It was nearing dinner time and Fitz was on his way to make himself something to eat, Simmons keeping pace with him though she had declined he make extra for her. (When did she eat? He really hoped she wasn't skipping meals.)
"It might make you feel better," she insisted, hopeful.
"I'm no good at stories Simmons," he objected. "You know that, and besides I can't... can't..." He frowned.
"Remember," she reminded him patiently.
"Remember, that's it, I had it," he answered, a little less patiently. "I can't remember words half the time, I'd be no good at it."
"That's what I'm here for," she smiled. "Oh look," she'd spotted May, Skye and Trip walking towards them. "Maybe they'll want to hear."
"I don't think they want to hear a story," he mumbled, keeping his voice low, but May heard him anyway.
"Did you need something Fitz?" She inquired, polite, even if there was an edge to her voice and a darkness behind her eyes.
"I... um...," he fumbled.
"You wanted to tell them a story," Simmons whispered.
"I wanted to tell you a story," he repeated automatically and then turned to her, irritated and feeling betrayed. What was she doing? She must have known this was a bad idea. They already thought he was crazy, waltzing up to them and offering to tell them a story wasn't going to help with that, it was weird, impulsive.
"A story?" Skye asked, striding up to him. She was looking more like May every day, in the way she dressed, the way she held herself. He wasn't sure if he liked it, he missed his friend, missed her being carefree and happy. "I'd love a good story, how about you Trip?"
"Sounds much better than sitting through that talent show again," he joked and she rolled her eyes at him.
"It's awesome," she insisted, then she turned back to Fitz. "But... of course, if you wanted to tell us a story I'd much prefer that."
They were placating him, he could tell (did they really think he couldn't?) but he went along anyway because he was lonely and because he'd suddenly had an idea.
They gathered in the sitting room, Simmons waiting until everyone had settled in before taking the empty spot beside May, and Fitz stood in the middle, between the television and the glass table, a little nervous at having everyone's attention on him. He wished Simmons would come stand beside him but she seemed comfortable perched next to May and he didn't want to call to her in front of the others.
"Once upon a time," he began. Someone had told him once that all good stories started with once upon a time and ended with happily ever after. He wasn't sure if he dared believe his story was a good one, but he started it that way anyhow, just in case. "There were two inventors who lived together on a... on a...," he clenched and unclenched his fists, searching for the word. "A ship," he decided. No, that wasn't the word, but it would do. "A flying ship, whose sails caught the wind and... caught the wind and blew... through the clouds, like a great white sea."
"A ship," Skye tilted her head, curious. "Like a sailing ship?"
Fitz smiled, enjoying the way she was looking at him, the way everyone was, as if he were smart again, creative. And Simmons... she couldn't have looked prouder.
"Yes," he told her, nodding. "A sailing ship, that could fly," he explained, motioning with his hands. "The inventors made it and... it looked like... um..."
"Magic," Simmons whispered.
"Magic," he repeated. "Only it was science."
He could see it, as he told that tale, cursing himself a little for not having the words to describe the awesome beauty of it. The smooth, red tinged wood, the tall majestic sails and the black eagle perched at the bow, wings spread out to soar across the sky.
"And they weren't the only ones on the ship of course," he continued, grinning because, despite his inadequacy, his team was listening intently, eyes shining. "They had a captain, Captain Phillip, but he was never there because... because.. he... he had... um... important," there was the word, Simmons beamed at him for remembering it on his own, "important things to do, stopping pirates who stole something more valuable than gold, they stole knowledge. So, you can see, that took priority, and everyone understood why he was gone so often."
That made the others uncomfortable. Skye smiled, but it wasn't a real one, he could tell, and he knew he'd hit a sore spot so he continued quickly. "But they had a brave, mighty co-captain, The Mighty May, who took his place and watched over them when he was gone." He chuckled, "she watched over Captain Phillip too, even if he didn't notice." Another sad smile, he needed to lighten the mood. "And they had a... umm..." he snapped his fingers, "don't tell me, I have it on the tip of my tongue... um... a princess! Former princess of a kingdom called The Rising Tide, Princess Skye."
"I like that," Skye laughed and Trip wiggled his eyebrows at her, laughing along.
Good, good. They were happy again. Simmons gave him a thumbs up.
"Princess Skye had the power to find almost anyone, or anything, using something called cloud-fi, and her trusty cloud book. Now... I know what you're thinking," he told them, raising a hand, "It sounds a whole lot like magic but it's-"
"Science," they chorused cheerfully.
He chuckled. "Exactly. And, finally, they had a warrior, one from an... um..."
He looked to Simmons.
"Ancient," she offered.
"From an ancient line of warriors," he went on. "He didn't like people talking about that though, he wanted to be his own person." Fitz looked at Trip who smiled back, understanding. "His name was Triplett, and he could do almost anything."
Skye nudged him. "Don't let that get to your head," she teased.
"Aw, C'mon your royal highness, Princess Skye, you know Fitz is only telling it how it is," he teased back.
Fitz wanted to dance, this felt good, it felt right. But dancing in the middle of the sitting room, without even any music, might be a little strange and he didn't want them to go back to looking at him as if he were having a breakdown so his feet remained rhythm-less. Simmons danced for him, a tiny little victory wiggle beside May and he narrowed his eyes affectionately before continuing.
"The two inventors were as close as two people could be," he went on. "And they were incredible. They made things like... um..." He was having trouble, finding the words, remembering real things that would be impressive.
"Make them up then," Simmons suggested. "This is a story after all."
It was, and couldn't anything happen in a story? Wasn't that why you told them? To make new, incredible worlds. To create. So you could have a happy ending.
"They made golden clouds," he announced waving his arms dramatically. "And... um... flowers... that could grow anywhere, even in snow, and vegetables that tasted like... tasted like, don't tell me... I've got it...," he snapped his fingers again. "That tasted like sweets. They made wonderful things and, together, they filled the world with goodness."
"That sounds nice," May commented, smiling again. He wasn't sure if she was sad this time, couldn't tell. He hoped the next part of his story didn't upset anyone.
"Now... um... before I continue," he warned. "You should know that... that this story is going to get sad."
The others frowned at him, sympathetic, but Simmons circled her hands encouragingly, signalling for him to go on.
"But it'll get happy again OK?" He promised. "Just... if you can... bear with me."
"We can do that," May assured him.
He took a breath. "OK. Everyone was happy, and they spread good throughout the world except there was a... um... pirate... onboard their ship, pretending to be their friend."
The tension in the room was thick, sour sludge, choking him, but he had to go on because he couldn't get to happily ever after unless he did.
"And the pirate tried to steal... their... um... their," he bounced anxiously on his toes, needing to find the word before the sludge suffocated him.
"Knowledge," Simmons reminded him, strong, breathing evenly.
"Knowledge," he repeated, the sludge retreating a little. "The inventors tried to stop him but he threw them off the ship and they fell through the clouds."
He paused as Trip and Skye flinched but May remained stoic, blinking slowly. "Go on," she encouraged quietly.
"They were going to die," he told them sadly. "And they were scared but at least they were together. Then... then they..." he stopped, straining to remember the foggier part of the story. "Then they had an idea, they could make wings, from the crystals in the clouds, but the one inventor, his name was Leo for the..." he squirmed on the spot, trying to recall the word. "It's with stars... the... the constellation. He was named after the constellation, and he knew that they could only make one set and he loved his partner- her name was Gemini- he loved her so much that he gave them to her and they caught on the wind like the sails of the ship and she soared away from him."
He could see her, so beautiful, rising up past the clouds. Her wings were like the wings of a dragonfly, clear like crystal, the sunlight filling them with rainbows and he closed his eyes for a moment, holding onto the image of her face, comforting even if it was soaked in tears.
When he opened them he saw Skye biting her lip, eyes bright and Trip staring unhappily down at his hands, but both May and Simmons nodded for him to continue so he did.
"Leo was falling, the earth was getting closer, ready to swallow him up, but he was ready for it because he knew that Gemini would be OK, that she could fly away now," he told them. "Only she didn't fly away, because she loved him too. She swooped down, her... her wings..." he made the motion, pushing his arms against his sides. "tucked... no... Folded! Her wings were folded against her body so she could speed down and catch him before he hit the ground and she carried him up, back to the ship." He frowned. "But they dropped something, something fell out of Leo... his...," there were no words that could describe it though. "It was important. Very, very important, but he lost it. It fell, somewhere on the earth so when they reached the ship again... he was... he couldn't do things anymore."
He let out a shaky breath. The worst part was coming, but he needed to get through it if he wanted to get to the end. Trip and Skye looked to May but she was staring at him, listening.
"He was sad," he pushed on. "And the others... they tried to... um... help, but they couldn't. Not even Gemini could help him and he couldn't help her anymore either and she was sad too, so the inventions stopped and the rest of the ship's crew had to go on on making the world a better place without them. There were pirates everywhere though, hurting people, trying to take what the crew had left so they had to land, to hide and they buried their beautiful ship... um..."
He looked to Simmons.
"Underground," she offered.
"Underground," he repeated.
There was that sludge again, thicker now, clogging his nostrils. But he had to go on.
"They made tunnels, a whole network, with labs and an office for the Captain and places where they could keep the pirates they captured but it was horrible. It was very dark, under the ground," he described. "and cold, but life went on because they had to keep helping people, keep making the world a better place." He sighed heavily and Simmons rose to place a hand on his shoulder. He resisted the urge to place his own over it but alllowed himself to stare back at her gratefully, feeling stronger. "But no one could make Leo better and one day, Gemini left." His eyes grew hot and his breath caught in his chest. "She spread out her wings, filled with rainbows, and flew away."
"Fitz..." Skye began, but May placed a hand on her arm, silencing her, and nodded for him to continue.
"She had to leave, there was something she needed to do, it was... it was... important... but Leo didn't understand because he was...," again, there were no words, "he didn't understand. And it hurt so much, it almost... almost broke him. He called after her, even long after she was gone, begging her to come back." His voice fell to a whisper. "Come back, please come back." He was fighting down tears now, scrunching his face in a feeble attempt to keep them in. He had to go on, he couldn't stop there, drowning in sludge.
"But... but she left something with him." He persevered, touching his chest. "A piece of her heart, to protect him. She left him something to protect him," he insisted, but a hard lump had formed in his throat and he lost his battle, tears filling his eyes before he let out a whimper and May stood, slowly stepping towards him to place a hand on his shoulder.
He wanted to jerk away, at first, but the feel of her fingers, gripping onto him, holding him down was comforting, something he'd been yearning for. Their eyes met and there was a strong kind of gentleness in hers, like a firm embrace.
"Do you want to stop," she asked softly but he shook his head.
"N-no."
She nodded and drew her hand back, he was almost disappointed.
That was the worst part. He was through it, now he only needed to get to the end.
"She took out a piece of her heart, a blue feather, the colour of the sky, and left it beside his tools for him to find," The story had stopped making sense, if it had at all to begin with, and he really hoped no one thought he was crazy. It was only a story right? "It turned into a person, who looked like her because she was a part of her, so even though she was...," his pause, for once, was not created by a forgotten word, but rather one he didn't want to say. "Even though she wasn't there with him, she could watch over him."
Simmons looked sad and he thought, maybe, she'd blurred a bit around the edges.
"Gemini had to go, she had something important to do, it was very, very important," he pressed.
"And what was that Fitz?" Simmons asked quietly.
What was it? He closed his eyes, thinking, concentrating, and then it came to him.
He opened them again, ready to continue, to explain to his friends why she had left him, so that they'd understand, the way he was trying to.
/-/-/
This story was inspired by an episode of Fringe (Brown Betty) like most of my stories are XD, in which Walter tells a story to Olivia's niece while Olivia is out looking for his son Peter. The story is about a detective (Olivia) searching for a missing man (Peter) who stole a mechanical heart from a dying scientist (Walter). It was a fun episode, kinda whacky but in a good way and it was a really good way to put a gap in the angst haha. I'm not sure this story is as crazy or whacky yet, but next chapter we get to see what Fitz thinks (or imagines) Simmons is up to, and that might get a little whacky.
I know a lot of people don't like it when Fitz is called Leo, but there were two constellations that sounded like their first names and I couldn't resist. Besides it's not really him, it's the character he based off of himself and it isn't short for Leopold. I didn't want him to put Simmons' name in the story, because I feel like he is kinda detached from her leaving so I came up with Gemini (sounds a bit like Jemma) for her and then Leo fit for him.
There is a reference to Fringe in the story, it is the line "all good stories start with once upon a time and end with happily ever after." Ella (Olivia's niece) tells this to Walter when his ending is not happy. (Then she fixes it haha).
