Locked Up

Chapter 1- I'm Not What You Think

Darkness.

It was all Fitz could see.

Well, he couldn't see the darkness, as such, but he felt it behind what he could only assume was a blindfold.

There was no specific sounds around him, only the rhythmic sounds of a vehicle moving towards it's destination. The usual rumble of the vehicle wasn't enough to distract him from his current situation.

He had been in the lab, just leaving for the night, when a black haze surrounded him. Next thing he knew, he was here, unable to move, to see, to feel.

Coulson had warned them that abduction was always a possibility in their line of work. Enemy forces would want their intelligence, especially in the case of Fitz and Simmons, who possessed untold amounts of knowledge. Fitz had taken that with a pinch of salt, if he was being honest, because the idea of him being taken without his knowledge was ridiculous to him. He was always aware, that was something that he prided himself on.

Apparently, he wasn't aware enough.

How stupid must he have been to allow himself to be taken by just anybody? Fitz mentally cursed himself for not looking out for himself. Jemma was gone, taken somewhere by the Monolith and Fitz was working double time to try and find her and now his work was stunted by this rigmarole that he was currently being subjected to.

Leo Fitz did not have the time for being kidnapped.

Banging his head against the wall, adjusting his bound arms and legs, Fitz sighed as his eyes fluttered closed from exhaustion and a similar black veil dropped over his eyes and the world around him thudded to a dull halt.

"Wake up, sunshine," a rough yet familiar voice snapped at him. Fitz still felt immensely groggy, limbs aching from being confined for such a long period of time.

"What?" His voice was hoarse and croaky.

"I said...wake up. It wasn't a suggestion." Fitz knew the voice, he knew he did. He just couldn't place it. That low tone, the confident inflections, it was something he recognised. Something that he had spent far too long analysing. But surely it couldn't be, right?

"Where the hell am I?"

"Oh just someplace north of nowhere. That's none of your concern. Now get up."

Fitz blinked. And everything fell into place. He had been right all along.

"Ward."

Ward smiled wryly. "Hello, Fitz."

Fitz sighed, letting the anger just wash over him. He had been angry at Ward many times before and this was no different, except for the fact that Ward had him as a hostage. "I should've fucking guessed it'd be you. If there's one person I can count on to fuck everything up, it's you."

"Aw, am I getting in the way of your reading?" Ward tilted his head condescendingly, folding his arms as one of his guards ripped Fitz from the back of the truck roughly, holding him between them.

Fitz struggled aimlessly and scoffed. "Jemma's missing and I've been trying to find her. I don't know why I'm even telling you. You don't care about any of us."

Ward swallowed audibly and went to say something, settling instead for a dry chuckle. "Always prudent to keep up with old friends. Just in case one of them becomes useful."

"Is this you telling me that you need me for something?"

"And what would that be? For you to look at an object and stumble over your words trying to label what exactly it is? No thanks, Fitz. You're nothing more to me than leverage."

"For who? Coulson? Skye?"

Ward rolled his eyes. "Like you expect me to tell you. Let's leave it at this: you're staying here until I no longer need you. No questions asked, no complaints, no trying to leave. I promise you, you will not succeed."

"They'll realise I'm missing, Ward. They'll come and find me."

"Without you and Jemma around, that team is useless. Skye can't hack me anymore than you can lift a house. Coulson is nothing without those around him and May won't be able to fly to where we are, never mind kick us in the chin. So, again, you will not succeed in trying to escape or be rescued. Face it, Fitz, you're here with me until I say you can go."

Fitz shook his head. "You know there was a time when I would've felt safe around you. Just another one of your charades, I guess."

"God, you never stop talking, do you? I thought you science types were supposed to be quiet and introverted. You just seems to say whatever comes into your head, given that you can actually vocalise a thought on that occasion."

"Jesus, would you let that go? I'm much better, no thanks to you. It was your fault I was in that position in the first place, you piece of shit." Fitz spat thickly at Ward's feet, some of the spray covering Ward's shoes.

Ward shook his head slowly. "Oh, Fitz, you swearing is the strangest thing. You're like this little puppy and then that foul language comes out of your mouth."

"I'm Scottish," Fitz said, clearing things up.

Ward shoved Fitz along the hallway, walking with him until they reached a door. Ward opened it, shoving Fitz inside. He turned to the guards walking behind him. "Just a minute."

They nodded, letting Ward slip through the doorway.

He regarded Fitz with hard eyes.

"We don't have a lot of time."

"What? Ward, what's going on?" Fitz asked from the floor, still bound.

Ward gritted his teeth. "You have to trust me, Leo. I don't want to hurt you but I need them to believe that I do. This all hinges on how well you can act scared and upset and angry."

Fitz stared at him in vague disbelief. "Well, that shouldn't be too difficult considering everything you've done to me."

"Look, I don't have time for apologies, okay? I promise you, we'll talk tonight and I'll explain everything. I promise you that."

"You also promised me that I was safe with you, remember? And look how that turned out!"

Ward nodded promptly. "Good. You're mad. Just keep it up and I can untie you soon, okay?"

Fitz scoffed. "Whatever. How do I know this isn't an act? You've certainly fooled me before but it's not going to happen this time."

Ward huffed. "Fitz, I don't blame you for being mad at me. I really don't, I would be too. But your survival depends on you being able to play a part. Please, just trust me."

Fitz nodded slowly. "Okay."

Ward grinned. "Good." His fist shot out, connecting forcefully with Fitz's jaw, making the smaller boy wince as he spat blood from his mouth.

"What the fuck, Ward? I thought you wanted me to trust you!"

"And I thought you were smart. I dragged you in here and if I bring you back out without so much as a scratch, eyebrows are going to be raised."

Fitz conceded that that was true, but he couldn't deny the throbbing pain in his face. "Okay."

"I'm not what you think I am, Fitz. In time, you'll come to believe it."

"I highly doubt that."

Two sharp knocks at the door interrupted whatever Ward was about to say and startling Fitz.

"Ward. Time's up."

Ward winked quickly at Fitz. "Showtime." Ward grabbed onto Fitz's arm, tightly wrapped his fingers around his bicep. Fitz ignored the shiver that ran through him, hostile and cold and concentrated on his best performance. He excelled at Drama at school, but that was years ago and his life didn't depend on pulling off a good performance of 'Romeo and Juliet'.

The door opened and the bulky guards had remained, staring blankly at the two.

"You just about finished, Ward?" The smallest one nodded to Fitz.

Ward scoffed. "If I had it my way, he'd already be dead. Piece of shit just gets in the way."

FItz scowled and tried not to laugh when he realised that he wasn't acting. "If you'd let me go, maybe I wouldn't get in the way."

"Nice try, kid," Ward laughed darkly, nailing the role of the evil villain. Fitz wondered if this was who he actually was and not an act. He knew that Ward wasn't who he said he was, but his speech in the bedroom had Fitz curious as to what the truth was and he was trying to pretend like he wasn't holding out hope that Ward was on their side all along and that it was all just a big misunderstanding.

"They'll come and find me, you know."

"So you said," Ward shrugged.

"You should be worried about that. They'll want to bring me home."

Ward shook his head slowly. "What you're missing, Fitz, is that without Agent Simmons there to corral the others into putting in effort to find you, there's no motive. Skye barely knows you're there, Coulson wants to buy into that whole adopted son thing a little bit too much and May doesn't like anybody except Coulson and herself."

Fitz looked off thoughtfully into the distance, wondering how much of what Ward said was actually true.

"We're here," the tallest, most muscular guard announced in his deep growl.

Fitz was starting to panic and starting to wonder where 'here' was.

Ward kicked opened the door and faced him with what appeared to be a smirk, but Fitz knew was a convincing veil of confidence. Underneath, however, Ward was feeling just as scared at he knew Fitz was. Ward blinked a few times before gently brushing his fingers against Fitz's wrist. Fitz couldn't help but feel a little more relaxed at the touch.

"Where are we exactly?" Fitz tried.

"Your new home, kid," Ward answered, "at least for a little while, anyway. You'd better get used to it."

Fitz looked around the futuristically decorated room, seeing armed guards at every turn. Swallowing his fear, Fitz tried to be smart about things. He wasn't going to trust Ward straight off the bat. That would be stupid. After tonight and his supposed talk with the man, he would figure everything out then and only then. Until he knew of Ward's plan, there was not much point in trying to get a handle on anything.

As if instructed, every gun in the room turned on Fitz.

Fitz felt his heart rate increase dramatically as his body suppressed a shiver. As he appraised the sheer mass of weaponry in the room, Fitz gritted his teeth and turned to the man next to him, whose arms were tightly folded behind his back.

Oh god. Don't let me down, Ward.