Warning: Quite sadistic descriptions of child abuse. If you feel unable to read this sort of things, please skip to about 2/3 of the way down the page because seriously, Maynard is not a nice person. (also, brief mention of a suicide attempt, and drug use)
Incredibly sorry for the late update, real life and terrible writers block got in the way (plus this chapter was quite difficult to write, but I was unwilling to change the storyline)
Story so far: Maynard (Ward's older brother) pushes Skye down a well. Ward gets injured but stops him and saves Skye. Maynard is in SHIELD custody and Skye and Ward are at the hospital. Fitz decides to question Maynard.
The Past
"They sent you to interrogate me?" Maynard laughed incredulously, glancing up as the engineer walked into the room and closed the door behind him.
"No, I volunteered," Fitz corrected coldly and Maynard shot him a patronising glance. "Because Wa- Grant and Skye are my friends and you hurt them,"
"So? They deserved it,"
"No they didn't," replied Fitz, trying to keep his voice even.
"What is this place, it's a little high tech for the police,"
"A secure SHIELD facility that you won't be escaping from,"
"Oh, do you think you're some kind of spy then? Did you dream of being a secret agent, well how's that working out for you, you're clearly some weak spineless mummies boy, no wonder SHIELD fell to Hydra, are they are all like you?"
"I have some tricks up my sleeve," Fitz assured him.
"Like what?" Maynard snorted.
"Do you know what an ICER is," Fitz asked, pulling out the night-night gun, and analysing Maynard's expression. "Just think about what the name suggests, as I really don't think you want to,"
"I can tell why Ward likes you," Maynard offered. "You're just like him, stupid, thinking that words will get you somewhere because you're too weak to admit that the only thing that will work on someone is a good punch,"
"So would you like me to punch you then, or I could bring May in to do it. You obviously can't punch anyone as you're handcuffed to a table. But I warn you the last person she was let loose on she practically pulverised,"
"A woman?" he smirked and Fitz could practically feel May's thoughts of condescension. "Who was she let loose on?"
"Yeah," Fitz clarified. "And you're going to regret saying that at some point. Now tell me about Ward,"
Maynard grinned maliciously.
"He's always been weak, worthless, he would always mess up. He deserved everything he got, he's lucky everyone went so easy on him really,"
Glancing across to Fitz he noticed that the scientist had paled slightly, although he was doing his best to remain stoic. I'm getting to him, good, time to elaborate.
"When I was born, I was strong, like a man, and my father, he was proud of me, but then Grant came along. He was always so needy, cried all the time, especially when he was punished for not doing as he was told. He'd never learn, so my parents decided he wasn't worth it, except to beat him on occasion, so I took it upon myself to educate him
"The Dana came along and God, he was even more of a crying, pathetic wimp than Grant! The kid was a lost cause from the start, and Grant, he cared about the brat so much, I could just tell," Maynard sighed, shaking his head slightly in disappointment. "All my work was coming undone, Grant started developing a nasty habit of disobeying me, he always used to try and play stupid little games with the kid, argue why I needed to give them food, so do you know what I did?" Maynard asked, a twisted smile on his face. Fitz shook his head, although he really didn't want to hear more, he figured he probably needed to know the truth about Grant. "I made him do it instead,
"Every time Dana did something wrong, and sometimes when he didn't, just to keep them on their toes and make sure they knew I was in charge, I'd make Grant hurt him,"
"But Ward wouldn't…"
"Oh he did," Maynard assured him, his eyes gleaming. "Of course he was reluctant at first but he soon discovered that the punishments would be far more severe, both for him and his brother, if he refused to do as I asked,
"Those were the good times," he grinned reminiscently. "Want to know anything else?"
"What did the punishments contain?" Fitz questioned slowly, with an air of uncertainty, feeling like he was going to throw up.
"I'm glad you asked," he began. "Well, they were usually beatings, however I locked them inside a lot of cupboards too, there were quite a few of those in our house, real spooky ones. They used to get really scared after a while and used to scream and cry and hurl themselves at the doors, but mom and dad got very cross with them, and I think they preferred the cold, dark cupboards to their wrath," he laughed. "Usually I'd find them curled up in a ball in the middle of the floor whimpering after I'd left them there for a day or two. They'd become very compliant after that, the constant darkness and lack of food and water was terrifying for them, they'd do exactly as I said,
"I left Dana in a cupboard for a few days, probably too long, when Grant smashed the lock to try to give him water the brat was delirious. Still, Grant shouldn't have broken the boy out, so I left them outside in the snow that night, told them to drink melted icicles. They had to go to hospital as they were ill for a while after that, but, they got what was coming to them, I'm glad I did it, even if dad was furious for the press nearly finding out. Besides, a real man would have found a way to keep warm, it wasn't my fault they weren't prepared, they would have found it if they weren't both such failures,"
Fitz gripped the arms of the chair so hard his knuckles went white.
"Sometimes I'd destroy their possessions in front of them, to prove to them that I controlled everything in their lives. If they ever dared fight back I'd drown them," Maynard exclaimed joyfully, leaning across the table towards Fitz, who shrank back without realising it. "I used to tie them up, run a bowl of cold water in the sink, shove their head inside and watch them struggle.
"They'd get desperate of course, I could only hold their head and arms in place and they'd frantically kick me. But I'd make sure that for every kick I got, Dana would get five and Grant would get ten in return,"
Fitz was furious by now, but was determined not to show it, even though he wasn't succeeding very well.
"Of course that was when the problem started," Maynard elaborated. "Grant had just started middle school, the same one as I went to, and unfortunately he had begun to make friends. I told him to meet me by the old well and I'd teach him what would happen if he ever even contemplated disobeying me again. The kid hid, he was so weak and afraid, so, as the coward didn't show I went for Dana instead. Grant came running out to save him when he heard him screaming, but unfortunately, it was too late and Dana drowned. It was Grant's fault obviously, if he had been less of a worthless piece of shit and taken the punishment, Dana wouldn't have died,"
"You killed your brother!" Fitz yelled.
"I he wasn't meant to die, and Grant could swim, I'd shoved him down there before, so if it had been the other way around, clearly, they would have both survived if he wasn't so much of a wimp,"
"He didn't believe that did he?" Fitz asked incredulously.
"Of course he did, he attempted to drown himself, but I wasn't going to let him off that lightly, he didn't deserve it. I told him if he tried it again, I'd leave Rose, our little sister, in there for an hour,"
Fitz glared at him.
"Honestly, I think he welcomed the punishments after what he'd done," Maynard smirked. "How are you holding up?"
"Fine," the scientist replied through gritted teeth. "Get on with it,"
"You really want me to continue?" Maynard laughed sarcastically. "Okay then, seeing as you're clearly enjoying this so much. "After Dana died, that's when the fun could really begin. I only had one sibling, whose mental state was seriously unstable, half the time he'd do whatever I said, the other times he'd be screaming and fighting and rebelling, to concentrate on now. My mom said Rose was off limits most of the time. The bitch wanted to play happy families with the little girl and stayed in her drugged up dream, rarely letting Rose out of her sight. It was funny really, she was completely high, she didn't even realise her actions hurt Rose. She wasn't really capable of looking after the girl at all,
"I gave him one of mum's drugs once," Maynard frowned, and then his face broke into a smile. "God that was hilarious!"
Fitz got up and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
May glanced up as Fitz walked into the room, listening closely she could hear him muttering. "I'm better than him, I'm better than him…" repeatedly.
"Yeah, you are," she agreed. "But I'm not, just say the word and…"
"No," Fitz shook his head. "We still need information out of him, plus I don't want to lower myself to his level, I don't think Ward would want that, I don't think Jemma would either,"
She nodded. "Trip's gone to the kitchen, he gave up watching five minutes ago,"
Fitz nodded, and left to find him.
A.O.S
Ward sat dejectedly beside Skye's bed, gazing down at her and stroking her hair with the hand that wasn't in the cast. Simmons was having a conversation about her treatment with the doctors and Coulson had left to find a quiet place where he could phone May.
Fitz opened the door and stalked in, dropping into the chair opposite Ward and folding his arms.
"What's wrong?" Ward asked the man who looked like a sulking toddler.
"I spoke to your brother," Fitz told him.
"Ah," Ward replied awkwardly, then after a pause added. "What did he say?"
"Stuff," Fitz replied morosely. "I don't wanna talk about it,"
Ward watched him closely as Fitz looked down and started twiddling his thumbs. "Okay,"
"When's Skye going to wake up?" Fitz asked after about ten minutes of dead silence.
"Soon, I think," Ward answered uncertainly. "If he's done anything to Skye I swear..."
"I'll kill him." Fitz interrupted darkly and Ward stared at him in confusion.
"Don't," Ward told him. "It's not worth it,"
"What Ward?" Fitz demanded. "I've already killed someone and if anyone else deserves to die it's your brother and you're worth it. Killing your brother won't give you satisfaction. It will just leave you hollow and empty. You can't kill him, honestly, it won't be justice for your brother,"
"You shouldn't have to kill him either," Ward pointed out. "You don't need any more red on your ledger,"
"Then we won't kill him, an eye for an eye won't erase the pain of his abuse and your loss, but it will help to be the better person,"
"As long as we put him somewhere he will never hurt anyone else again," Ward agreed.
Fitz nodded. "Especially you,"
"No," Ward corrected. "Especially you and Skye,"
"He won't hurt any of us, I promise you Ward,"
"Oh yeah, what did he do to you?"
"Nothing!"
Simmons opened the door to find Fitz and Ward staring angrily at each other.
Fitz pushed past her and stormed out of the room.
"What was that about?" she asked but Ward just shrugged and sat silently back down, resuming his position next to Skye.
Okay, I admit, not the longest chapter ever, but a least I have got back into the swing of writing again, so should update soon. Reviews help my motivation massively, so please leave one before you hit the back button!
Also, I am planning on becoming a Beta reader soon, as I've published a one shot (Simmorse) so I now have 5 stories. I'm available for help in anything, whether you just want me to quickly check something over, to massive stories or help with spelling/grammar/tenses and I can give explanations on everything too if you want. So if anyone wants any help, just PM me!
