Author's Note: So this story might be taking a darker turn after this. I don't know if it'll ramp up to an M, but to me that's more for sex and drugs and that sort of thing. Psychological violence as related from the show seems more T to me. Also, since someone asked, it won't be Skye that comes and saves them, and it's going to be a hot minute before the team. Mostly the vote against Skye is that both she and May have a blind spot when it comes to Ward thanks to their romantic feelings towards him. That's a part of the reason why Fitz is in this story and not one of them (also because I think he felt the betrayal of Ward's true allegiance a little sharper than anyone else) - they're waay too one sided on their opinion of right and wrong despite their own mistakes.

Anyway, on with the story! Read and review as always, though the numerous faves and following give a nice fluffy feeling too.

The fact that Ward's head wound had actually been addressed was possibly the most disconcerting thing. Not a half assed patch job, either. The thick, heavy swathe of bandages that cut through his hair like an eighties style sweat band was professional grade. No blood leaked through this time, and unlike his previous return to the room, Ward actually appeared to be resting peacefully. His breathing was deep and even, and no shock tremors shook his frame. He had color in his cheeks again, and the bruising on his face was down considerably. The spectacular discoloration was still there, but all in all…Ward didn't look like a corpse anymore.

It seemed so wrong that they would even make the attempt at appearing to care. It seemed less like a peace offering, and more like a threat. They could be kind, or they could be cruel. See?

Fitz was back on the floor leaning against the cot, trying to rest while he could in their slight reprieve. It still felt like he was giving in, even fractionally, to HYDRA, but his body demanded sleep. It was beginning to feel like one of those long nights conducting experiments at the academy with Jemma, except with less pleasant company.

He must have dozed, because he almost had a heart attack when sleep clumsy hand dropped onto the top of his head. He shot sideways and landed face first on the floor, half rolling underneath the cot and whacking his head on the cot's leg.

Soft laughter echoed strangely in the hollow room. Fitz blinked sleep out of his eyes and was met with the most bizarre sight he could imagine. Ward was peering over the edge of the cot, grinning like an idiot and obviously pleased with himself.

"Nice nap, Tommy?"

"You're a right ass, you know that?" Fitz grumbled, cursing and rubbing his forehead.

Ward didn't immediately answer, but the grin only widened.

It struck Fitz that this was the first time he'd ever seen a genuine smile from the former agent. The entire time he'd been on the team, he was entirely too serious, and he'd hardly had a reason to smile afterwards. "What the hell did they do to you?"

Ward frowned. "Who?"

Oh no. Fitz's mind blanked. No, no, no, nonononono…he couldn't be in this alone. He couldn't deal with Zola and Magnus and an amnesiac. He sat bolt upright, pulling himself eye level with Ward who was staring at him like he'd lost his mind, instead of the other way around. His smile diminished slightly, brow furrowing in confusion.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Ward, what's my name?" Fitz demanded. He latched onto Ward's arm, painfully tight, but he didn't care. "Tell me, what's my name?"

Ward's smile vanished, replaced only with an uncertain frown. "Tommy?"

Fitz squeezed his eyes shut, willing his heart to go back to where it should be. "No, no, no, what's my name? Think, Ward. Don't let them take this from you."

"What's wrong with you?" Ward asked, shifting on the cot so he was on his side and not his stomach. "Did Christian do something?"

Christian? Shit.

He'd read the documents. He'd gone through everyone's profile. He knew Ward had siblings. It was easy to forget since he never spoke of them. In fact, he'd never spoken about any of his family members. Given he was willing to blatantly murder half of them, Fitz could hazard a guess that there was a pretty good reason he never brought them up.

"Thomas is your younger brother?" Fitz guessed, recalling Magnus's earlier threats to Ward.

"How bad did he hurt you this time?" Ward asked, this time sitting up and swinging his legs over the side. Cautious, careful hands ran over his head, expertly checking for unseen injuries, and Fitz shuddered. It was…disconcerting. The same hands that killed however many people were surprisingly gentle. It also meant that wherever Ward imagined himself in life, he once had the capacity for affection and compassion. At least for one person. He didn't want to imagine what changed him.

Fitz caught Ward's roving hands and pulled them away, pushing them back onto his lap. "Ward…look at me. Really look. You know me."

There was a funny sort of look on the specialist's face, like he wasn't sure if this was a game his imagined younger brother was playing or if he was being serious. "Of course I do…you're Thom-"

It was like a switch was thrown. It wasn't a slow realization; it was like a slap to the face. His eyes widened in recognition, and he wrenched his hands out from underneath Fitz's as reality set in.

"Fitz."

He said it like a curse.

He didn't expect to see absolute betrayal in Ward's dark eyes, or the accusation there, like he'd just stolen something precious from him. "I'm sorry," Fitz began, but Ward angrily pushed away from him, shoving himself off the cot and putting it between them as a barrier.

"What happened?" he demanded. He began pacing, and Fitz sighed, sliding back to his cross legged position on the ground.

"I was hoping you would tell me," he said. He gestured towards Ward's head. "I don't know what you remember, but last I saw you, you were barely conscious being dragged out of here to see Zola in room three, if that means anything."

Ward's hand touched the bandage, and then he looked at both his arms, turning them up so he could see the inside crook of his elbows. He cursed when he saw both had needle marks and mottled bruising. He cautiously ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek, then curled both hands into tight fists, working his jaw open and close. He glared at Fitz. "Did I say anything?"

Fitz held his hands up in mock surrender. "No. Not really. You were just…confused."

"Not to you, to them," Ward growled, gesturing towards the door.

"How the hell would I know?" Fitz demanded. This version of Ward was considerably harder to sympathize with. "I was left in here."

Ward's attention suddenly snapped fully towards Fitz, abruptly halting mid-pace. "They haven't done anything to you?"

Fitz actually flinched at Ward's tone. It occurred to him that Ward's rapid cycling mood swings and memory loss were all symptoms of a serious brain trauma, drugs, or ECT. Judging by the looks of him, and the self-check he just did for a stroke or seizure, he was at least suspicious that one, if not all, applied. It was actually fascinating to watch Ward essentially reset in front of him. Magnus hadn't been exaggerating when he said that Ward was incredibly resilient to their methods of brainwashing.

"Nothing physical," Fitz answered honestly. "Not so vague threats towards you, more vague threats towards me."

"Why the hell would threatening me do anything to you?" Ward asked distrustfully.

"This may come as a shock to you, but not everyone is as heartless as you are. Most people can't just sit idly by and watch someone be tortured in their place. Tends to make us feel a little guilty," Fitz snapped.

"But I…" Ward shook his head, like he was searching for a word. "I-I left you to die. I did that –" he gestured towards Fitz and he could only assume he meant the brain damage from hypoxia. "What the hell difference should it make to you what happens now?"

Good question. Fitz didn't have an actual answer. Instead he turned the question. "Why'd you tell me not to stop them from taking you?"

Ward shrugged.

"Oh, back to lies, are we?" Fitz said.

"I never lied to you. Everything I said was the truth," Ward protested. "Just with misleading context."

When that was all he said, returning to pacing while he rubbed absently at the bandage, Fitz felt a little bit of his anger deflate out of him.

"Who was Thomas?"

Ward flinched at the sound of his name. "Don't, Fitz."

"I'm not asking to be mean. I'm asking because every time you've woken up, you keep calling me that. I'd like to know if that's your impulse, or theirs."

It wasn't technically a lie. He was fairly positive he was right when he guessed Thomas was Ward's younger brother, but he was also wondering at the game Magnus was playing. The scientist was too precise to make wayward comments, like referring to Fitz as Ward's brother. He wanted to know what the hell the deranged man was up to.

Ward was silent, and Fitz could watch the emotions play across his face. If he could read him that easily, the older man must be exhausted. Finally, Ward seemed to come to a decision, and let himself slide down the wall opposite Fitz. He kept his knees up, propping his arms on them as he fiddled absently with his nails. He didn't look directly at him, but down at the ground.

All signs of guarded submission. That was mildly concerning, because that was the last thing Fitz wanted from Ward was for him to give up. Even just to him. He kind of wanted the berserker rage mode, just not directed at him.

"Thomas is my younger brother," Ward said. "He was the youngest out of all of us, and he was the only one our mother didn't torture. I haven't seen him since they sent me to military school when I was seventeen."

"Torture?" Fitz echoed.

"She used to starve us, and feed him. We were kept locked up for days, and he had everything he ever wanted. She beat us, and praised him. That kind of thing. And our father let her."

Ward made it sound like he was describing the difference between yoga and tai chi.

"He was the only thing she loved," Ward said, smiling briefly. "If a person like that was even capable of such a thing. Christian hated her. Hated her with everything he had. He wanted her to know our pain, so he would torture Thomas to get back at her. Except he didn't do anything. He wasn't stupid. He knew she would find out, and she would punish whoever did it. So he made me do it."

Fitz felt his blood turn to ice.

Ward studied his hands, which he was picking at enough that they were starting to redden where he was pulling at the cuticles. "The worst part was Thomas was a good kid, in spite of everything. Our mother never did anything to us in front of him, so I don't think he understood why we were so angry. He tried to help us out when we were hungry and didn't go to the kitchen ourselves, but he just made things worse when he thought he was making them better. She would find out, and those days were the worst. I think maybe she thought we were a corruptive influence. Thomas didn't understand Christian's hate. He didn't understand why I would hurt him even when he was just trying to play with us."

Ward yanked on a piece of skin hard enough it tore, fresh blood beading up in the shallow cut. He didn't seem to notice, except to press his thumb nail into the groove, digging it deeper. He still stared at the ground. "If I didn't, Christian would hurt us both, and he would hurt us worse. I think he would've killed Thomas. I know he would've killed me, and I didn't want to die because then Tommy and Angie would be alone with Christian. So I hurt him so I could help him."

Blood dripped freely from his finger now, but Ward continued to dig, running his thumbnail along the cut, making it longer and deeper with every swipe.

"Messed up, huh?" Ward said mildly.

That was one way to put it.

Another way would be brilliant, horrifying psychological torture that Mengele would be hard pressed to top.

Magnus sure as shit was trying though.

Every once in a while, Fitz wished he wasn't as smart as he was. It didn't happen often, but it was usually when he couldn't find people who understood quantum mechanics and structural engineering on a microscopic level. Right now, he wished he didn't understand what was happening, because even as he understood it, he understood how traitorously unavoidable the path Magnus had set them on was. This was Ward's twisted childhood in reverse, using their previous brotherly relationship as a sick mockery of Thomas and Grant as children, with Magnus standing in for Christian. Magnus wanted him to help him build the machine, which would hurt Ward, but if he didn't, he would simply hurt him worse, and he would turn on Fitz as well. The choice was no longer if he hurt Ward – it was how badly. Magnus made it abundantly clear that he would be perfectly accepting of Zola's 'hit it till it works' solution. The question was now whether or not Fitz was okay with it.

Did he hate Ward enough to let him suffer?

Or did he still have enough humanity in him to at least make it painless?

"Actually," he said, voice rough. "I think I understand perfectly."

Author's Note: I admit, my inspiration for Magnus draws heavily from villains like Moriarty and Teen Wolf's nogitsune. The twisted ones who like to play games and push others to their limits to see just how and where they break. I'm a bit of a button pusher too, but usually only at work. Is Magnus's plan believable? Sound evil and creepy? I hope so, because that's where I was hoping it was going. Also, I am making up details about Ward's sister. She doesn't have a name, but Angela/Angie sounds as good as any, since Grant and Christian's etymology are purposely misleading (Grant - great, Christian - follower of Christ).

Also, this is most definitely AU from established history for Grant in HYDRA. I think he ultimately lacked direction, and since Garrett gave him a way out of life in prison, that was as good as any excuse he'd been given to follow someone. In my version, Grant didn't kill the dog from "Ragtag", and that was his failed final test he references in this story. Garrett did, and then sent Ward off to the Research and Science Division, where he first encountered all this. In the show, he does show an incredible resilience to brainwashing, and he's not in HYDRA because he believes in it, he's there because he doesn't seem to care one way or another until he starts to attach to Skye and the rest of the team, and in the show, everything he's ever cared about has become a weapon against him. Even his loyalty to Garrett has its limits, as seen when he starts to doubt his SO's sanity. Anyway. Enough psycho babbling and character analyzing (though I love it). Read and review, and tell me what you think! I think I know how this is going to go, but I do like suggestions or insights from the reader. Sometimes it gives me an even better idea.