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Fitz is lost in his own heads when he makes his way down towards Cell Block D and cocks his head at the door. He wonders who – or what – is in there and why. "Fitz, no," Jemma whispers but he doesn't pay any attention to her as he decides to hack his way in. He smiles when he succeeds and the door opens but stares in shock when he comes face to face with Ward.
"Fitz, what are you doing down here?" a worried Ward asks. Something seems off about the scientist and Fitz shouldn't even be in here.
"You're in … I know what the word is. Jemma, help me out," Fitz pleads.
His hallucination helpfully supplies, "Jail." She's smiling and he just glares at her.
"Jail, that's it. You're supposed … to be … in… in… jail," he finally sputters.
Ward hates himself even more for what he clearly did to Fitz but pushes that back down temporarily because this entire situation is wrong. "Fitz, where are the others? You shouldn't be down here."
"I'm … safe," Fitz replies before he starts talking to "Jemma" again. Ward can only stare in horror as the scientist starts becoming more and more agitated.
He hopes someone is watching on the feeds but if they had, they would have rushed down here already. His guilt intensifies as he watches Fitz and that's when Ward decides to step in. "Fitz, everything's okay. I think you need to go get somebody to help you. Can you do that for me, please?"
"I shouldn't trust him!" Fitz rants angrily at nothing.
Ward winces. "Fitz, please calm down!" He starts screaming up at the wall where he knows the camera is and hopes someone is watching so they can come get him. But there's no response and he's starting to panic. "Fitz, stop talking and just look at me." But he's unsuccessful and the ranting is only getting worse.
"I need to work!" Fitz shouts. He's completely unaware of his surroundings now and isn't paying attention to Ward.
Ward doesn't care that it'll hurt him as he starts banging on the invisible wall just to get someone – anyone's – attention. And he realizes later that it was stupid to act this impulsively but he starts screaming along with Fitz. Fitz briefly stops to stare at him, and Ward hopes he's gotten through to him, but they're dashed when the scientist starts ranting to the hallucination of Jemma again. "Fitz!" he cries.
"It'll be okay. They'll come … what am I thinking about again? What is it? They'll save me." Fitz smiles triumphantly before glaring at Jemma's flippant response. "You are not helping," he informs her before he starts ranting again.
A horrified Ward starts shouting in hopes the loud screaming will finally get someone's attention. He's starting to fall apart himself again and cannot afford that right now. He just can't do it. His eyes well up with tears as he calls Fitz's name again. "Come on," he pleads.
Skye's walking downstairs to the basement to ask Ward a question about their latest case when she starts hearing screaming. Grabbing her ICER, she rushes down the hallway and notices the door is open. She is absolutely horrified when she steps in to a clearly upset Fitz (and Ward). "What's going on?" she shouts.
Ward sags in relief when he sees her. "You have to help him. I don't know what's wrong but he won't stop." His body vibrates with fear and worry.
Skye squats down next to Fitz. "Hey, Fitz. I'm here right now, nothing's wrong. Just please settle down." She shouts into her com for medical because she's pretty sure he's going to need sedated. "You're safe, kiddo."
"Is he hurt? Nobody could hear me or come down and I couldn't get him to stop." The visibly shaken Ward steps back when Skye turns her head in his direction.
Her gaze softens. "Ward, I'm so angry at you right now for this, among many other things, but today is not your fault. I'm sure you tried your hardest, right?" At his nod, she smiles. "Fitz is going to be fine. He has his bad days and today is one of them. I knew we shouldn't have left him alone in the lab today but all of us were busy with this case and couldn't keep an eye on him. Thank you for trying to take care of him from inside there when nobody is around."
Fitz is whimpering now and Skye presses a kiss to the top of his head. "I'm safe?" he asks.
"You're safe," Skye confirms. She's relieved when the technician comes in with the sedative.
When Fitz starts protesting, Ward surprisingly steps in. "Fitz, you need the sedative, buddy. It'll help you feel better. You want that, right?"
He nods. "Yes," he sighs and then lets the technician slide the needle in.
"Thanks again," Skye mouths as they prepare to leave.
Ward just shrugs, the guilt overwhelming again. "It's my fault and I deserve your hatred but you're welcome. Can someone tell me how he is the next time they come down?"
"Of course." Skye doesn't understand it but she can tell he's worried about Fitz. She'll be checking the video feed as soon as she heads back upstairs for a full, clear picture of what went down.
This won't be Fitz's last unexpected journey to Ward's cell but nobody knows that quite yet. And those two will end up being good for each other and supportive of one another's recovery in the long run, surprising the hell out of everyone involved. Fitz is rightfully furious, and Ward will accept the angry blows that occasionally rain down on him during a visit. But it is Fitz who convinces both Coulson and Ward that the prisoner needs to see a therapist for his myriad of issues (everyone is shocked the day Ward reveals to Fitz what Garrett did to him). It'll take the whole group a long time to work through their problems with each other, however, but they're all determined to try.