"Oh Fitz! I'm so nervous!" She whispers to me as we wait for our field assessments to begin.
"Don't be. You and I will be just fine." I whisper back with a smile, squeezing her hand.
She gives me a small smile back.
"Fitzsimmons?" says an aging man, in combat uniform.
"Yes sir?" we both stand up
"Er, right this way." He says, turning around, leading us to the double doors where the assessment room is.
Movement is surprisingly easy in our combat suits. Simmons and I are in black tightly clinging body suits. They are temperature resistant and comfortable. The man hands each of us a gun. I look at it in fascination, while Simmons looks at it in horror.
"The guns simply paralyze the spot they hit for a few minutes, mimicking a bullet. It is just numbing." Explains the man.
"Okay," I sigh
"The goal is to get through the doors at the other end of the room with as minimal wounds as possible, got it?"
"Yes sir." We say together
"Alright. 3…2…1…"
He flings to doors open and we quickly view the terrain. It is a rough and bumpy floor, designed to look like a forest. It has lots of trees and rocks. The door is a good 500 or so yards from us.
Splat.
A bullet, looking much like a paintball, hits the door behind me next to my leg.
Simmons and I realize we're in danger and launch to the nearest rock, crouching behind it.
"We need to use the cover. Let's go." She hisses, fear in her eyes.
We dash from one tree to the next, not firing our weapons.
Soon, we have crossed half of the area without a bullet.
Suddenly, a cloaked man appears, holding a gun.
"Bloody hell!" I hiss as he raises his gun, I now realize I have no chance of running. Simmons is still at the last tree, three feet to the right of me.
I hear a noise to the right, and turn my head as the gun goes off.
A flash of caramel hair suddenly appearing in my face shocks me as a gasp echoes through the room. Before I even know what happens, I raise my gun and shoot the man who shot at me, in the chest. He falls over. Simmons falls backwards and I catch her and lower her to the ground.
"You jumped in front of my bullet!" I whisper, as her hands cover the growing red blotch on her stomach, due to the paint.
It makes me nauseous to see her like this, like she'd been shot saving me.
"I can't feel my body, waist and below." She whispers.
"Why would you do that?" I am still in shock over her reaction.
"I don't know, it just felt like the right thing to do! Now get going! I wont have you waste your turn, make it to the door!" She says, slightly annoyed.
"No! Fitzsimmons stick together!"
"Not when I am shot and paralyzed and you need to pass this test! Run Fitz!" she says, more adamantly.
"Together or not at all!" I say, stubbornly.
"How do you expect-"
Suddenly I drop my gun, scoop her up, she's surprisingly light, and run to the nearest tree.
"Fitz! You can't take me too!" She says, as I carry her from one hiding spot to the next.
"Yes I can, and I will. I am not leaving you behind, Simmons." I carry her to the last bit of cover before the 20 ft dash to the doors.
I see her smile at my loyalty.
"Okay, Jemma, I need you to cover us. You shoot, and I run. You ready?" I whisper, looking at the distance we have to run.
"Yes." She looks around, and cocks her gun.
I charge at the open doors.
Simmons lifts up her gun and shoots anyone who comes near us.
I get hit in the foot and stumble slightly, but I continue running.
5 feet
4 feet
3 feet
2 feet…
I leap through the open doorway, and Simmons and I tumble in a mass of limbs to a stop, I am sprawled on my back, while she is spread out like a starfish upon me, pretty much unable to move.
"Well, we've had smoother landings." I laugh
"Yeah. A lot smoother."
We giggle and soon we are laughing our heads off, relief at the test being over mixed with the fading of adrenaline clouds our judgment.
The older man shows up again.
"Fitzsimmons, please come here."
"Sir! Simmons can't move-"
"Actually Fitz, I have some feeling in my legs now. I can walk, I think." I gently move from beneath her. Then, I lift her onto her feet where she shakily stands, using my support.
"Come with me." Says the man, walking down a large hallway.
We hurry after him, as best we can, with Simmons still unstable as I support her down the hall. We enter a large room.
"Agents." Says a middle-aged woman with brown hair and blue eyes.
"Yes sir, we're Fitz and Simmons." Gasps Simmons.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Agent Hill." She says calmly
"Nice to meet you to, ma'am." I say as we nod with respect together.
Simmons stands a little straighter.
"You two have been tested with your ability in the field, due to Agent Coulson's request you be on his team." Says Agent Hill, calmly.
"Yes ma'am." We say.
"I regret to inform you, that you failed the field assessment." She says, just as stone faced.
Simmons slumps onto me and our faces fall.
"You showed in ability to shoot the guns for the most part, incompetence by taking a unnecessary bullet for your teammate, and you showed pure and reckless idiocy, carrying your dying teammate out of the warzone." She says, flatly
"Ma'am, pleas we-" I start.
"Let me finish."
I fall silent
"I have been notified that it won't be a problem. You will proceed to the medical exam and will be permitted on the team regardless. Dismissed." She says, without a trace of a smile.
"Thank you ma'am!" we say, hurrying out, our smiles lighting up our faces.
"Fitzsimmons, your physical exams need to be taken. Down the hall to your left." A man informs us, and we hurry to reach the doors.
Simmons goes to open them but I pull her back for a moment. She freezes, looking at me in confusion for a second before turning to look at me.
"Promise me that if we're ever in the field together, you'll never do something like that. Take a bullet for me. I-I wouldn't be able to live with myself." I say to her, and her eyes soften
"I promise. But you better promise not to be daft and try to save me all the time. You matter just as much as I do, yeah?"
"Okay." I agree, and I give her a hug, which she reciprocates.
"Ready?" I ask as we release each other.
"Yes." She grins, taking my hand and opening the doors.