Author's Note: I'm on a roll. It's mildly concerning that this happens when I write something like this...read and reviews!

Also, thanks to EmmaJMcGhee, Kajtena, annavale23, the Cocky Undead, and Shanza for repeat reviews. It always makes me happy to see repeat customers (not that I don't love all of you). Makes me think I'm keeping the audience.

"They kick and scream like wayward sons;
And always wanting to sleep;
and dream away these evil days;
in hopes that God can't see."

- Awake O Sleeper, Bright Brothers

Ward was gone an awfully long time. Fitz gave up pacing the length of the room, which seemed considerably smaller than it did earlier. It felt like he was going to pull his hair out by its roots, running his hands through it so many times.

He refused to sleep on the cot. It still stank of copper and blood, and he'd started thinking of it as Ward's.

There could be any number of reasons why they hadn't brought Ward back. They put him in a different room. They were actually treating him for the damage they did, which, admittedly, would only be so he survived for their 'training' program. Less comforting was the thought that Ward was dead, and he was alone.

He may not like Ward, but he liked being alone in this nightmare even less. And given their time together, Ward hadn't done anything to him.

Of course, he was seriously injured, and there were no oceans to be thrown into.

Fitz sat, propped against the wall nearest the cot because it was furthest from the door. It was a small act of defiance, considering distance wouldn't make a difference if they came for him. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

Magnus had yet to return, which Fitz hadn't decided if it was a good sign or a bad one. He recognized the name Zola from SHIELD's early days, and the doctor had always creeped him out, even on paper. He was more than a little radical, and given the history he had with the Red Skull and the soldiers in the camps, he tried not to think about why SHIELD would ally themselves with him in the first place.

Ward had a point there – if Coulson couldn't tell the difference between HYDRA controlled SHIELD and what SHIELD was supposed to be, there couldn't be that much of one.

When the guard brought him a glass of water and a plain, mushy oatmeal like substance, his first impulse was to use the water to wash the blood off his hands. Some of it had smeared and flaked off from when he grabbed Ward's hand in a last ditch effort for Magnus not to take him. Most of it remained.

Fitz buried his face in his arms, trying to erase the image of Ward's unfocused gaze, fresh blood down the side of his head as he wrenched his hand free of Fitz's grasp. It wasn't so much that Ward allowed himself to be taken away, it was that he did it when he was so incredibly out of it. He'd seen the way that the older man couldn't hold his head upright, couldn't get his feet underneath him, eyes rolling dangerously in the back of his head every time he tried to look at Fitz.

It meant that his actions weren't thought out.

They were instinct.

It meant Ward's natural response to violence was to put himself between it and others.

He remembered Ward's very first day on the Bus – their first day on the Bus. When they'd arrested Skye, to prove to her that they had nothing to hide, Coulson had given Ward the truth serum instead of her so she could question him. He and Simmons had watched it, convinced that it would be entertaining to watch the entirely too serious field operative spill his guts to a rank amateur civilian. One of the first questions she'd asked Ward was whether or not he'd killed anyone. At the time, it hadn't seemed out of place that he admitted that he had – but immediately pointed out that all his targets were terrible people, who were going to kill nice people, and that he didn't feel good about it afterwards.

At the time, that was a perfectly normal response. Expected. SHIELD specialists like Ward, and Romanoff, and Barton and May…sometimes they had to make the tough call. That he'd killed people in the line of duty was not surprising.

Knowing what he knew now…it had all different context. He expected remorse from a SHIELD agent. Not from a HYDRA agent. True, Ward might actually be that good – maybe he could trick the serum. He'd tricked the lie detector at Fury's secret base. But that was after a decent amount of preparation, and like Koenig said – they weren't positive it worked on Romanoff. Everything in Ward's record said he was second only to her in pretty much every field.

He secretly hoped that was the case. That Ward really was, deep down, a terrible human being, an intelligent psychopath who used and manipulated people for his own purposes and had no remorse for the horrible things he'd done.

Because then, he wouldn't have to feel guilty that Ward took his place as Zola's guinea pig. It would mean that Ward deserved what they did.

Except no one deserved what they were doing here.

He kept some of the food they brought him, just in case Ward needed it if he came back.

When. When he came back.

More time passed, and Fitz was left alone, as Magnus promised. He didn't sleep so much as drifted, startling himself awake when nightmares started.

Fitz suspected that the waiting part was more for his benefit than Ward's. They couldn't keep torturing him this long and have him survive. The likely scenario was that they'd finished with him, and were purposely keeping them separate to screw with his mind. Imagined scenarios were always going to be worse than the reality.

He hoped, anyway, because right now, his imagination was coming up with some pretty horrific things.

He tried to focus on imagining the team coming to get him. It only worked so well since he couldn't decide who it would be. Bobbie and Mack? Hunter and Coulson? Skye and her merry band of super powered misfits? May, all by herself in true Calvary fashion? His daydreams fizzled and died without any true conviction they would come true.

It felt like as soon as he drifted off, the door finally opened, pressure dropping and making his ears pop. He blinked, rubbing exhaustion from his eyes as he glanced up. There were still four guards, two at the ready with their ICER rifles, and two supporting Ward between them.

Magnus was with them instead of Zola, and even from here, Fitz could see there was an actual bandage around Ward's head. That seemed odd. Even stranger was watching the guards carry Ward to the cot and almost gently lay him down.

Magnus waved them off, and they retreated to the door, but didn't leave just yet.

"So, Leo, how are you feeling?" Magnus asked cheerfully. "You hardly ate your food. Still feeling nauseous?"

Fitz snorted. "From the smell of blood and puke, sure."

Magnus glanced back towards the door where there was a patch of dried blood from Ward's first return. "I suppose I could have someone come and clean it, if it will make you feel better. Agent Ward hardly needs to be reminded of such unpleasantness. Have you thought any more on our offer?"

Fitz did the only thing that came to mind, and stuck out his tongue, blowing a raspberry.

Magnus stared at him for a minute, mouth open in surprise. Even Fitz was surprised, but juvenile as it was, it conveyed his opinion on the matter quite eloquently.

Then Magnus started to laugh. Not even a polite chuckle, the way that villains always do when the hero has a particularly witty comeback, but an actual, genuine laugh.

"Oh my, Leo," Magnus said, wiping a tear from under the corner of his glasses. "I am so glad you were selected."

Fitz grumbled, folding his arms across his chest and crossing his legs, the very image of petulant defiance.

"Oh, come now. No need to be hostile. I really wish you could see all that we could accomplish together," Magnus said. He was still smiling in amusement.

"Perhaps you could enlighten me, then," Fitz growled. He'd meant it sarcastically, but apparently Magnus couldn't take a hint. Instead, he took it as an invitation, and slid down the wall to sit next to Fitz, eagerly pulling something out of his pocket. Instead of a clipboard, this time he had a small tablet, which he held out so that Fitz could see the screen.

"I'm so glad that you asked," Magnus said, and he seemed sincere. He showed him the display that was currently rotating on the screen. "This is our newest project. It's like the Faustus Device, except less…messy." As he started to explain the project, Fitz could only feel his disgust grow. They actually, honestly believed he was going to be a part of this?

Apparently, he wasn't very good at keeping the emotions off his face, because half way through, Magnus stopped abruptly.

"Am I boring you?" he asked.

For a moment, Fitz thought about taking the same route and not answering. But the sheer, unadulterated anger blinded reason, and he reached over and snatched the tablet out of Magnus's hands, hurling it across the room where it shattered against the wall.

The guards' rifles snapped to attention, but Fitz ignored them.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Fitz shouted, jumping to his feet. It was rhetorical, and they both knew it. "You honestly think that I am even remotely interested in your sick, twisted human experiments? I would rather die than help you, you bloody psychopath!"

Magnus frowned, slowly pushing himself up to stand. "And what about your friend?" He indicated Ward with a wave of his hand. "Are you willing to let him die, too?"

"I think he'd prefer it over this," Fitz snarled, waving his hand around the room.

"And if we won't allow him?" Magnus asked, a slyness in his voice that Fitz would've heard if he wasn't so blindly enraged. "If we never push far enough to kill him? Then what? You'll just let him suffer like this?"

"I'll kill him myself," Fitz snapped. As soon as the words left his mouth, he clapped his hands over it, eyes going wide in horror.

Magnus's sly smile spread to a full Cheshire grin. "Why, Leo…perhaps there's hope for you yet." The doctor sidled up next to Fitz, who was trying not to hyperventilate around his hands, and put a reassuring arm over his shoulders. "Here's the deal, Leo…you help with that design, because if you don't, I have no reason to take him away from Zola. His ability to override suggestion is too strong for the Faustus Device, so Zola has been given free rein to Christmas tree his brain until he finds a more suitable method. It's messy. It's painful. Ward is a valuable asset we would like back – there's years of training in him, and as I'm sure you noticed, he's quite handy in the field….when he behaves. Right now, he's a broken instrument, and Zola is the kid who is just going to hit him until he breaks beyond repair. You can help me stop that, Leo." He gave Fitz's shoulder a fatherly squeeze, and he was glad his mouth was already covered. He felt himself gag. "Design it so it won't cause him pain. Help me fix it, so we can fix him. If we can retrain him, harness that mind of his so we never doubt his loyalties again…we won't have to hurt him."

Magnus's voice was soothing, gentle, almost hypnotic. He sounded like he genuinely regretted what happened to Ward, that this wasn't what he wanted.

"Doesn't that sound better than killing him?" Magnus asked, smiling gently.

Fitz swallowed back bile. "You want me to make him a…a slave."

"I want his unconditional loyalty, Leo. I don't have the time to invest in him like Garrett," Magnus said. "I really did mean it when I said this is about science. The science of human condition. After that unnecessary bloodbath at the Triskelion, I wanted to find a better way to ensure peace. Loyalty. I'm sure we can both agree that people are less scary when they're predictable, can't we?"

The doctor gestured towards the still unconscious Ward. "Think about it – how did you feel about Ward before we began our adventure? A cold blooded murderer, I believe, was your exact phrase. And now you defend him. But you see, it's all about context. Nothing has changed. What he did to you hasn't been undone, but yet, your perception of him as changed. What if you could have that context, that…revelation without all of this mess? What if we could give people like Ward an actual chance at being a part of society? There would be no such thing as murderers and rapists and psychopaths, Leo. Everyone would be at peace. All that is achievable, Leo. You can make it happen."

Everyone would be the same.

No one would be different.

In the end, it wasn't what Magnus said that made Leo react. It was because it sounded like what Jemma and Gonzalez were suggesting. A world without dangerous people because they would be dealt with – catalogued, programmed and controlled.

It was a bloodless genocide.

Because how do you decide if someone is dangerous? Was it their provable actions? Was it their intent? Was it their thoughts? Was it their potential?

Who made the decision about what was dangerous?

Fitz could very well be on that list beside Ward.

Fitz was not a fighter. He never was. But the power of belief was empowering, and Fitz truly believed that Magnus was worse than Whitehall. Was worse than Pierce. Was worse than anyone he'd come across – the true definition of monstrous. The left handed upper cut wasn't what Magnus was expecting, and it caught him off guard enough to knock him to the ground, but not out.

Two of the soldiers rushed forwards, but Magnus waved them off, touching a finger to his rapidly swelling cheek.

"I am never going to help you," Fitz spat, hands clenched and literally shaking with rage. "So you might as well kill us now."

Slowly, carefully, Magnus pushed himself to his feet, still gingerly touching his cheek where Fitz hit him. The thin edge of his glasses had made a shallow cut, and a drop of blood beaded along his skin. He smiled, and stepped forward, forcing Fitz to take a step back…and another and another until he felt the back of his knees hit the frame of the cot and he almost fell.

"Never," Magnus hissed, leaning forwards so Fitz had to bend awkwardly backwards to avoid him, "is a very, very long time here, Leo."

Blood from the cut dripped on Fitz's cheek.

"I wouldn't be so hasty to make such promises. Especially when your life is not the only one at stake."

Fitz dropped onto the cot, narrowly avoiding hitting Ward's feet or toppling backwards off the side.

"Think about it, Leo."

With that, Magnus marched off towards the door, signaling for the sentries to follow him. Just before he left, however, he spun on his heel. "Consider this – he wasn't a killer either, before he came to us."

The door slid shut, leaving the two men alone.

So explanation time. As someone pointed out, in fairness, Ward probably should be dead, as would most people that undergo things like this. However, since this is the Marvel Universe, I respectfully decline. We see Hawkeye and Black Window perform amazing, completely unbelievable feats of physical prowess. I'm going to use the Avengers' battle with the Chitauri as an example. If any normal human jumped up like Natasha did onto the back of a speeding alien craft the way that she does and cling to the back while being dragged along, they would lose their arm. It would either be ripped over, so so severely dislocated and all ligaments torn, they may as well pull it off to beat some people with it, because that's about all the good it will do. Hawkeye gets blown off the top of a building, turns around mid air, shoots an arrow off, and swings into the plate glass window of an office building and kinda sort of maybe regrets his decision when he lands badly. Normal people would be dead, and have every bone in their bodies broken that impacted that window. I'll excuse him, cause I think the explosion fractured it before he hit it, but still. SHIELD people are made of hardier stuff than most - that's at least what I am working off of. Also, for what I put him through - this may sound awful, but I really just took things already in the show, and in actual science experiments from the Nazis, and in labs using rats. I basically did to Ward what scientists do to rodents, which is all Ward is to these people right now. It's bloody because they didn't care about patient care, and head injuries bleed. A lot. (So...much...blood). So at this point in the story (or rather, last chapter before Zola took him) all he had was a cranial external electrode (think of the new hearing aids), a seriously bruised face, and lots of blood from the 'surgery'. All in all - not unreasonable for him to be alive. The muddled thoughts are blood loss, and confusion from the sedation they gave him, and,let's face it, he's not that stable anyway.

Also, going back through the episodes, like when Ward tries to apologize for almost killing Fitz, when he forces his brother to confess that it was Christian who made Grant torture their youngest brother, I think people have been trying to mess with Grant's head for a very long while. He might have even been planned, like Natasha's parents did with her (featured in Ultron), to join HYDRA all along. I am just making up details, but I do try (try, I don't always succeed) to keep behaviors or incidents from the show/MCU. Anyway, I think that's enough explanation for now. What do you guys think? Like it, love it, hate it...? Give me feedback (I want to know your thoughts on Magnus and his plans). Love ya!