A/N: Hi everyone. This is a one-shot I wrote just to cope with what happened at the very end of the second season finale. Ok, here we go.
How long has it been? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Simmons doesn't know. She can't even form a rational thought about what just happened. She doesn't even know how she's walking. It's almost as if her body is moving independently of her own free will. With every step she takes she sees the black liquid absorbing her and then she's in another part of the S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ. Everyone that sees her gives her a nod or friendly wave, but she ignores them. She keeps a tight grip on her tablet as she descends the staircase to the infirmary.
"Simmons. Just the person Bobbi and I were looking for," Hunter says approaching her. For the first time since leaving the room with the artifact, Simmons does something other than walk like a mindless zombie and actively avoids Hunter so he can't touch her.
"Um. What was that about?" Hunter asks, but Simmons doesn't answer him. She instead enters a med bay on the other side of the room and seals herself inside.
"Simmons? What are you doing?" Hunter asks. Simmons sits down on the bed and looks up at Hunter; a petrified expression her face and the color drained from her eyes. "What happened to you? Are you OK?" He asks. Simmons sees the black liquid absorbing her again and then she sees Skye, Fitz, and Coulson standing alongside Hunter a worried look on each of their faces. She wondered how long she had been sitting here just like this.
Simmons gazes down at her tablet and presses a few buttons on it. She approaches the door to her room and places the tablet against it so her friends can see. It shows security footage of Fitz leaving the room with the Kree artifact in it and she attempting to shut it after he left it unlocked. Skye screams when it turns to liquid and absorbs Simmons inside.
"Oh my God. J-J-Jemma. I'm s-s-s-so sorry! This is-this-this-this is all my, oh my God, oh my GOD! OH MY GOD!" Fitz starts hyperventilating and feels lightheaded. He starts to fall over, but Skye keeps him steady and helps him sit down. "This is my fault, this is my fault, this is all my…"
"Fitz!" Skye shouts grabbing his shoulders. "Look at me. Simmons is alive. You might've made a mistake, but she is not dead. I want you to understand that. She is not dead. Do you understand?" Fitz looks into Skye's eyes and gives her an uneasy nod.
"She-she's not dead," Fitz says and quietly repeats to himself.
"Mack," Coulson contacts on his communicator.
"Yes sir?" Mack asks on the other end.
"I want all personnel assigned to the guarding the Kree artifact to remain outside the room at all times until further notice. Nobody gets in without my say so and given what just happened, I won't be saying so for a long time."
"What happened, sir?"
"Something that I don't want happening again. Coulson, out." Coulson ends the call and takes a seat himself. "I am getting such an 'I told you so' from him when this is over."
"What I want to know is how is she alive," Hunter wonders.
"That thing is supposed to only be harmful to Inhumans," Skye reminds them. "Maybe it recognized her as human and let her go."
"Maybe so, but we can't let her leave the infirmary until we're sure," Coulson says. The group hears Simmons tapping on the glass of her room and face her. She points at the tablet lying on the table next to them and Skye picks it up. Simmons sits back on her bed and begins typing on her own tablet. A message starts to appear on Skye's.
"What is she typing?" Coulson asks.
"I saw the universe within that artifact. It sucked," Skye reads. "Skye's people, the Inhumans, were made by the Kree, but not for the Kree. They were intended to be used as weapons by an alien warlord known as Thanos. I saw millions at his command including the Chitauri. I believe that Thanos was the orchestrator of their invasion of Earth a few years ago. I don't know why the artifact showed me this, but Thanos knows what we're capable of now and…," the sound of something falling in Simmons' room interrupts Skye's reading. The group turns and sees that Simmons dropped her tablet, but is still feverishly typing away.
"Simmons, that's enough. You can stop," Coulson says, but his voice doesn't seem to register with her.
"Jemma!" Fitz shouts, but that doesn't do anything either. Skye looks at her hands and then raises them up.
"You guys might want to stand back," she cautions them and closes her eyes in concentration. Simmons starts to slightly shake and then Skye gives her powers a small boost. Simmons' entire body shakes and she gives a small scream breaking her out of her trance. Skye takes a step forward and places a hand on the glass.
"We're here for you, Simmons. Just like you were here for me," she assures her. Simmons looks at Skye and then glances down at her hands; they won't stop shaking. She goes into a fetal position and hugs her legs tightly.
"Hunter, get May on the line. Tell her that she and Andrew are gonna have to postpone their trip," Coulson orders.
"Yes, sir," Hunter says and heads off to contact May.
"I don't know the full extent of what happened to you in there and I'm sure you don't want to talk about it. Just know that we won't leave your side until this matter is settled. You have my word," Coulson promises. Simmons mouth briefly twitches to what could be guessed to be a smile, but it only lasts for a fraction of a second.