SEVEN WEEKS POST MAVETH:

"Fitz, do be careful with that, we don't know what it does yet. And I'd like to keep the samples stable long enough to find out."

"I know, Jemma." Fitz sighed into the com. At times like these, Fitz could almost forget all that the last three years had wrought. Betrayal, brain damage, the fall of SHIELD and a couple trips to an alien planet had left them very different people from when they'd joined Coulson's team. It seemed like a lifetime ago. But things had slowed down a bit since he and Coulson had gotten back from the planet and the Hydra castle was destroyed. Which was good because they all needed some time to get over that. And it's true, he and Jemma were still a bit awkward around each other, and he still caught her looking sad sometimes, but none of that mattered when they were working. When they had a project they might as well have been back at the academy – teasing and bickering and reading each other's minds. He supposed that's why they both seemed to have made a silent agreement to keep busy, spending most of their time scrounging up projects to do and being together in the lab. They still hadn't had the conversation that filled the air with a tightness like a heart attack any time they weren't working, but they were together- for now.

'Can't last forever, though,' Fitz reminded himself sadly. He'd stuck around to help Jemma recover, but it was approaching 8 weeks now and Jemma seemed to be getting better. He had been toying with putting in an application for transfer to the Bus for a while now because he was afraid that Jemma was planning on making a move soon. He knew how she hated to disappoint people, and he suspected that she would feel like she should go on a date with him just because she thought that's what he wanted. And he did. But that wasn't what he wanted their date to be. That said, he wasn't really sure he'd have the strength to say no if she offered. Which is why he was going to spare them both and just get out of there.

Fitz gave her one more update. "I'm almost done here, Jemma. Sleepy is taking one more reading and then I'll be on my way back."

"Alright. I'll finish getting the hyperbaric chamber calibrated and the protective suits ready. Do hurry!" with that her end of the com clicked off.

Fitz could tell from her tone she was equal parts excited and anxious. While he began to pack up his equipment he fondly imagined her bustling around the lab, unable to keep still, perhaps gently scolding the techs they'd brought in to assist. While they still didn't have a lot of personnel, Mack had brought in as many people as he could, any that had even the slightest experience in a lab environment really. Not the best situation, but they did need the help. The new substance they'd found in the caves around the old temple they'd collapsed after Daisy's 'metamorphosis' posed an intriguing possibility. With all the people now being exposed to the terragen contagion Daisy's team continued to face the challenge of helping as many people as possible adjust to their new abilities without causing damage. One thing that had become apparent is that that adjustment did not happen quickly or easily, nor even naturally for most people. Outside help was required to stabilize the reaction in the body. Lincoln had consulted with them about the therapies Daisy's mother used. He didn't know as much as Fitz and Jemma had hoped, he was a doctor but not a xenobiologist after all. And this biological process and the methods Jiaying used to assist those it affected was definitely engineered by aliens. But a breakthrough had come with the discovery of this substance.

Fitz glanced at his monitor and realized Sleepy was taking much longer than it should for the last measurement. Recognizing the necessity behind Jemma's admonition to hurry back to the lab (they 'didn't know they decay rate of the element once it had been removed from its natural environment' she'd reminded him), Fitz decided to head down to where his dwarf was supposed to be doing its work. He was still receiving a signal from it, so it wasn't broken, but he feared his little bot had gotten itself stuck. So, despite his misgivings about wandering farther into the cave, he flicked on his head torch, grabbed his tablet and headed inward. At least this particular cave wasn't underwater. That was the only reason he'd agreed to this mission. Still wasn't too fond of tight spaces underwater.

As he followed the map his tablet lit up, Fitz imagined the ancient Inhumans who volunteered themselves for the transformation walking through the very corridor he now traversed. He shuddered, remembering how confused and in pain Daisy was when they'd found her, and how gruesome Raina had become. Did the sacrificial victims from so long ago know what it would be like before they went through it? In any case, the research the team had done about the temple recently revealed that the temple was designed with an array of caves surrounding it, all of them filled with the mysterious material they were now calling ISO-8. According to the old documents Jiaying had kept, those that survived the initial transformation as Daisy had were left to wander their way out of the labyrinth of caves on their own. The strong ones who were able to do so were said to leave the caves a fully developed inhuman, with full control over their powers. There were, of course, many who did not make it. Evidence was building that the alien race who'd started this did not place a high value on human life.

Fitz wound his way around yet another curve, watching his red dot come closer and closer to the dwarf's yellow dot on his map. The space seemed to be getting narrower, further confirming to Fitz that the dwarf was stuck in a tight spot. He just hoped it wasn't too small for him to get it out. Sleepy was his favorite. Shame they still wouldn't let him get a monkey. This is exactly the kind of thing it could be useful for. Even a golden retriever could do this.

Quite suddenly, Fitz found himself take a step that resulted in the map he was holding blinking out of existence, leaving only the two dots representing him and the dwarf. After his initial alarm, he remembered that he'd been gradually walking downward, and concluded that he must have gotten deep enough to loose connection with GPS and satellite signal. The Bluetooth capability built into all his bots was still working though, which is why he could still see its relative position to him. Fitz figured he should probably alert Jemma to what he was doing, but upon going back 30 paces or so he realized he must have lost com signal quite a ways back. Considering the dwarf looked to be only 20 meters past where he lost GPS, Fitz decided to just quickly retrieve it and get back to the surface as quickly as possible. No need to bother anyone at the lab, really. Just a short walk, that's all it was.

Fitz moved forward boldly, trying to convince himself that he wasn't at all bothered by the fact that he was underground in a dark tunnel alone with no way to contact anyone. Now, with little to focus on besides the dark solitude around him, he began noticing the noises of the animals for whom this cave was still home. He busied his mind coming up with the scientific classifications of the animals that could be going about their normal lives so very comfortable down here while he was so very not. But once he rounded the final bend he realized that there was one animal he had not thought to account for.

Fitz yelped and scrambled backwards when the bright light of a torch was shown directly into his eyes out of nowhere. He blinked furiously, willing his eyes to adjust to see just who was accosting him in this cave where he should have been completely solitary. When at last his eyes did adjust to the light, nausea came over him.

"Ward!?" he closed his eyes and shook his head forcefully, determined that what he thought he saw must be a hallucination. But when he stopped and opened his eyes again, Ward still stood there with that cocky grin on his face. "No, it can't be. You're not here, you died on that planet." Fitz muttered under his breath.

Ward moved forward, keeping the cold smile on his face but cocking his head to add to the threatening air of it. "It's good to see you again, buddy. Did you miss me?"

Fitz instinctively flinched away from Ward's movement. "I saw you die! Coulson killed you!" Fitz shouted, half hoping that if he said it with enough finality it would make it true and he could wake up from this nightmare.

"Did he though? I mean, what really is death? A rock? A planet? Or maybe just a new beginning." Ward postulated, starting to pace around the small cavity they were occupying. Fitz struggled to hold his ground and maintain defiant eye contact with Ward in an attempt to deny him the satisfaction of knowing how much he terrified him. All the while his mind raced to solve the puzzle of Ward's continued existence. He had seen Coulson's come away from Ward once he'd finally finished It/Will. Ward had been dead, or so he thought. Could Coulson have gotten it wrong? Could Ward have faked being dead and gotten off the planet behind them or... suddenly a dread came over him.

"You're not Ward." Fitz declared.

"Right again! You are a quick one aren't you? Tell me…"- 'Ward' leaned over to look directly into Fitz' eyes- "does that make you more or less scared of me? I know what he did to you." 'Ward's grin widened into a smile that was somehow more unnerving. "So, what do you think of the new look?" He did a proud turn about as if to show off new clothes. "I gotta hand it to you, you made quick work of the last one. But then, that wasn't really my style anyway. Too much Boy Scout. This, THIS is more like it. Young! Strong! And just a touch of dark side."

Fitz was only half listening. Instead, he was using to It's monologue to calculate the odds of his current situation. It seemed to pick up certain traits of It's host, and It could be remarkably strong and durable. Fitz assumed this was due to the puppet - like nature of the body to It, it wouldn't be bound by the limitations normally self-imposed on a living body to prevent injury or in response to pain. But considering how It had hobbled on Will's leg, It did seem to be impeded by damage to the host body. Fitz quickly tried to tabulate the possible injuries Ward's body had received upon his execution and how that might affect his mobility. Coulson had not gone into detail regarding Ward's final moments, something he was grateful for at the time but now wished he had provided a bit more data. It was not obviously disabled when it came to standing and walking, but if Ward's chest had been crushed, perhaps his spine would have suffered some damage too that would make anything more demanding than a walk impossible. Oh, he wished Jemma were here. She would be much better at this than him.

But It was going on. "Almost a shame he had to die, this Ward guy. I think we would have gotten along well." Fitz scoffed at this. 'Probably,' he thought, 'you two could be psychopathic monsters together'. "But I am sure you can understand, this body doesn't do me much good in its current condition." It feigned a look of self-pity. "Just look at these eyes! People will think I'm a vampire! Which, actually, is not too far from the truth. But still, can't have people running in terror just yet. And that's where you come in!"

"I will never help you." Fitz stated, a bit proud at the determination his voice conveyed. A menacing looking woman stepped out from the shadows, moving around and behind him. Fitz instantly recognized that she must be inhuman too, and was leery of what her powers might be. He also realized just how foolish his desperate escape plan was. Of course It would have a lackey with him. It was very Hydra. "I don't care what you do to me. I won't make anything for you." Fitz reiterated. 'After all, what would Jemma think?' He thought to himself. He had already broken both promises he made before he went to the planet- he'd returned without Will and now it turns out he had brought It back with them. There was no way he was going to do anything but stop It now.

"Oh, oh no! I think you've misunderstood. You see, this is really more of a Biochem problem, don't you think?" It put additional emphasis on Biochem to make sure Fitz caught the significance. As It spoke, the woman who was now behind Fitz stepped close to removed his helmet and then brought it to Ward. He gasped as he felt a gash open on the back of his neck. Fitz didn't understand how it had gotten there as the woman had neither drawn any weapon nor had made any move toward him in order to make the cut. But when he reached back he felt blood slick his glove. His eyes shot back to It though as he remembered It had alluded to Simmons.

"You see, I need something that will maintain this body, keep it from decaying. And that's kind of Simmons' thing, right? Grant's memories tell me you've encountered something before that may be helpful. Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to hurt her. No, I've got a better way to get her to cooperate." At those words Fitz felt himself forced to his knees, effectively pinning him down. It didn't matter how he struggled- he was trapped as if he were made of metal and someone had hidden an electromagnet on the ground. It continued to talk as it lowered Ward's body to a sitting position on the ground facing him, still grinning meanly. "I used to be like you, you know. I used to be human. But then some blue angels came and took that away. So now, I'll have to take your humanity." Fitz watched in horror as Ward's facial features first relaxed, then became even paler. This effect moved down his body gradually until he slumped over. A slug looking thing came slithering out of his mouth, dropped onto the floor where it slimed It's way toward Fitz. Fitz' heart began to pound as he intuited Its plan. His panic grew as the squid drew closer and closer until he couldn't hold back his terror anymore. "NO! NO NO NO NO NO! NO!" He begged continuously, struggling against invisible binding, his frightened cries echoing around the chamber. His pleas grew louder still as It glided up his arm toward the cut that was made just seconds ago. And they continued still as he felt the cool, unnatural tingle of It slipping inside his body. And still he cried out until he gradually became aware that his ears had stopped hearing his voice, and now his screams were only echoing inside his own head.

He felt himself rise involuntarily off the floor. He could tell his heart rate had slowed although his panic had not subsided. He heard his voice tell the woman who had been somehow holding his him down to take the body to the stasis chamber. And finally he watched as his hand picked up the lost dwarf he'd nearly forgotten, obviously intentionally held hostage by It and his witch, and turn to walk out the way he'd come in.