To Save a Friend
Summary: Leo Fitz would do anything to save his friends…well, almost anything.
Disclaimer: If you've seen it on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., then it does not belong to me.
He's too fast, Fitz thought as he looked up the stairwell to see Ward steadily gaining on him. Looking ahead again, he saw Triplett fighting off and incapacitating HYDRA agents to clear a path for the rest of the team. He was almost to their destination—the door that lead to the basement parking garage, where they had a getaway car waiting. Skye was a landing above Triplett, her gun held at the ready in case a HYDRA agent got past Triplett.
Unfortunately, not having been required to do any physical training, Fitz and Simmons were the slowest and were one whole floor above Skye. But there was no way Fitz would let Simmons be last, so he made sure she was always at least five steps ahead of him.
Fitz looked back up again, and was horrified to see Ward was less than two floors above him now. Fitz analytical mind automatically did the calculations. At their current speed, Ward would be on him in a mere few seconds.
Luckily, by then, they'd have all made it to the basement. However, there wouldn't be enough time for him and his team to reach their getaway car so they could retrieve May and Coulson from the Cybertech building and drive off to safety. As he watched Simmons run through the door after Triplett and Skye, Fitz made a decision.
As soon as he reached the door, he closed it quickly and turned the deadbolt to lock.
"Fitz!" He heard Simmons cry out from the other side of the door. Then he heard banging as she tried to force the door open.
"Head for the car! Find May and Coulson! I'll hold him off!" he yelled at the door.
"No! Fitz!" she yelled out more desperately.
"Come, on!" Fitz heard Triplett's voice.
"We can't leave him!"
"Fitz, open this door! Now!" Skye called out, just as desperately as Simmons.
"Let's go! There's no time!" Triplett reiterated. Then he must have started to drag both women away because they let out shouts of protests—protests that were sounding farther and farther away by the second until they were totally gone.
Leo leaned his forehead against the cold, metal door.
"Goodbye," he whispered into the silence of the stairwell, feeling more sad and alone than he'd every felt.
Then, in a sudden burst of realization, he remembered that he wasn't alone. He raised his head and straightened his back. He fixed his features into an impassive look; then, slowly, he turned around.
Not two meters away from him stood Ward. He looked menacing with his all-black attire and five o'clock shadow. He had his arms crossed, and his calculating scowl was fixed on Fitz.
"What do you think you're doing, Fitz?" Ward sounded almost bored. "You know you're no match for me." Fitz shrugged.
"Doesn't matter. They got away. I've done what I needed to do." Then he reached his right hand to his right ear and pulled out a tiny, plastic earpiece.
"Comms device," he explained. He dropped the earpiece on the floor, then proceeded to step on it until it cracked and crunched under his foot. "If you don't mind, I'd rather the rest of the team not hear you kill me."
"I don't want to kill you, Fitz," Ward said. "Join us. Garrett's still interested in your talents."
"Well, I'd rather you kill me."
"You're too valuable. He'll have you serve HYDRA unwillingly if he has to. It will be better for you if you just—
"No, Ward," Fitz stressed. He was starting to lose his composure. "How can you even serve that monster?"
"You don't understand, Fitz. I owe Garrett everything."
Fitz scoffed.
"So I've heard. Skye told us all about that. Save your speech, Ward. It sounded ridiculous when I heard it the first time. I'm sure it will sound even more ridiculous coming directly from your mouth."
Fitz expected something—anything—then. A punch perhaps. Maybe even a growl. But nothing came.
Ward just stood there, looking as stoic as ever. But looking into his eyes, Fitz was able to see a conflict waging within the man he once called friend. He was silent for several long seconds before he spoke.
"How are you guys?" he asked. Fitz studied him for a few seconds.
"Why do you care?"
"Despite what you may think, I do care about you guys. I just can't go against Garrett. I owe him too much."
Fitz debated within himself on how to proceed. In the end, he decided that if Ward wanted the truth, then he'd give him the truth…as painfully as possible.
"Well, Skye is pretty much disgusted by you," he said, not pulling his punches. He had to stop himself from making any sort of reaction when he saw Ward wince slightly. "Simmons said Skye showered for a good half-hour and brushed her teeth at least four times to, and I quote, 'Get the Ward ickiness off.'"
For the first time since their confrontation, Ward broke eye contact and even turned his head away from Fitz. He didn't say anything, so Fitz continued.
"Simmons thinks you were born evil, and is upset we weren't better at spotting it than anyone else. Coulson, May, and Triplett are itching to put a bullet through your head. Or heart. Possibly both."
"And you?" Ward asked, turning his gaze back to Fitz.
"Well, I don't believe you were born evil like Simmons does." A teasing smile made its way onto Ward's face, greatly surprising Fitz. "What?" he asked cautiously.
"Did you take my advice about her? Did you talk to her?"
Fitz furrowed his eyebrows together as confusion set in.
"About what?"
Ward actually looked disappointed as his answer.
"I'm guessing not, then," he said.
"About what?" Fitz was starting to get annoyed.
"Don't play dumb, Fitz. It doesn't suit you. I meant about how you felt about her."
Fitz sighed, then looked down.
"Oh, that," he said softly.
"Yes, that. Here you are sacrificing yourself so that she could live, and you haven't even bothered to tell her you're in love with her?"
"Technically, I did this so my team would survive. Not just her. I care for Skye like the sister I never had. And I have great respect for Coulson and May. I'd have followed Coulson anywhere. He's a great man." Fitz looked up at Ward again. "But I guess you're right too. I did it mostly for her."
"You should have told her. In fact, you should have told them all. Skye would have been touched that you see her as a sister since she has no biological family of her own."
"Don't you think it's better this way, though? I mean, if I'd have told Jemma and started something with her only to die days later…I couldn't put her through that sort of pain."
"Well Fitz, I can guarantee that right now, she's already hurting."
A twinge of pain hit Fitz so hard in his chest that he had to shut his eyes and swallow the lump that formed in his throat. He really wanted a change in subject before he lost all composure.
"What are you doing, Ward? Why aren't you killing me? Did you really just want to torture me first? Are you really that cruel?"
"No, Fitz. I was just hoping that at least one of us would have gotten their 'happily ever after.' Even if it was just for a little bit." Despite the circumstances, Fitz found himself chuckling.
"That doesn't make sense at all, Ward. 'Happily ever after' implies forever." Then a thought hit him that caused him to sober up immediately. "Jemma could still get her 'happily ever after.' Triplett's been pursuing her. And she seems interested."
"Trip?" Ward looked genuinely surprised. Fitz gave a rueful smile.
"That's the other reason why I didn't say anything, if I'm being totally honest." Fitz didn't want his last thoughts to be full of self-pity, so he tried to change the subject again. "How 'bout it, Ward? Let's finish this. I'd prefer a bullet to the head, if you don't mind. I really don't fancy suffering through physical pain." Then he stood up straight and braced himself.
Ward nodded to him, and released his gun from its holster. When he raised his arm and took aim, Fitz involuntarily shut his eyes. Then he waited.
But nothing happened.
He opened his eyes again, and his sight zoomed in to the end of the gun's barrel. He swallowed hard, then looked up to meet Ward's impassive eyes.
"Would it help if I turned around?" He hoped he succeeded in sounding casual. Then, slowly, he turned around.
Again, he waited. And again, nothing happened.
"Damn it!" He heard Ward say from behind him. Fitz turned around just as Ward was walking away and towards the stairs, where he shoved over the body of a fallen HYDRA agent and took a seat.
"You can't do it, can you?" Ward didn't even bother responding. Fitz walked towards him and sat down next to him on the same step. Neither said anything for several seconds.
And in those seconds, Fitz had pretended that nothing had changed—that the man beside him was still his friend. That the man beside him was the closest thing he ever had to a brother.
"Garrett wants me to bring Skye's body to him as proof of my loyalty to HYDRA," Ward whispered. He sounded so broken, that a part of Fitz wanted to comfort him. But a much larger part of him—the part that would never let any harm come to those he cared about if he could help it—bristled at those words.
"Well, that's not going to happen."
"I know it's not." Fitz wasn't surprised at all to hear that. He was, however, surprised at the sudden concern he felt for his former friend.
"What will happen, though? What happens if you don't bring him what he wants?"
Ward stiffened beside him, and Fitz didn't want to hear the answer anymore.
"Terrible things." The answer was vague, for which Fitz was extremely thankful for. "But less terrible than any scenario where Skye is…hurt." Fitz found it quite ironic how they were surrounded by the bodies of fallen HYDRA agents in an enclosed stairwell, yet Ward couldn't even say the word 'dead.'
Then again, Fitz thought, If it was Jemma, I wouldn't be able to think of a situation where she would be d—
Fitz forcefully cut his thoughts off. He didn't want to think that. Never that. Never about Jemma. That's when it hit him.
"You really love her, don't you?" He asked. Though by that point, it was more rhetorical than anything. "You're really in love with Skye."
"Yes."
Just then, a crazy idea popped into Fitz's head.
"Ward, come back to our side," he said earnestly.
"I was never on your side."
"Then join us. Let's both get out of here. I told you before that I don't believe people are born evil. Something must have happened to you, Ward. Something so horrible that serving a monster was the better alternative. But you have good inside of you Ward. You wouldn't have been able to fall in love with Skye if you didn't. You wouldn't have hesitated in killing me."
"Fitz, I can't go with you." And Ward sounded truly regretful at that. "You said it yourself; Coulson, May, and Trip won't hesitate to kill me on sight. I've killed several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, including Hand and Koenig. And you don't even know about half the things I've done. There's no redemption for me."
Fitz shook his head vigorously.
"No. I won't believe that. I'll find a way, Ward. I'll find a way to save you."
"Fitz, stop!" Ward's sudden outburst effectively quieted the engineer. When Ward stood up, Fitz immediately followed. Ward then turned so the two men were facing each other. "You can't save me from myself, Fitz," he said heatedly. But Fitz was adamant.
"There's got to be a way—
"You still don't get it. I don't want to be saved! I deserve this torture, Fitz. The only thing that will save me at this point is death. And Garrett made sure that I'll be a tough son-of-a-bitch to kill."
Ward moved to stoop down to retrieve his gun from the step he had left it at. When he straightened up again, he moved the gun forward.
The handle was towards Fitz.
"You want to save me, Fitz? Then kill me. Please."
Fitz shook his head.
"I can no more kill you than you can kill me, Ward."
Ward lowered his gun.
"Then I guess we're at an impasse."
Suddenly, Ward stiffened.
"Shit," he cursed after a few seconds. Then he started looking around.
"What is it?" Ward ignored Fitz's question. Instead, he ran up the stairs three steps at a time. When he reached the landing, he grabbed the police baton from one of the HYDRA agents then ran back down the stairs. He held the police baton out to him.
"Here," he said so earnestly that Fitz took it without question. "My comms went live. Don't worry. It's not a two-way channel. But I've been gone too long. Garrett's looking for me. You have to knock me out. Knock me out, then run."
Fitz found himself unable to speak, so he nodded his reply. Then he raised the police baton.
"Just so we're clear," Ward said before Fitz swung, "This is the only time I'm doing this. You better train, Fitz, because the next time we meet, I really am going to kill you."
"Not if I save you first," Fitz fired back without missing a beat. Then, before Ward could reply, Fitz swung the police baton as hard as he could at Ward's head.
End