Grant. He won’t hurt her, I know him, he could never do that.”
“No you don’t know him, I do. This man is a monster! I’ve watched him do horrendous things to innocent people for years.” His voice is full of vitriol. How can she hate him so deeply yet show sympathy and mercy for the Doctor. He has seen him torture so many people, their screams were all but seared in his mind.
“Please…Please don’t, he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Its not him. He’s my best friend he risked his life for me when you… when we where left for dead. I can’t let you kill him. I will tell you everything just please don’t shoot him. He won’t shoot her, I know he wont!” Tears are freely running down her cheeks now.
Grant takes a long look at her trying to read her. She believes what she is saying about the Doctor, he doesn’t, he knows the other man won’t hesitate to kill the woman, especially if he feels that Madame Hydra is threatened. But he can’t stand to have Jemma hate him any more than she already does. He sighs and lower’s his gun.
She begins to thank Grant when they hear the gunshot that kills Agnes. Jemma fully breaks into sobs now. Her face full of heartbreak and disbelief. Grant doesn’t say anything, just holds her, she doesn’t fight him this time.
***
On the way to the base, she does as she promised and tells him everything. He can’t even begin to process what she’s saying.
“How can this world be programming? This is real, you saw that woman die, Jemma that wasn’t fake.”
She closes her eyes, a rogue tear falls down her cheek. “I know, that was real and the few of us that are within the Framework can die here, what happens here will affect us in the real world.”
“Ok let’s say I believe you, if this world isn’t real then what is? Why do you hate me so much? What did I do?”
“In the real world I come from, Grant Ward and I were on a team together. Coulson was in charge, you were training Skye, May was our pilot, and Fitz was my partner in the lab. You were a sleeper cell for Hydra, you betrayed us all during the uprising. You nearly killed me and Fitz, he risked his life to save me.”
He looks at her, he knows she’s not lying but he just can’t believe he would do anything hurt her. He doesn’t want it to be true but he can feel deep in his gut that it is the truth. Everything that has happened recently starts to make sense, though something is still nagging at him.
“Why? Why would I do that to you?” He knows from her conversation with Skye that she was his soulmate, why would he hurt her like that?
She looks at him like he’s stupid. “Don’t ask me to try and understand that man’s mind. He said he loved me and would do what was best for me, everything he said to me was a lie.”
He balls his hand into a fist.
He continues. “What about Hand she never…” he pauses his mind is moving a million miles per minute. “Hand didn’t recruit me to S.H.I.E.L.D. in your world did she?”
She shakes her head she is a little shocked by his question. “No, John Garrett did, you killed Hand after the uprising.”
He takes another deep breath trying to process this. He remembers meeting Garrett once, and feeling very odd around him. It was a strange mix of loyalty and resentment, he wasn’t surprised when they learned that Garrett was with Hydra. He thinks of the person he could have become without Hand’s presence in his life after she recruited him from juvie. Let alone to have that advisor be replaced by a mad man like John Garrett.
“So what about now, am I still with Hydra?” He is pretty sure he knows the answer.
Her face confirms his theory before she says “You’re dead. An ancient monster that Hydra worshipped, occupied your body after you died.”
“Hive” he almost whispers, he can feel a cold fear rush down his spine.
She nods “Hive kidnapped Radcliffe and made him engineer human/inhuman hybrids, using his DNA. Apparently he did his own experimentation as well. And now you have been uploaded here to live life without your greatest regret. Lord knows what that could be.”
He just looks at her for a minute before closing his eyes. He knows. It’s her, it has to be. His entire life has been focused on her, being better for her. When he was younger he lived for the soulmate he could feel in every choice he made. Then he met her, or his memories of her. He knew she was his soulmate.
Almost every choice he has made has been for her, to be the man she deserves.