Bad Liar
This couldn't be happening
Fitz stared at Trip as his body hits the ground, near May's bloody corpse. Trip tries to get up before one, two, three bullets hit his back, putting him down for good.
"Not bad for someone who was not cleared for field assignments, huh?"
With tears flowing from his eyes, Fitz turns his head up to look at the shooter, the girl who tricked them all. The girl he loved. Jemma Simmons, Sleeper Agent of Hydra.
Simmons had taken May first. A single bullet to the back of the head. Before him or anyone else could register what had happened, Simmons had already disarmed Coulson, knocked him out, shot Skye on the leg, and pointed it back at an incredulous Fitz. Hail Hydra, she said with a smirk as his world fell apart.
She had handcuffed them all to the tubing of the base when Trip had returned from his scout mission. He put up a good fight, but Simmons was a deceivingly good fighter and it didn't take long for her to add Trip to the corpse pile.
"Why?"
For a moment, Fitz thinks he's the one who asked that question before he realizes that Skye is the one who did it.
"How could you?" she continues, confusion and betrayal on her face. Jemma laughs a sardonic laugh unlike any she had ever laughed. Like she was a completely different person. Because she was.
"You know, for spies, you Americans are so incredibly gullible" Jemma said, and then turned to Coulson who just stares at her, at loss of words for the first time "You pick up rubbish that you found on the street" she says pointing at Skye "You recruit criminals, complete strangers to your organization without even bothering to make a background check and then you are surprised when you find out it was rotten to the core? You're moronic! You're pathetic!" she barks at Coulson's face who remains silent.
"You told me you were not Hydra" Fitz finally finds the strength to say "I asked if you were Hydra and you told me no…"
"Oh, Fitz" Jemma rolls her eyes and says on the same tone she used whenever Leo brought up monkeys or something.
"I trusted you…" he says
"Of course you did. Why wouldn't you?" Jemma smiled "You know I would never be able to lie to any of you. After all, I'm such a bad liar" she smirks at them. Skye looks disgusted.
"So… it was all a lie?" Fitz asks "Our friendship?"
Simmons smirks. She sits down at a nearby chair and reminisces "I was already working for Hydra when I was asked to join the SHIELD Academy. My mission was to identify the best recruits within. Find possible assets or threats. So, I befriended the officer in charge, Agent Weaver, and asked her who the smartest student at the academy was. Not counting me, of course" she laughs "So, I found him. Such a lonely, little man. No friends. No one who understood him. I batted my eyelashes at him and we became best friends. Isn't that right, Fitz?"
Fitz's stomach churns.
"Of course, then I was dragged to this flying circus and my mission changed" Simmons says
"Traitor!" Skye yells
"And you're the one to talk, Ms. Rising Tide" Jemma mocked her "Infiltrating SHIELD just to track down mummy and daddy, betrayed SHIELD to protect your boyfriend, betrayed your boyfriend to protect SHIELD. Betray SHIELD. Betray Rising Tide. Freedom of information is good. Freedom of information is bad. Can you make up your fucking mind? Pick a side and stick to it!"
Skye eyes her, furiously.
"And you, sir? What a great leader you are, aren't you?" Jemma smiled at Coulson "Let's take a look at the team you picked, shall we? Ward: lying to you. May: lying to you. Skye: lying to you. Me: lying to you. You: lying to yourself" she turns to Fitz "What about you, Fitz? Have something to hide?"
Both Fitz and Coulson don't answer. They just hang their heads.
"You're just like Ward" Skye hissed
"Ward?! Ward was not committed to the cause!" Simmons hissed back "He was just Garrett's lapdog. And then he became your lapdog. I'm nothing like Ward! I would die for Hydra! Hell, I jumped out of a plane for Hydra!"
They all stop to look at her. She explains "When I got infected and couldn't find a cure, I knew it was the end for me. I couldn't stay in the plane or else Coulson would die, and with him, the secret for his resurrection. I was expendable, and since we already had another agent in the Bus…"
"Ward…" Fitz said, realization creeping up his face "He jumped out of the plane for you…"
"A Hydra agent saving another Hydra agent" Skye said "I should have guessed"
"Oh, Ward didn't know I was with Hydra" Simmons says "It's a little thing called compartmentalization. You two must be familiar with it" Jemma addressed Coulson and Skye "Since it was what you guys did, trying to hide the origins of the GH.325 from the rest of the team, and preventing me from finding out its secrets so I could finally complete my mission and leave that stupid plane!"
"We're so sorry" Coulson finally says, sarcasm dripping from his voice "Obviously, we should have trusted you"
Jemma laughed "I've always admired your dry wit, sir"
"You're a disgrace to SHIELD…" Coulson says
"SHIELD is a disgrace to SHIELD" Jemma quips
"But… you saved us…" Fitz says, still not wanting to believe "You jumped on a grenade for us…"
"A non-lethal grenade" Simmons said "Which I knew it was, because I. Gave them. The specs" she tells him pointedly "Selfless acts of bravery. Good trust builders" she winks
Fitz chokes back tears.
"Oh, Fitz" Jemma says, and pats him on the head
"You're disgusting!" Skye said "You were right when you said you're nothing like Ward. You're worse! I can't believe I cried for you when you got infected by the Chitauri virus. You should have died right there! You goddamned murd… oof!"
Skye is unable to finish her sentence as Simmons kicks her in the ribs and then grabs her hair, pulling her head up to face her, ignoring Coulson's curses directed at her.
"You know what the worst part of this assignment was? Being your friend. Having to pretend that I liked you. Pretend I could stand you. You annoying bitch. Ward almost ruined our entire operation because of you" Simmons said with hatred "All because he wanted to shag you. I told Garrett he shouldn't trust him with this double agent business. He was weak. All men are weak. Falling in love with the first pussy they find" she spits on Skye's face "I should have let you die when I had the chance"
"Then why didn't you?" Skye hisses, bitter
"Because we still needed you. Plus, I had my orders and I like following orders and doing what's expected of me. It makes me feel nice" Simmons paraphrased herself, mockingly. Skye felt like she was going to be sick.
"Honestly, I think you're more trouble than you're worth" Simmons says, pressing the gun against Skye's forehead "You already cost us a lot. You know, Ward was thinking about coming clean. Turn his back to Garrett. To us. Just because of you. Good thing we found out in time to decorate the walls with his brains"
Fitz feels like throwing up. Skye and Coulson stare in shock.
"You… you killed Ward?" Skye asks, her lips trembling
"Technically, Garrett did. Not a big loss, really" Jemma laughed "Why? Oh, don't tell me you actually cared about him. Ha! Pathetic!"
Skye holds back her tears as a troop of Hydra agents burst through the door
"Finally! I sent the signal an hour ago!" Jemma barks at them "Take the prisoners"
Fitz looks at them. He looks at May and Trip, dead on the floor. He looks at Skye and Coulson, handcuffed not too far from him. And then he looks at Jemma. His Jemma. It takes all his courage to say the next words…
"Hail Hydra!" Fitz shouted to Skye, Coulson, and Simmons' shock
"HAIL HYDRA!" one of the others shouted back, putting both arms up
"Shut up, Kaminsky!" Jemma told him, and then turned to Fitz "What are you doing, Fitz?"
"I want in" Fitz says, tears in his eyes, trying to sound determined but failing
"What?! Fitz, no!" Skye says
Smiling in spite of herself, Jemma approaches him, curious "Come again?"
"You heard me" Fitz said, still shaking "I don't like this. I don't like Hydra. But I'll follow you anywhere. Anywhere. If… if this… if this is the path you chose" Fitz couldn't keep his tears anymore "Then I'll go with you. I want to go with you"
"Fitz!" Skye cries "Don't do it!"
"Oh, Fitz" Simmons kneels before him "Hopeless Leopold Fitz. You're so cute" she places her hand on his chin "You've made the right choice. Now, we can have a lot of fun together, you and me" she then kisses him deeply. He waited so long for this moment. But not like this. Never like this.
"Fitz…" Skye said, shaking her head in disappointment, as Simmons' and Fitz's lips parted ways.
"I'm sorry…" Fitz said, unable to look her in the eyes
"Oh, it's not entirely his fault" Jemma smiled at her "Like I said, men are weak" she smiles at Fitz and then turns to her subordinates "Take the other two. We'll bleed them dry until we find something, anything left from the GH.325. If that fails, well, I can always perform a biopsy"
"YOU MONSTER!" Skye screams as Jemma sighs in frustration "You won't get away with this! Backstabber! You'll rot in he…"
"SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!" Simmons said, punctuating every word with a kick on Skye's face "I. FUCKING. HATE. YOUR. VOICE!"
Skye doesn't emit a sound, her bloody face dangling down. She had already lost consciousness by the time Simmons got to the 'HATE' part.
"Do you people hear that? The sound of her not talking?" Simmons asks everyone in the room "Isn't it a wonderful sound?"
"You're gonna pay for this…" Coulson says, after trying, in vain, to reach Skye "You hear me, Simmons? Hydra will never win!"
"We already WON!" Jemma barks back "Sir" she adds mockingly "Look around you. SHIELD is over. Literally. There is no more SHIELD. Everything that you fought so hard to protect is finished thanks to your stupid hero Captain America and that dumb bitch Romanoff. Spilling all that info on the internet. Secret bases. Secret weapons. Undercover agents. Any loyal agent who isn't yet dead or arrested, is being hunted and publicly crucified by the media and the government. Made our job so much easier. I think we should thank them"
"SHIELD still exists. Still resists" Coulson insists
"SHIELD still exists?" Jemma laughs "As what? This ragtag bunch you put together? Half of it is dead. And the other half turned on you" Fitz looks at Coulson and is met with a furious stare "You assembled a team of liars, traitors and cowards. All that came back to bite you in the ass. Why Fury had you in so high esteem again? Oh, that's right. Because he trusted your judgment" Jemma says in a mocking tone "Oh, irony. You were the last agents of SHIELD. A perfect example of how pathetic that whole organization was"
"Fury is still out there!" Coulson screams "And Hill! They are still loyal to what SHIELD represents and there are many others who also believe in us! Who will fight! Who will…"
"Fury?" Jemma laughed, interrupting him "You think we're scared of that one-eyed idiot who no longer has any resources? And Hill? Well, if you're a good boy and behave, maybe we'll take you to see where we buried her body. Or would you rather be taken to where we buried her head?" she smirks, maliciously
Coulson's face falls "No! You're lying!"
"Maybe" Jemma said "Regardless, I advise you to cooperate with us. Remember: We know where Audrey lives"
Coulson gives in a look of desolation, before turning his head down, a single tear coming out of his eye. Fitz couldn't stand to look at him.
"Good" Jemma smiled and turned to the other Hydra agents "Make sure they suffer. Especially her. Come on, Fitz. We need to meet with Garrett now that we're gonna work together. Side by side as we always did, but on the same side for the first time!" Jemma cheers and kisses him on the cheek. Just like his old Jemma used to do. It makes him sick.
They enter a room and Fitz sees a table full of weapons spread on top of it.
"You'll be very useful here, Fitz" Simmons tells him, excited "You're the best engineer this side of Tony Stark. We look forward to you improving our weapons"
Fitz grabs a pistol from the table and looks it over "Yeah… I think we could improve precision and firepower if we…"
"Yes?"
"If we… if we…"
"Fitz? Is there a problem?"
"Yeah… there is a problem" he says and then points the gun at Simmons' head
"Fitz!"
"You're not my Jemma"
"Fitz, calm down" Simmons said, fear showing in her eyes "Put the gun down"
"No, Simmons" Fitz said, tears once again running down his cheeks "I don't know how you became this monster but I'm not going down this path with you"
"Fitz, please, let me explain"
"Shut up! Shut your damn mouth!" Fitz yells "All this time, Simmons. All this time… with us. With me. You were lying… All this damn time you were lying to me! God, I loved you…"
"Oh, Fitz" Simmons said, her eyes getting wet too "I love you too"
"SHUT UP! I'm tired of your lies!" Fitz said "This is what we're going to do: You're gonna lead me to wherever they're keeping Coulson, Skye, and whoever else you have prisoner, and we're gonna break them free. If you try anything, I…"
"That is what I'm trying to do, Fitz!" Simmons said, desperation clear on her eyes
"What?" Fitz asks
Simmons looks worried, scanning her surroundings "Keep it down, Fitz. They will hear you"
Fitz looks confused, but keeps pointing the gun at her "What?" he asks again, lower this time
"Oh, Fitz, I'm so sorry" Simmons cried "I'm so sorry for having to make you pass through that. If there was any other way, I swear…"
"What are you talking about?"
"I had to regain their trust" she says "They were already getting suspicious of me. Thinking I no longer believed in the cause of Hydra. That I had fell in love with my mark. Fell in love with you. And they were right. About everything. I had to prove them wrong"
"But… you killed May and Trip…"
"They're not… they're not dead" Simmons said
"But…"
"LMDs"
"Life Model Decoys?" Fitz asks "But they never went farther than the testing stage. They never managed to make the synthetic…"
"…make the synthetic skin believable" Simmons completed his sentence. Like his old Jemma used to do "Yeah, I… I kinda helped them fix that problem"
"But… you hurt Skye…"
"I had to!" she cries "It was horrible, Fitz, I know! But I had to! And she agreed to it… Honestly, I was kinda hoping she hadn't"
Fitz shakes his head, trying to clear his mind "But… you were Hydra"
"Yes, Fitz, I was. But I'm no longer with them, I swear!" she steps closer "Not ever since I met you… way back at the academy"
"But… you were still with them… you are still with them…"
"I had to stay with them! To protect my family. To protect you" she puts her hand on his shoulder. He still points the gun at her "But I'm tired of this. All I want is to finish this…"
"All I want is my old Jemma back… before all the lies" Fitz takes her hand out of his shoulder "But that Jemma was a lie, wasn't she? My Jemma has been a lie all along"
"Oh, Fitz" Simmons was now close to bawling "No… Your Jemma… it's me… It's always been me… I've always been your Jemma, Fitz… Please, forgive me"
Fitz hesitates. Finally, he lowers his weapon "Jemma?"
Eyes still wet, Simmons smiles "Yes, Fitz. Yes" she then kisses him, passionately.
A wave of relief and happiness flows through him. Everything makes sense now. How could he have ever doubted his Jemma?
And then she grabbed his gun.
And then she butted him in the nose.
And then she punched him in the stomach.
And then he fell on his ass.
And then the gun was pointed at him.
"J-Jemma?"
"You are. A complete. Idiot" Jemma dried her forced tears and then called on a communicator "I need back up in the arsenal"
"Jemma?"
"You really screwed up everything, did you know that?" Jemma yells at him "I really meant what I said earlier when I told you we could have fun together. I would have rocked your world. But now… Now, you little shit. Now, I'll still have fun with you, but you can be damn sure you won't enjoy a second of it. And you still gonna work for us, because I still remember where your mum lives. And in case you ever forget that…" she points the gun at his knee and fires. Fitz howls in pain "…this will serve as a reminder"
Fitz bites his lip. The pain on his knee is horrible. But is nothing compared to the pain on his heart.
"You know, I can't believe you actually bought that" Simmons continues "That it was all an act? That I was still 'your Jemma'? Your Jemma couldn't lie for shit! She was a bad liar! You really think she would have been able to pull that off if it was all an act? You disappoint me, Fitz. I thought you were smarter than this"
Fitz is a crying mess.
"So desperate, that you're willing to believe anything, hold on any glimpse of hope no matter how ridiculous it is" Simmons shakes her head in disgust "You men are all weak"
Two Hydra goons enter the room "Agent Simmons, you called. Is everything alright?"
"Quite" Jemma smiles at them "Just escort this loser to his cell. Garrett will want to speak to him later"
"Yes, ma'am" they both say at the same time
"Jemma?" Fitz tries to reach for her but she slaps his hand away
"Bloody idiot" Simmons says as she turns away while Fitz is carried from the ground by the Hydra goons.
This couldn't be happening
