Chapter One (The Forgotten and Betrayed)

They had found Skye beaten, bloodied and unconscious, lying in a field near where she and Lincoln had gone to find a supposed gifted that was marked as highly dangerous. A distress call had been sent out, presumably by Skye, since Lincoln was nowhere to be seen. They managed to get Skye back to a jet before she jerked awake.

"Lincoln!" she screamed, her powers causing the aircraft to shake beneath them.

Coulson hurried over to her and placed his one hand on her, "Skye, it's us. Well, me, Bobbi, Hunter, and May. Fitzsimmons and Mack are back at base waiting for us." he said calmly, trying not to scare her even more.

Skye blinked, realizing where she was at. Her face fell, seeing the SHIELD agents around her, "Coulson? What? What happened?" she asked, rubbing her sore head.

"A distress call was sent out, I think by you." Coulson began to explain. "We came and found you unconscious and alone in the field near where you and Lincoln were supposed to apprehend that rouge gifted." He took a slow, steady breath, "Skye, we couldn't find Lincoln. Where is he?"

Skye's face paled as she looked around the jet, "I-I really don't know." she stammered. "We were ambushed. Men in black armor, almost like Iron Man in a way. I managed to get away, but I think… I think they took Lincoln." she explained.

May crossed her arms, "Hydra?" she questioned.

Skye shook her head, "No, I don't think so." she replied. "Didn't seem like any Hydra agents I've ever seen. It was someone else. Someone after gifteds, I suppose."

"Like Iron Man though?" Hunter asked, going back to Skye's description of the men from earlier.

"Kind of. But the entire front of their helmets was some kind of glass-like material. They were prepared to fight us. For some reason, I couldn't use my powers. They had inhibitors or something." Skye answered. "Neither could Lincoln."

Coulson's face twisted up, "Great, now someone else other than the remains of Hydra that we have to deal with." he spat. "No names? Anything?"

Skye shook her head, "Other than a symbol of a snake circling around a world etched onto their black armor in red print." she stated. "That's all."

Bobbi raised an eyebrow, "But that's a start. Look up strange, gifted-kidnapping organizations with that kind of symbol representing them." she said, still distraught at Lincoln's kidnapping.

"Doesn't sound that easy." Hunter grumbled.

"But it'll do something." Coulson stated, looking at the other team members. He looked back to Skye, "We're getting you back to base so we can get you patched up. We already searched the area and couldn't find Lincoln anywhere, so this strange organization already has him.

But we'll find him. And if we're lucky, defeat another organization that wants to use gifteds for their own gain." he continued. "I'm tired of this evil organizations thing. Just for once, I would like some peace and quiet."

(Elsewhere, Later)

Lincoln groaned, opening his eyes to a bright light above him, his back pressed up against a cold, steel floor. He bolted up, his eyes meeting a large, steel door with a small, rectangular window in front of him. "What the hell?" he muttered.

The sound of shuffling sounded behind him. He froze as someone began to talk. "It's about time your ass woke up. Still don't see why they threw someone in here along with me. I liked being alone. Doesn't help when it's you."

Lincoln frowned, standing up and turning around to see a man sitting on a cot attached to the wall behind him. The man was white with a slight tan, muscular, had black, spiky hair, along with the stubble of a beard. And he was familiar-looking.

The man remained silent, his brown eyes studying Lincoln, up and down. Lincoln studied him too, trying to figure out why the man looked so familiar. Then it hit him.

This man had fought SHIELD about half a year ago when he was still fairly new to the team., Lincoln remembered. It was because of some revenge-driven craze, because the man had once been part of the team and something had happened between them. He remembered the crazed look in the man's eyes as he tried to kill them. But now that was gone, replaced by a cold, dull light.

But he couldn't remember his name. Lincoln only really stayed around Skye and Fitzsimmons, especially since Simmons had been rescued from that damn rock. But they never called the man by his name, only 'asshole', 'traitor', or 'backstabbing bastard'. And a few other names that made Lincoln cringe.

Lincoln narrowed his eyes towards the man, "I know you." he said. "You're that asshole that tried to kill us."

The man's face fell and Lincoln saw a muscle twitch near his eye. "Don't ever call me that." he spat. "I would like to put that behind me. That was half a year ago, not now. I'm different now."

"Different how?"

The man's face showed amusement, "In more ways than you know." he responded. "But now's not the time for that."

Lincoln frowned, wanting to move the subject to something else. If he was locked in with this crazy guy, he better find something that wouldn't set him off. "Where am I anyways?" he asked, surveying the room.

The man shrugged, "I don't know location-wise, but it's part of some company named Biogen." he replied. "Some company acting under the mantra of bettering human life. You know, curing all diseases and enhancing life." He snorted, "Yeah, right. They're doing that by experimenting on Inhumans and gifteds." he continued. "Drawing their blood and other things to create serums. I even think that this place is trying to create their own breed of gifteds."

Lincoln's stomach twisted, "Why?" he asked.

The man's lips curled into a smile, "If everyone has powers, no one's different. Everyone's superior." he replied. "I actually heard someone here say just that. It's almost like Hitler wanting a superior race. But in this case, everyone has powers."

Lincoln now was starting to become sick, realizing that he was in mortal danger here. "W-What are they doing to us?" he asked.

The man snorted again, "It's complicated." he stated. "It's almost like a fight ring down here. They pit gifteds and Inhumans against one another to see who's stronger. The loser gets killed 'cause their 'weak'. The winner gets to stay alive." The man paused, swallowing a lump in his throat, "But they're the ones subjected to the experiments. Blood drawn about to the point of being dry. Being cut upon…" Pain filled his eyes, "It's worse with me. I heal fast. They make a cut and by the time they make another, the first one's heal."

Lincoln almost felt sorry for the man, but why should he? This man tried to kill him just months ago. But something seemed off. Just months ago, this man had no powers. "Wait,when you tried to kill us," Lincoln began. "You weren't gifted. What happened?"

Amusement sparkled in the man's eyes again, "A lot happens in six months." he said. "I've been here for three. I got my powers four months ago, that's what ended my idiotic 'revenge' plan."

"What are your powers?" Lincoln asked.

"Like I would show you." the man retorted. "Once you get out of here, you'll squeal to Coulson about me. Anyways, there's inhibitors in here. Can't use powers in the cells. Only the ring and the test labs." The man smiled again, a red light glowing in his eyes, "It's hell in here."

The red light in the man's eyes took Lincoln by surprise, and he stepped back a bit. But he didn't say anything.

The man laughed and came to his feet, "But I'm not going to kill you, unless you try to kill me. If I kill you and SHIELD happens to come running, they'll kill me 'cause you're dead. It's better to keep your ass alive in here." he said.

Again, Lincoln didn't say anything.

Leaning forward, the man continued, "Listen to what I have to say, and you'll make it out of here. I've been here long enough to know the ropes of this place. Step out of line here and you're dead. So if you want to stay alive, listen to me." he said, his voice hushed.

Hesitating, Lincoln nodded, not believing that he was agreeing to his team's enemy. But it seemed like the man was telling the truth. Was he?

The man smiled, "Good." he stated simply, studying Lincoln again. "Good."

Lincoln gulped, "What's your name anyways?" he asked. "I've never heard your actual name other than 'asshole', 'bastard', and a few other things that I rather not mention right now."

The man scoffed, "Of course they would call me that." But he frowned, "You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine. It's not good to be strangers here. It's best to have people close to you."

Again, Lincoln gulped, his palms sweaty, "L-Lincoln Campbell." he stammered, still kind of afraid of the man.

The man smiled slightly, "Grant Ward."

Author's Note: I don't own AoS, Marvel does. Something new I'm trying since Let It Burn is about to wrap up soon and A Hunger to Feed flopped. So in this, Lincoln's trapped alongside Ward, believe it or not, which will surprise the team as they come running. But there's more to this story than that. Way more than that. I hope you enjoy! Keep reading and PLEASE favorite, follow, and/or review! ~AwakeAndAliveSpartan.