This story takes place on the Bus sometime sometime after 1x09 Repairs. (which is the episode where the woman thinks she is being stalked by a demon.)
Agents of Shield belongs to its scary good creators and ABC and Marvel.
"I think that's everything." Jemma announced, leaning back against the bottom part of the sofa. The top part was holding up the blanket they had used to make their fort. It was aided by the other sofa and several chairs they had stolen from the kitchen. On the floor beside her was a bag of things she and Fitz had thought they'd need including snacks, games, books, pillows, blankets and one of the D.W.A.R.F.s just in case.
It crossed her mind that, perhaps, they were a little too old to be making a fort in the living room of the Bus but it was Fitz's idea and he needed her right now so she wasn't arguing.
They had been foolish enough to watch Bloody Mirror right before bed. She was fine (not frightened at all that someone was going to creep out of a mirror and steal her liver, that was ridiculous) but poor Fitz had been scared half to death by it.
He was too afraid to return to his bunk and sleep alone so here they were, building a fort instead. Which she was very happy with because forts were fun (and not because it meant she had someone to help her fight off an evil poltergeist, should one find her).
"I even brought some bacon flavoured custard," Fitz informed her, pulling down the blanket so that they were completely closed in. A battery powered lamp she'd found illuminated their faces with soft white light.
She scrunched her nose at the custard. "I'm not eating any of that." she let him know.
He shrugged, "More for me." Putting down the custard, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and whispered, "It's alright to be a bit frightened by the film you know."
"I know that Fitz," she smiled at him. She was letting him pretend she was the one who was afraid. It was nothing to be ashamed of but he was so easily embarrassed she knew it'd be easier this way. "It's a perfectly natural reaction. Completely understandable." she assured him.
Footsteps sounded just outside causing them both to jump and grab the other's hand.
"What the hell?" it was May and they both let out a sigh of relief.
"It's us!" Jemma called.
May lifted the blanket and stared in on them.
"What are you doing?" she asked and Fitz couldn't tell if she was annoyed or disinterested.
"Simmons was scared," he explained, "we made the mistake of watching a horror film just before bed." he nudged Jemma affectionately, "I guess we won't be doing that again."
"Never again," Jemma promised before giggling nervously.
"Uh huh." May said and Fitz decided on disinterested. "Clean up after you're done."
"Wait!" "Agent May!" they called as she began to stand up.
She raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"Would you like to stay?" Jemma offered.
"We have plenty of custard," Fitz added. He thought it would be better not to tell her it was bacon flavoured.
She smiled at them, "I'd be tempted by that custard but I have things I need to do on the flight deck." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a coms device. "Call me if you see any monsters." she instructed.
Fitz watched her leave and felt disapointed. He wasn't scared of course (he didn't believe in ghosts or monsters, he'd only grabbed Jemma's hand because he knew she'd be frightened) but he thought Jemma might feel better if May was there with them.
At least he still had Jemma. She would never let him get eaten by a bloodthirsty ghost (not that that was a real concern of his).
"How about a game of scrabble?" she offered.
"Alright," he agreed cheerfully, "but I think before we start we need to lay down some rules. Sontaran is not a word, don't make that face at me Simmons it's not, and neither is silurian."
"Silurian is a word," she corrected, "it's the period of time between the ordovician and the devonian, 443-419 million years ago."
"Fine," he conceeded, "I'm still going to win though."
About an hour later Fitz was winning by over forty points. Neither of them were playing very well however because they were both fighting off their exhaustion. Jemma's eyes were beginning to close and she was in danger of toppling onto the board when a loud creak caused her to bolt upright, eyes wide. It didn't help that Fitz let out a yelp and knocked half the tiles onto the floor leaping towards her.
She pressed her shoulder against his (for his comfort not hers, she'd just been surprised by the noise) and they listened for another sound.
"I'll go see what it is," she whispered after a minute of being frozen to the spot. Maybe she was a little scared and she couldn't take the waiting any longer.
"No! Don't go!" Fitz gasped, grabbing her sleeve.
"I'll be right back," she vowed, giving his hand a squeeze. His face was chalk white and his eyes were round.
"I'll come with you," he said. "So you won't be afraid."
She nodded and put a finger to her lips for silence. Why was she so relieved by his offer? He was the one frightened out of his mind not her.
Together they crawled towards the entrance and poked their heads out from under the blanket.
Another creak. There was something in the kitchen.
She exchanged a terrified glance with Fitz but tilted her head in the direction of the kitchen, silently telling him they were going to investigate. He gulped and followed her out of the fort.
"Wait," he said suddenly, catching her arm, "Let's send Happy."
"Good idea," she agreed, breathing out a sigh of relief.
Safe in their fort, they maneuvered the drone into the kitchen.
"I can't see anything," Jemma complained, staring hard at the monitor.
"Just a minute," Fitz said, fumbling with the controls.
A light flashed on and shone onto the face of a rather unimpressed May.
She stood up and reached for the drone.
"Retreat!" Jemma cried and Fitz made the drone zoom back to them. It ducked under the blanket and he caught it before stuffing it into his bag.
May appeared at the entrance shortly after.
"What are you two doing?" she demanded sternly.
"We heard a noise-" Fitz began.
"in the kitchen," Jemma continued, "and we thought-"
"it may have been an intruder," Fitz finished, "it wouldn't be the first time."
"An undead intruder?" May inquired. To their amazement she gave them a small smile.
"We don't believe in ghosts," "That would be ridiculous," they objected.
"You two need to get some sleep," she instructed. "If it will help, I'll go get my tea and my book and I'll sit right outside ok?"
"If you don't mind," "That would be nice if you're going to be up anyway," they accepted gratefully.
Feeling much safer, they turned off the light, got under their blankets and lay thier heads down on their pillows. Jemma felt Fitz's back brush against hers and shuffled closer so they were pressed together.
"Goodnight Simmons," he yawned.
"Goodnight Fitz," she replied.
She drifted easily to sleep, no longer afraid. May was just outside and nothing was going to get past her. She could feel Fitz, warm beside her and, though she knew he wasn't a fighter like May was, she also knew he would never let anything happen to her. No ghost would stand a chance of getting her liver.
Not that she believed in ghosts.
Fun Background
Thank you so much to everyone who liked, read or reviewed my other stories. Your feedback is appreciated :). You guys are frighteningly awesome.
Bloody Mirror is based a bit off the story Bloody Marry that I (and probably many more people) used to hear as a kid about a woman who would come out of the mirror and kill you if you said Bloody Marry three times in the bathroom in the dark. There are many variations on this story but that's the one I grew up with.
I know in my last story they weren't afraid of the movie they saw but different types of horror scare different people. For example I am fine with ghost movies but have a friend who is terrified of them. I, on the other hand, am afraid of Zombie movies and she is fine with them.
Sontarans and Sillurians are humanoids from Doctor Who.
The Fringe reference is the bacon flavoured custard (which in Fringe is pudding). It is a flavour of pudding Walter says would surprise him in 3x02 The Box. (This is a correction of when I said he invented it, and I do remember him inventing some sort of weird flavoured desert but I guess this wasn't it. Sorry!)
I called it custard in this story because (even though I am pretty sure custard and pudding are not exactly the same thing because Walter also loves making custard) I think pudding means something different in the UK than it does here. Though Fitz and Simmons have been in the US a while so they actually might call the stuff people in North America call pudding pudding especially if it is not the same thing as custard. hmmmm... Well bacon flavoured custard works anyway right?
