Chapter Four.

After what seemed a long but sleep-deprived nap, Lily woke to someone knocking at her door. It was one of Aiden's men - she decided to refer to them as Masks, even though they no longer wore them - bringing her a breakfast of toast and a banana.

"Aiden will call for you in ten minutes," was all he said before closing the door again.

Lily picked at her food. The meal at the diner felt like a week ago, when she knew it had only been hours earlier, but even so she knew she needed to eat something. She knew her stress levels weren't going to decrease, and she would need her energy. There might even be a chance to get away, however distant, and she needed to be as strong as she could.

Still, the bread tasted like cardboard.

She wondered how long Aiden could hold on with only his flying robot army. Even if he had thousands, surely the firepower of the military could overwhelm him? Aiden obviously needed his persuasion in order to maintain his power. If she could delay that, did that mean there could be a chance to stop him? Without any access to news, she had no way to gauge how the battles were faring.

Lily also wondered how Jemma and Fitz were doing. Should she bother asking Aiden about them? If he'd dismissed them, would he consider going after them if she mentioned them?

Life had been so much simpler just a week earlier, even if it meant she had been in Aiden's thrall.

True to his word, the Mask shortly knocked at the door again to escort her to Aiden. As they wandered the empty corridors, Lily wondered if there was any way to get help in any of the offices. Weapons? Communication? She might even be able to find a place to hide away. Although a part of her knew that Aiden would tear the base apart looking for her.

All she had to do was delay - without making him kill someone else in retaliation. Was that a balance she was willing to try for? She had to consider, too, that there were a great more people in danger outside of this base. She might have to think about sacrificing a few for the greater good, even though it made her feel ill inside.

When she thought back to the agent being killed … she suddenly wasn't so sure she'd be able to think about the greater good. She was trapped.

The Mask set her up in a small interrogation room, so she had nothing to distract herself while she waited for Aiden. She wondered if she could ask for something to pass the time. A deck of cards, a yo-yo, anything.

A moment later both Aiden and Ward swept into the room.

"Have a good nap?" Aiden asked, so cheerily she wanted to smack him again.

"Not really," she said. "What time is it, anyway?"

"Time for science," Aiden said. "Roll up your sleeve, please."

Lily did as he asked, and he placed a small device on her arm, near where her 'mole surgery' had been. The device was a band with a small box.

"Now rest your chin here," he said, indicating another device he'd set on the table top. It looked like a web camera with a sling in front of it.

She stared at it, uncertainly. "Is that gonna hurt like at the eye doctor's?"

Aiden laughed. "No, love. It just measures and records your pupil dilation. It's how I know the transmitter is working."

Still, she hesitated. She knew if it did hurt, Aiden could only use it once before she'd put up a fight over it every time. And she couldn't see how that would benefit him. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Ward, standing with his arms crossed, his back against the closed door.

She didn't have a choice. She leaned forward and placed her head into the odd contraption.

"What do I need to do?"

"Just remain there while my instruments gather data. Don't roll your eyes, please. Try to stay still."

"Do I just stare ahead? Can I blink?"

"That's fine."

He fiddled with a laptop in front of him, glancing from it to her and back again.

She sighed.

"Oh, come on now, Lily. Surely you can't be bored already? Aren't you curious how my instruments work?"

"Not really," she murmured, trying to remain still. "I've never really been curious about anything you've done. I just trusted you, which I see now was the problem."

"Then all the more reason to be curious now, right?" His voice had taken on that soothing lilt she loved, and she grew sleepy as he spoke. "It was rather easy to rig up such a program with my skill set. I didn't have to do too much research. And with my engineering background, building it from scratch was actually quite fun. Like problem solving. There, Ward, do you see how it works?"

Lily blinked several times as Aiden's voice roughened or sharpened or whatever it was whenever he wasn't using his persuasion.

"Got it," Ward said.

Aiden set a phone on the table. "Lily, I'm going to step out. Ward will watch the equipment. I'll be speaking to you through the phone."

"Oh, thank god," Lily said. "I thought for a moment I'd have to listen to Ward go on and on. You're bad enough on your own."

"That can still happen," Aiden said, a bit darkly, before he stepped out of the room.

"Now, can you hear me, love?" he spoke over the phone.

"Unfortunately," Lily said.

"Eyes here," Ward said, and Lily refocused.

"Do you remember that restaurant we loved to go to, back when we lived in Keywater?" Aiden's voice spoke out of the phone. "No need to answer, just listen. I was always amazed at how you were fearless in trying new items. That's not something that you can teach a person. It has to be ingrained while young."

Aiden continued on for a bit, and Lily quickly grew bored. The laptop beeped as it ran through its program.

"Eyes up here, Lily," Ward said.

Aiden broke off mid-story about a bizarre French food she'd ordered once. "Are we getting any readings at all, Ward?"

"Not much, to be honest."

The door opened and Aiden walked in. "Well, I can't say that was unexpected. Science, it turns out, will only be done when it feels like it is done."

Lily sat back. "Does that mean this is going to take longer than today?"

"Indeed." Aiden sat down and tapped away at his laptop. "I'll need to run some analysis and recalibrate. I'll be ready for you again in another hour or two."

Ward opened the door and gestured her out. Lily pushed her chair back and stood, but before exiting with Ward, she turned back to Aiden.

"Can I see how the others are doing?" she asked. "Please?"

Aiden looked up. "So you can plot an escape together?"

"No, Aiden. I just - I'm worried about them. I know they have to worry about what happened to me. Especially after what - um, what happened yesterday." She had trouble articulating 'murder' and she didn't know why. She knew it wasn't wise to accuse Aiden of it, but even so, there was little other word for what he had done to the agent.

Aiden studied her. "This would really ease your mind?"

"Yes."

"Okay," he said. He turned to Ward. "Would that be a problem for you?"

"It shouldn't," Ward said.

"Keep it short," Aiden said. "I'll monitor from here."

And then Ward was escorting her out of the room again, and this time she didn't hesitate.

He led her several levels down, via a series of stairs. She wondered if he deliberately took a winding route so that she wouldn't be able to find her way back. If that were the case, then it was working. Quite honestly, the base was big enough that he could have abandoned her in the middle of a random hallway and she'd never be able to find her way out, anyway.

They finally emerged into a corridor that had several Masks, and she knew they'd finally found the detention cell floor. Before Ward opened the door, he turned to her and spoke in a low voice.

"I'm only going to allow a few minutes," he warned. "And if you try anything, and I mean anything at all, I'll end it, and someone's going to get hurt. All of those people in there hate me, and I'm not too fond of them either anymore, so don't think I won't follow through on a threat."

A bit breathless with worry, Lily could only nod her head.

They walked inside. Her first impression was how similar it all looked to what she had seen on the security feed. And her second impression was how much worse everyone looked. Up close, she could see their fear, their fatigue, their grief. The man Aiden had killed most definitely hadn't been the only friend and coworker they'd lost during the takeover.

The cells were crowded in order to fit the entire staff. Even so, Lily wondered if more were being housed in a locked room, just like she had been. The facility seemed too large in order to fit everyone in this block of cells.

She couldn't bear the thought that that many people had been killed.

Lily paused in front of a cell filled with agents she knew: Coulson, May, Skye.

"Lily!" Skye said. "I'm so glad you're okay!" She reached out a hand through the bars, and Lily briefly grasped it.

"I'm glad you guys aren't hurt," Lily said. "I had to come see for myself."
"I tried to warn you to stay away," Coulson said. "I'm sorry it didn't work out."

"I got your message," Lily said. "But one of Aiden's machines caught up to me while I was driving, and he flew me back." In Coulson's eyes she saw the recognition of what she hadn't directly said: Jemma and Fitz are still out there, alive and free.

"You flew on one of those things?" May asked. "What was that like?"
"Worse than a helicopter. Better than a plane."

Skye laughed. "You never got a chance to see the Bus! You would love it. It's not like a plane at all, once you're on the inside."

"I highly doubt that," Lily said. "A plane is a plane is an abomination."

Coulson smiled faintly. "At least you're keeping your spirits up. What is it that Aiden wanted with you?"

"That's enough," Ward snapped. He'd taken up a position against a wall but now strode forward to take Lily by the elbow. "We're done here."

Remembering his warning from earlier, Lily didn't argue. She moved with him when he turned to lead her back to the corridor.

"Enjoying the position of loyal servant, Ward?" May asked.

"I did say he has that Hitler youth look, but I think he's more of an obsequious lapdog now, don't you think, guys?" Skye said.

"Whenever was he not an obsequious lapdog?" Coulson remarked. "In all of his personnel reviews, I had to find some other language for that. Try to spin it into something positive."

Ward stopped short, but he didn't yet turn around. He remained silent and still for several long moments, and once again Lily felt that anxious tug in her gut.

Then without warning he spun and faced the agents.

"Don't think I can't end you," he growled.

"You sound so tough out there, Ward," Coulson said. "I wonder how your new master would feel about that."

"He's not my master, he's a partner, and we both have a say in who lives and who dies here," Ward said.

"That's so sweet," Skye said. "Are you sure Aiden doesn't mind that you're really never loyal to anyone but yourself? Do you think he realizes the danger your selfishness poses to him?"

"I thought when you were dropping Hydra operatives off at our doorstep that there might be a turnaround for you," May said. "Now I realize you're just a slave like you always were."

"At least back then, he was ridding the world of Hydra," Coulson quipped. "Now, he seems to be making it worse again."

"I guess your absolution was short-lived," Skye said.

The look on Ward's face was so terrible that Lily thought that any moment he would draw his weapon and kill everyone within range. But then he suddenly spun on his heel, grabbed her arm again, and dragged her out of the detention area without another word.

He took the stairs two at a time, and the grip on her arm was so tight she winced.

"Please," she whimpered. "Ease up a little."

The pressure on her arm lessened, and his speed slowed.

"I'm sorry," he said, tonelessly.

Lily didn't know what to say to him. She felt like this was an opportunity to form a new rapport with him, but didn't know how to find the right angle.

Back in the van, back in the desert, they'd had the shared goal of tracking down Aiden's warehouse. Now, however, it didn't look like they had a shared goal for anything. She didn't know him well enough to determine if she could turn him against Aiden once again. If he had worked for SHIELD and then betrayed them, and had been Aiden's somewhat business partner and then attempted to betray him, only to work for him again - what was the inroad to that type of person? What drove him? Pure selfishness didn't seem quite right. There had to be something, a code he lived by, even if it was difficult for others to read.

She wished she'd had more time to talk to the agents. It seemed like that had been her one and only chance.

"I'm sorry, too," she said suddenly. "That was supposed to have been to ease everyone's mind, not insult yours."

"I honestly expected as much," Ward said. "Like I said, I'm no longer friends with those people."

"Thank you for not hurting anyone," she said, pitching her voice very softly, almost hoarse with emotion. "I don't know them as friends, but I don't think I could take any more bad things happening to people."

"I don't want bad things to happen to people," Ward said. They'd reached the door to her room again and he let go of her and faced her. "That's not who I am. I really do see the vision of what Aiden wants."

"Even if it means innocent people are harmed along the way?" she asked.

"That's the way of the universe," Ward replied. "No one innocent lives a life free of pain. No one evil lives a life entirely of pain."

"Yes, but shouldn't we strive to make it as right as possible? Do everything we can to make the innocent as pain-free as we can?"

"Even a little pain means too much for an innocent," Ward said. "Living a life completely void of it is impossible. Lessening the pain, likewise, is impossible."

"Because any amount of pain is too much pain," Lily said, dully.

"Yes."

"Then why do this?" she asked, waving her arms around them. "Why follow Aiden's idea of peace if it's not going to actually end suffering?"

"Pain caused to an individual is different than pain caused to society."

"That sounds like a rationalization if I ever heard one."

Ward opened the door and pushed her inside. "You don't have to like it or agree to it," he said. "You just have to do what we tell you." And then he shut the door.
Lily dropped onto her cot and rested her head in her hands.


Several hours later, Lily wished she had remembered to ask for a type of entertainment to pass the time. She would have settled for a piece of string by the time a knock came at the door.

She knew she was going stir crazy when she was almost eager to see the Mask. He was silent as he gestured her into the corridor. Even so, she was hesitant to start a conversation. She wasn't sure which was the one she had kneed, back out at the warehouse in the desert, and wasn't sure she wanted to invite any reason for retaliation against her, if talking could be considered insubordination in any way. She didn't doubt that Aiden's men were loyal to him - not if he were able to use his persuasion on them like he was on her - but she imagined that the Mask wouldn't mind getting revenge on her.

Ward and Aiden were waiting for her when the Mask pushed her into the interrogation room again. She wondered why Ward hadn't been the one to retrieve her; he and Aiden had their heads bent together, deep in discussion, when she entered.

"Ready for round two?" Aiden asked, looking up as she settled into her chair.

"Anything to relieve the boredom of staring at a wall for two hours," Lily said.

"Oh," Aiden said. "Shall I find you a book?"

"I'll take anything. Even a technical manual."

"Well, perhaps I could even arrange that. I think I have one written in Japanese."

"Oh, perfect," Lily said. "I can re-imagine its enthralling instructions each time I re-read it."

Aiden chuckled. "You're in a good mood."

She really wasn't - he was misinterpreting her snark for humor - but figured it couldn't hurt to try to get on his good side. "I'm grateful you let me see some of the agents. I feel better now."

"Good," Aiden said. He tapped the contraption. "Here, again."

She leaned forward and settled her chin into the sling. As he fiddled with his laptop and camera, she asked, "Why did you launch your attack now?"

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you wait to attack until after you'd figured out this persuasion and transmitter stuff?"

"SHIELD threw a wrench in my finely laid plans."

That gave her a little bit of hope; that he wasn't completely ready to finish his mission of taking over the world. Perhaps his machines could be defeated, and Aiden captured, before he could use his persuasion on a wide scale.

"This time I'm going to have you listen to a recording of my voice, rather than leave the room. Keep your eyes steady here, please."

"Can you at least tell me if my vision's still twenty-twenty?"

"Lily."

She sighed inwardly and focused. The recording came on and she listened as he told a story about a class he had taken in college. The details weren't important to her, and her mind drifted and grew fuzzy -

- until suddenly the world grew sharp again as Aiden spoke to Ward.

"That's amazing," Ward said. They were both staring at the laptop screen.

Lily sat back away from the machine, not caring if she didn't have permission yet. "Did that - did it work?"

"It is remarkable, isn't it?" Aiden said. He beamed at the screen.

"Do you think you're ready to try it with another subject?" Ward asked him.

Aiden tilted his head. "I think it is time. If it doesn't work, then I'll still have data to work with. Choose someone you think would be a good start. I want to go straight to our third step."

Ward quickly left the room.

"You got it to work over digital, didn't you? Is that what that test showed?" Lily asked again. Her heart skipped a few beats due to anxiety.

"This is a good thing, Lily," Aiden said. "The sooner I get this all sorted, the sooner the fighting can end."

But that meant she was running out of time to stop him.

"Why don't you use Ward?" Lily asked. "Instead of finding another person to experiment on?"

"What makes you think I haven't?"

Lily thought about that for a moment. "So you're saying you've been hoodwinking him this whole time?"

Aiden laughed. "Hoodwinking? I kind of like that term. But no, Ward really does believe in what he's doing."

Lily didn't know if that made her feel better or worse.

A few minutes later, Ward returned with a hostage in tow. Lily was surprised to see that it was Skye. Her hands were bound in front of her and Ward had gagged her mouth.

"Hello, Skye," Aiden purred. "I'm happy you're able to join us. I'm working on a project and I'm hoping you'll be able to help me with it."

Lily's eyelids fluttered; the compulsion in his voice was strong. She realized she'd never noticed him using it on someone else before. Did it always have an effect on others, when not directed at them? Or was Lily particularly sensitive to his voice, since he had been experimenting on her for months? Or perhaps he could change whether it worked specifically or broadly.

Where Skye's eyes had their typical brightness and fierceness when she first entered the room, her gaze now had gone slightly dull. She didn't react much when Aiden grabbed her arm, pulled up her sleeve, and injected something in her arm with an odd medical device. Lily knew he had to insert a transmitter for his experiment, but hadn't realized he'd developed a faster way than the surgery he'd done on her. He had mentioned releasing the transmitters in air and water - could it really take hold that fast? There wasn't much hope for the world if that were true.

Aiden rearranged his equipment to face Skye, and he directed her in what he wanted her to do. Then he played his recording, and he and Ward seemed very satisfied with the results. While the two conferred, Skye shook her head, as if trying to clear it. Lily understood that confusion all too well.

"Next step?" Ward asked. Aiden nodded.

Ward pulled out a pair of handcuffs and approached Lily. He restrained her hands, attaching them to a bar that ran just under the edge of the table.

"What are you -"

"Shh," he said.

"Now, Skye," Aiden said, "I need you to listen to me carefully. In another minute I'm going to play a recording, and it's so important that you listen to it."

Lily watched as Skye's eyes glazed over again. Was that what Lily had looked like for the past year, whenever she'd been around Aiden?

The recording played, rambling on about security, and the two men studied the laptop screen. Then Aiden nodded at Ward again, and without delay he unholstered his gun and set it down on the table in front of Skye.

Lily's breath caught in her throat.

"I want you to pick up the gun now and point it at Lily," Aiden's voice came over the recording.

Skye complied immediately. Lily stared at her in shock, hoping to see some sort of clarity to her eyes, hoping it was some sort of trick, but Skye still had the zombie-eyed stare.

Lily tried to move away out of instinct; she now understood why Ward had chained her to the table, rooting her to that spot.

"Skye," she said, desperately. "Don't listen to him. Wake up, please!"

There was no change in Skye's expression, and neither of the men tried to stop Lily from talking, which only increased her dread.

"And now," Aiden's voice continued on the recording, "I want you to shoot her."

Skye pulled the trigger and Lily flinched. Yet there was only an empty click; the gun wasn't loaded.

"Very good, Skye," Aiden said. "It's okay, Lily, you were never in any danger. I would never expose you to danger. I only needed to know what Skye would do."

Lily fought against the compulsion. She knew this was important; she had to remember this, she had to remember her feelings in this moment, what Aiden had done. She tugged her hands toward herself in distress, her wrists protesting the strain against the handcuffs, and Lily instinctively relished that pain. The fog from Aiden's words drifted toward her, but the pain was a breeze that kept them at bay.

Ward led Skye from the room, leaving Aiden and Lily alone.

"You do trust me, don't you, Lily?" Aiden asked. He had removed the handcuffs, but Lily kept her hands beneath the table, pressing the nail of one hand into the palm of the other.

Lily nodded, hoping her eyes wouldn't betray her. His persuasion rolled over her in strong waves; he was worried that the incident might have affected her. "Of course, Aiden." She kept her voice soft and obedient, the way she thought she had spoken when she had been enthralled with him.

"Good," he said. "I don't want you to be troubled by this. Let it be free from your mind."

Had he really done that? Erased or suppressed memories with a simple command?

She trembled as a Mask led her back to her makeshift cell, the emotions of the recent encounter tumbling over and over in her heart and her mind. At least, however, there was a small light in the darkness.

She had found a way out of Aiden's evil plan.