Chapter 2- Establishing The Facts

You need to relax, Fitz's inner voice told him sharply as the guns maintained him as their target.

Focusing on his breathing, Fitz stared at each gun and realised that they were not about to shoot him unless Ward gave the command. He guessed that this was where the whole 'trust me' thing came into play. Fitz had to trust that Ward's explanation was the whole truth and he wasn't about to lead him to the slaughter. One word from Grant Ward ended his life and Fitz wasn't sure how he felt about that. Putting so much faith in somebody who had fucked him over in what was pretty much the worst way possible.

He felt Ward's hard hand wrapped around his shoulder and suddenly the dynamic shifted. The hand should have felt like a menacing reminder of his possible death, but the touch morphed into a soothing, grounding presence, something that said I've got you, Fitz. Fitz didn't really know how to feel about that, but he filed it away for later consideration. It was in that particular box with finding Jemma. If he was to find her, he had to escape or convince Ward to let him continue somehow. Though he didn't think that Ward had any intention of letting him go before he had the chance to...well, do whatever Ward had brought him here to do. He still hadn't been briefed on that particular facet of Ward's plan. If that was the right word.

Ward put his hands up. "Guns down. This is the guy I was talking about. The S.H.I.E.L.D agent that's going to help us with our problem. I have orders from the boss not to let him die. So no shooting him or it's not going to be me that you have to worry about."

Fitz did an internal victory dance and reminded himself not to externalize his glee. The guns were still readily available to anybody who wanted to kill him…

His eyes lighted as he realised that the opposite was also true. He wasn't the best shot, that much was true, but he was still a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. That meant that he knew how to shoot someone if he needed to. He had been in the field, he had shot people dead. He could do it again if his life was on the line. And this time it was Jemma's life too. Though wherever she had gone would have to wait. He hated thinking it, but the next thing on his mind was getting out of this situation.

Ward grabbed his shoulder roughly and Fitz was about to yell until he realised that Ward had to convince them he wasn't trying to protect Fitz…if that was actually what his plan was. He had somewhat convinced Fitz in the room that he was on his side, but Grant Ward was nothing if not a good liar. Fitz found himself knowing truly knowing what the facts of the case were. Facts were usually his failsafe. Strategy was something that was hit or miss, but nobody could argue with the facts. However, when they came from an unreliable narrator such as Grant Ward, they were somewhat questionable.

"Come on, kid. I'm taking you to see the boss."

Ward pushed against the back of Fitz's head and the latter began to walk in the direction assigned. Fitz could feel the cold, heavy weight of a gun being pressed against his head and it ached uncomfortably. He supposed that Ward wouldn't shoot him before meeting the boss, so he could assure his own safety until then.

No guards came with them, trusting Ward to deliver him on his own. Fitz wanted to point out that trusting Ward with anything became a risky little game that one had to be prepared to lose at to play.

Ward side eyed the cameras and clicked his tongue, lowering the gun promptly. "Sorry about that. I had to show them that you were here and not to be touched."

"And the boss?" Fitz questioned. "What do they want to do with me?"

"You're going to be helpful to him, Fitz. When she asked me about my S.H.I.E.L.D team, I talked about you and how good you were with making things."

Fitz smirked. "Bet you just couldn't wait to unload all of your intel that you'd collected about us over the year."

Ward sighed. "It was hard, Fitz. Look, after we see the boss, we'll hole up in my room and I'll tell you everything that happened, okay?"

"Why would you tell me anything? I thought I was merely here to serve a purpose."

"Do you not remember what I told you not five minutes ago? Trust me. Or at least try. If you don't, this isn't going to end well for either of us. The quicker you learn to play along with what's going on, the sooner you'll be able to get out of here and find Jemma."

"Don't even mention her name. You almost killed her, Ward. She may have forgiven you, but I certainly haven't."

"I know that it's going to take time, Leo. I don't expect you to just forgive me overnight, but I'd really like to make a start. Hopefully tonight you'll understand why what happened was justified."

"Justified?"

Ward sighed once more. "No, I didn't mean it like that. Nothing justifies what I did. There's a reason behind everything and you'll find that out. For now, just trust me. I won't wrong you again, Fitz. I promise."

"I've heard promises from you before. Why should I trust you now?"

Ward glanced up before smirking. "Because, kid, this time you've got no other choice."

Fitz frowned as the door panel slid open, allowing them entrance. "That doesn't sound so comforting, I have to say."

"It's not supposed to be." Ward put the gun back against Fitz's head and marched him into the room where the boss would be.

Fitz felt the man's authority almost instantly.

The man coughed as Fitz and Ward entered the room.

"Ah, Ward, everything went according to plan, yes?"

Ward nodded. "Yes, Mr. Warner, sir. He's here and he's ready to co-operate."

Ward pushed Fitz forward with the gun.

Fitz breathed in deeply.

"So you're this brilliant engineer Ward told me about?"

Fitz shrugged. "I guess."

"Don't be humble, boy, from what I hear you achievements are something to be proud of. Unless Ward isn't paining a truthful picture, that is?"

Fitz toyed with a smirk before keeping his expression flat. Selling Ward out wouldn't help him. Painting Ward as a liar would only hurt him in the long run and that wasn't what Fitz wanted. That wasn't on the agenda. The only thing that mattered now was his survival so that he could get back to searching for Jemma. Everything else would have to take a backseat. He would get his answers from Ward, do whatever Mr. Warner wanted him to do and then escape.

And then it finally hit him.

What if what Mr. Warner wanted would endanger those he cared about? What if it was a Hydra operation? Knowing what he thought he knew about Ward, that made sense. Could he do that? Fitz didn't know if his own safety and that of Jemma was worth the potential destruction he could cause just by following the commands of Ward and his team. Jemma would have had a pros and cons list ready by now but Fitz couldn't seem to think clearly about his task.

Ward intervened, the heavy silence far too lengthy for anyone's liking. "Fitz has a thing about his own accomplishments. He can never discern good work from adequate work. Trust me when I say that he's done some great stuff."

There were those words again coming out of Ward's mouth.

Trust me.

Fitz didn't know if he had it in him to trust Ward again, although he knew he had to do it to some degree if he wanted to make it out of the base alive and well enough to search for Jemma. He was about to speak when Mr. Warner cut him off.

"Well, there we have it. Welcome aboard, Leopold Fitz. Gosh, what a name. It doesn't quite roll off the tongue, does it?"

Fitz glared characteristically at Warner. "Fitz is fine."

Warner smiled wryly. "Fitz it is, then! Well, there's nothing for you to do today except acquaint yourself with your new surroundings. You'll be here until the project is finished."

He was talking like Fitz had signed up voluntarily for this project rather than being forced into it via abduction.

"I'll have Ward show you around and show you where you'll be sleeping. It'll be close to him so that he can keep an eye on you. After all, we wouldn't want you trying to escape now, would we?"

"Escape sounds fine to me," Fitz quipped.

Warner stepped forward, stroking Fitz's face with his thumb. "Come now, Fitz, don't be that way. You're doing us and the world a great service. I don't think you'll be wanting to escape once you fully comprehend what we are trying to achieve here. Ward will brief you on that more tomorrow. For now, I just wanted to meet you and to introduce myself. I'm Richard Warner, I oversee everything that goes on here."

"Lovely."

Warner chuckled. "You were right, Ward. He's got some fire in him."

Ward nodded. "It can be a bad thing. Kid's too stubborn for his own good."

Warner left his hand on Fitz's skin, sending a cold chill down the boy's back. "Now, Ward, play nicely. I know that you two have some history behind you, but that's nothing that can't be solved with some apologies and sincere conversation. Anyway, I'll leave you both to it. Ward, if you will."

Ward grunted and dragged Fitz out of the room by his collar.

Once the door panel slid closed behind them, Ward grinned. "Good performance."

"I wasn't acting," Fitz barked, shrugging himself free of Ward's grasp.

Ward sighed and shook his head. "Okay. Well, I'll show you your room and then we'll talk like I promised. That sound good?"

Fitz shrugged. "As long as I get some answers, I don't care what we do."

Ward smirked. "Oh, Fitz. Always to the point. You'll get answers, I promised you that."

Fitz and Ward sat cross-legged opposite each other on Ward's bed. Fitz stared down at his watch, waiting for Ward to begin.

"Okay, the first thing that you have to know is that I'm not a part of Hydra and I never was."

Fitz blinked slowly. "I don't believe you."

"Fitz, I told you that I was never going to lie to you. Remember? Remember what I said."

"Of course I remember. In the basement, you said that you wouldn't lie to any of us again. You said that after everything, we deserved the truth."

Ward shifted. "I broke that once. By telling you that I was a member of Hydra. That was never true. I was acting like I was under Warner's instruction."

Fitz frowned. "I thought this was Hydra. If it's not, then what are you guys doing here?"

"I guess you could call us the Switzerland of this little war between S.H.I.E.L.D and Hydra. We're on nobody's side, but we want the war to stop. And we're going to make it happen."

"Why? What's the endgame here? Peace? Neutrality?"

Ward shook his head. "I honestly don't know what Warner wants out of this. For me, I saw it as an opportunity to do some good. I'll explain and then you can ask your questions, okay?"

Fitz shrugged.

Ward sighed. "Okay. Before I joined up with Warner, I actually was a legitimate S.H.I.E.L.D agent. That's why Warner sought me out, because I already had an in with both sides. I enjoyed my time with S.H.I.E.L.D, I really did. It taught me a lot, but I realised pretty early on that it was corrupt as an organization. I learned about the Hydra infiltration and realised that no good was going to come of that. Warner found me and tasked me with being a triple agent. I would work for him and make both S.H.I.E.L.D and Hydra think that I was working for him. When Rogers and Romanoff leaked the Hydra files to everyone, Warner told me to reveal my supposed identity as a double agent to S.H.I.E.L.D..

"Hydra still think that I'm working solely for them and that I only betrayed S.H.I.E.L.D. Warner will give me instructions as to when I can leave Hydra for good. I presume he's waiting until everything's set up so my reveal will weaken their infrastructure."

Fitz exhaled. "That's one hell of a complicated plan. I have to say, it's smart."

Ward nodded. "So you believe me now? That I'm not Hydra?"

Fitz hummed. "Yeah. I believe you. But you're still an enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D. That means you're still an enemy of mine."

"See, this is the downside of your unwavering loyalty to S.H.I.E.L.D. You can't trust them either. You don't know who might be a Hydra spy and who's actually on your side. People can make promises and establish their loyalty, but you never truly know."

"There you go with those words again. Trust. And promise. Why?"

Ward sighed. "They're important. It's important that you of all people trust me, Leo."

"Why me?"

Ward turned away slightly, though not enough to reveal anything untoward to Fitz. "Because you're here and…if you don't, it'll get you killed. When I make a promise to you, you have to know that I'm going to keep it."

"How can I even be sure of that? I know I've asked this a lot, but I still can't be sure what your deal is."

"Fitz, the fact that I even told you the truth at all is a lot. I never usually divulge anything about my life. The less people know about you, the less they can use against you. It's always been like that."

Fitz felt an unexpected pang of sadness at what Ward's life must have been like. Lonely, with nobody that he could trust with his secrets. "You could have talked to me."

"No, Fitz. You would've ran straight to Coulson with what you knew and we both know it. Despite how close we had become, S.H.I.E.L.D would always come first with you. You've grown up a lot since then. You take time to think about things now. I can see the difference in you."

Fitz swore he would never look at Grant Ward the way he used to the moment the capsule had left he and Jemma stranded underwater. But he couldn't help himself. Everything he used to feel was dangerously rising to the surface, bubbling up his chest and throat until he couldn't hold it in anymore.

He reached across the bed and pressed his lips against Ward's, wrapping his hand around the back of his neck and pulling him closer.

He expected Ward to recoil, disgusted as Fitz's embrace.

But he didn't.

Instead, he deepened the kiss, tongues sliding against each other's, lips locked in a fierce embrace. Hands roaming across hard surfaces, fingers grasping for more.

Fitz pulled away abruptly, breaking the connection and breathing heavily.

Fuck. He had promised himself he would never give into his feelings for Ward and he had gone and broken that promises. It turned out that promises didn't mean as much as Fitz thought they did.

"Fitz?" Ward's eyes were full of lust. "If you want this…"

Then Ward uttered the two words that Fitz had both dreaded and longed to hear.

"…I'm yours."