A/N: Here's chapter three! Now we're getting to the good stuff. Tell me what you think!
"I need you to tell me exactly what happened." Coulson said.
Jemma blinked slowly and stood up, looking around. Bobbi was being looked after by Hunter; she had been knocked out by one of the attackers, fighting one in the front while another snuck up behind her. May was tending to Skye, who was trying to stand and being held back by the senior agent.
She shook her head and focused on remembering. She would take care of her teammates after. "They came from behind the car, sir. One went for each of us. I used the ICER on one, and then you shot another one. While that was happening the third must have knocked out Skye, because a moment later he came out with her in his arms. There was a struggle." She said, trying to remember exact details. "Fitz kept trying to get the man to leave us alone. The man," she swallowed. "The man said he needed either me or Skye, it didn't matter which. Then he struck me with his gun, and everything's fuzzy after that."
Coulson gave the smallest of nods. "So this wasn't just an ambush. It was a planned kidnapping."
"Why did they take Fitz?" she asked him.
He looked out at the empty road, as if seeing the vehicle still pulling away. "I don't know." He said. "From what you've told me he wasn't their target."
"Do you-." She stopped for a moment. "Do you think they'll hurt him?"
Coulson hesitated, and she could see he was torn. "I honestly don't know, Jemma." He said quietly. "But knowing HYDRA, I can't see them doing anything good."
"C'mon Doc. I know he wasn't the one you wanted, but I swear he's the one you need."
"What gives you the right to decide what I need? What HYDRA needs?" Doc demanded.
"Jeez, Doc. He's got spirit. I don't think it matters that much. Any one from Coulson's team would be followed. They're all so sappy and family-oriented."
A pause. "Maybe you're right." Doc said. "And we don't know how the serum would affect the opposite sex… we should stay as close to the original experiment as possible. Alright. This one will work."
"I told you he was the one we needed."
"Tell me that after he becomes our super soldier."
"Why am I here?" Fitz asked.
The man looked at him. "You're my latest experiment, Mr. Fitz."
"Why did you want Skye?" he demanded.
"Oh, don't worry. We're over her now. You'll work just as well. And what a bright mind you have! I don't know why I didn't think of you in the first place!"
Fitz tried to keep his face clear while realizing that the man he was talking to was mad. It was very hard.
He was strapped to a hard, straight-backed chair, ropes binding his wrists together behind him and to the chair, and keeping his ankles locked against each other. He had just woken up, and wanted to get information.
"What are you planning?" he asked.
"Very straightforward. I appreciate that." The man smiled. "Do you know about Captain America?"
Different conclusions leapt to his mind as he tried to guess what the man wanted with him.
The man continued. "You're going to be HYDRA's super soldier, Mr. Fitz. Much like Captain America. I've spent my life trying to formulate the super soldier serum, and now I finally have."
"What?"
Fitz's expression of pure shock and horror must have seemed funny to the man, because he laughed. "Yes, Mr. Fitz, I know. You thought the serum was lost forever after it was used on Steve Rogers. You were half right. I found a trace of the formula, and spent years analyzing it and trying to replicate it precisely. A few weeks ago, I found one combination that worked. So now it's time to use it."
"But why now?" Fitz asked.
"To save HYDRA!" the man said loudly. "My boy, that is exactly why I'm doing this. You will save HYRDA."
"Good luck with that." Fitz muttered. Why would HYDRA need saving? It was too strong already.
He was confident his team would find him soon, and they would destroy the formula the scientist had made. Captain America was a wonderful man, someone the serum had really helped. But the serum was too strong for others. No one else was ever supposed to use it.
"Let's get started, shall we?" the man said.
"Wait!" Fitz said. He struggled to come up with a question to delay the man. "How do you know the serum you've made is safe?"
"Don't worry." He said, walking behind Fitz's chair and dragging him across the floor. "You will be just fine. Better than ever, in fact."
The cockiness he had been feeling faded, replaced by a wave of fear. The man was serious. He was going to use the serum on Fitz.
Then Fitz had a moment of enlightenment. The man had forgotten that the serum would make Fitz strong, but not obedient. Once the procedure was done, if it worked, Fitz could fight his way out. The man's plan would have been for nothing.
It gave him a small sense of comfort as the man and another man forced him from the chair onto a flat lab table. He tried to look as scared as possible; it wasn't all a farce.
Thick straps were tightened across his chest and arms and legs. The man hesitated as he considered putting another strap around Fitz's head, but decided against it.
"I'm not going to lie to you Mr. Fitz." The first man said. "This will not be pleasant."
Fitz didn't respond.
The first man walked over to a machine Fitz hadn't noticed before, and the second moved mechanical arms closer to Fitz's body. He placed them next to Fitz's limbs, four in all. Then he pulled a fifth arm from a second machine over and placed it near Fitz's shoulder; actually, right over his heart.
"Here we go." The first man said. He typed on his computer and pressed a switch on the machine, which made needles appear from the mechanical arms. They hovered threateningly above Fitz for a second before the man pressed another key, and then they were pushed into his skin.
Immediately hot liquid coursed its way through his body, traveling in his veins. Immediately Fitz gasped as he felt its trail.
The needle straight over his heart? That one took a moment to release, but when it did, Fitz almost forgot about the trail of fire in his veins.
He was too busy screaming at the explosion taking place in his heart.