I don't own Agents of SHIELD nor will I ever. No copyright infringement intended.
Later, Lance wasn't proud of his first instinct after learning Victoria and Izzy had faked their deaths - he threw his (empty) coffee cup across the room. Victoria looked unimpressed as it flew past her while Ward ducked just in time to avoid getting hit. "You done throwing a temper tantrum now?" Victoria questioned.
Izzy shook her head. "We are sorry, Hunter, but you have to understand why we did it." She knew that wasn't going to fly with him but she wasn't going to apologize considering she and her wife (that was new) knew they made the right decision. It was his problem that he was upset even though they all understood why.
He glared at her, ignoring Skye and Ward scurrying out of the room so they could avoid the line of fire. "I would have understood if you had just told me, Isabelle. I would have fucked helped but instead you lied to me and let me think you both were dead. You left me alone!"
Victoria rolled her eyes. "Stop the overdramatics, Hunter. You've been with Coulson's team - and Barbara - ever since Izzy 'died'. We're fine so you can celebrate. I know Grant Ward is." She still planned to scare the shit out of him later but that was neither here nor there.
Bobbi and Mack stayed quiet, hoping they wouldn't have to run interference but prepared to do so anyway. "Fuck you!" Lance spat.
Izzy sighed and wished they had done this sooner. "Stand down, Hunter. Stop being yourself."
"I mourned you both! You lost the right to tell me what to do after I tried my fucking hardest to save you. Do you know I forced them to give you a funeral? I wouldn't have even bothered if I had known the truth," he snarled. The anger was easier to deal with than the sadness and hurt sweeping through him.
Victoria sat down in a chair. "Iz, why don't we let the boy stew in his anger for the next day or so and then come back to see how he's handling this?"
Izzy looked back and forth between the two of them as Melinda and Skye poked their heads in to see if the coast was clear. "I'm hungry and Ward was too scared to come back in," Skye explained.
"And Skye dragged me into the drama because she was terrified," Melinda explained, looking at her with affection and annoyance.
Bobbi finally stepped in then and shook her head. "Now's not a good time. I think Lance is about to explode," she explained. His behavior worried her but she knew something big was about to go down and she wanted to be there when it happened, hoping there'd be no witnesses.
"Got it." Skye didn't want to be here for this so she practically bolted away.
"She could have at least waited for me. None of us will bother you again," Melinda assured them before she headed out to search to see where Skye disappeared to (and to yell at her for leaving her alone with them).
An awkward silence ensued after the other two agents departed. "So, how about those Inhumans?" Mack tried but was met with glares for his trouble. He shrugged. "Sorry, should have read the room better."
"So what shit has gone down in our absence? Seems like we missed a lot more than we intended to." Victoria shrugged when the others turned to stare at her. "Fuck it, I didn't come back for this drama. Told Iz we should have stayed where we were and let all of you deal with the aliens by yourselves but she refused to listen to me."
Lance wished he had another coffee cup to throw but through the haze of anger, he knew he didn't want to destroy any more property. "How could you do this to us?" He knew Bobbi and Mack were hiding something but he didn't think it was this - neither of them looked guilty.
"Why don't we go somewhere so you can cool down? Come back with a clear head," Bobbi suggested, biting her lip. She stepped back a few feet when Lance's glare turned towards her.
"How can you two be okay with this? It isn't right. They knew exactly what the fuck they were doing and they did it anyway. How can I forgive you two?" Lance couldn't even think straight and his head started to pound from the stress and months of buried grief crashing down on him. He needed to get the hell out of here before he broke completely but he couldn't let that happen either. He refused to fall apart, just like he refused to do when everything crashed down upon him initially.
Ward hesitantly opened the door and stepped in. "I need something to drink and couldn't wait anymore. And again, Agent Hand, I am so sorry."
"You better be," Victoria barked and then smirked when she saw the look of fear on his face.
"Better get used to it," Mack whispered to him.
"I'm trying," Ward whispered back. He grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge and literally ran out of the room to join the others (and possibly eavesdrop with them).
Lance needed the fuck out of the kitchen because he couldn't take this anymore. Seeing Victoria and Izzy alive and well and unapologetic only pissed him even further and he knew he'd end up saying something he'd regret. "Don't come after me! I don't want to see you," he told them.
Mack stayed behind to talk to Victoria and Isabelle but Bobbi followed her ex-husband back to their bedroom. "Are you going to be okay?" She braced herself for the meltdown that was about to start and her heart broke at the anguished look on his face.
"I don't know, Bob. What am I supposed to say to them?" Lance was at a loss and didn't know how he could face either of them after this without the anger and feeling of betrayal bubbling to the surface. He hated them so fucking much he could barely breathe (no he didn't).
She shook her head. "I have no fucking clue, Lance. It's up to you how you deal with this. You're in the right to feel the way you do, babe. No one's blaming you, and Izzy and Victoria need to realize how much they hurt you - us." She was pretty angry herself but had pushed it away because she was thrilled they were still alive.
Lance brushed away a few errant tears and wished he was stronger than this. He loved both women but he didn't want to look at their faces ever again. "I know I should be happy…"
Bobbi stood in front of him. "It's okay that you're not. And you can let go. No one's going to judge you, Lance."
"I can't let go!" He had been doing so well at burying everything that he knew he wouldn't be able to stop once he started.
"Yes, you can." She'd wait until he was ready and try to comfort him through the worst.
And that's when Lance finally snapped. He leaned over and buried his head in Bobbi's stomach as months of grief crashed down on him like a waterfall. She ran one hand through his hair and rubbed circles on his back with the other, trying not to start sobbing herself. She could do that with the girls later.
Lance didn't know if he could ever forgive Victoria and Isabelle but he wasn't worried about that now as he fell apart in his ex-wife's embrace.
This had been one hit too many for him so it was no surprise that he had finally cracked, and Bobbi didn't blame Lance one bit.
And life wasn't done fucking with Coulson's small ragtag team of agents either but none of them wanted to think about new curveballs.