Yes I'm back again - this is a sequel to my other story, One Night, but you don't really need to read that, everything you need to understand will become clear in just a few lines in this story.
Now, don't let me stop you - on with the story.
Skye let out a short gasp as she walked into her bed ... thing, and noticed a tiny Jemma Simmons curled up in a ball beside the bed, hidden from the line of sight unless you were to physically walk into the room - an unlikely event considering what happened the last time someone came into her bedroom without prior consent.
Skye opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again, looking closely at the frail body of the scientist, curled around herself, something was seriously wrong - that much the young hacker could work out, even without the help of the unnaturally still posture, the hands clenched tightly in each other as they were clasped around her legs, or the scarily blank look in her eyes as she stared at the bed.
"You okay, Simmons?" She asked tentatively, unsure as to what she should be doing. "Because, no offence, but Fitz looks just about ready to send out a search party."
It was partly true - after breakfast, Simmons had disappeared, saying she'd be back in 'just a minute', and had never returned. It was now nearly lunchtime - relatively speaking of course - in the time zone immediately below them it was just approaching midnight.
There wasn't any response from the young woman - not a spoken acknowledgement of Skye's words, not even a minor shift in her body position to indicate she had heard the words.
Skye crouched next to her, eyes flicking towards the door as she pondered momentarily whether she should leave and get Fitz - who'd probably have more of an idea of what to do in this situation. She shook her head, as if that would remove the idea from her head - if Simmons had wanted Fitz, she's have gone to his bunk, or the Lab, or ... pretty much anywhere on the Bus.
No.
Simmons had come here for a reason - even if Skye couldn't work out what that reason was.
"Simmons? Simmons. Jemma." She looked up at the last one, though whether from the change of name or the slight exasperation that bled through her voice without Skye really meaning it to, the younger woman wasn't exactly sure.
At this point, though, she didn't really care.
Jemma's eyes quickly reverted back down, aimed at her own hands this time, almost as if she was attempting to stare through them - an ability that Skye would not necessarily put past the two scientists to come up with, should they ever decide to put their minds to it.
Realising she wasn't (yet) able to see through flesh and bone, Simmons' loosened her hands grip on each other, so that they slipped apart only slightly, but enough to reveal a sliver of white plastic that Skye recognised well enough - even if not from direct personal experience, she'd seen friends use them before.
Skye worked her friend's hands open ever so slightly more, just enough to remove the offending piece of plastic - and sighed, the little pink cross staring up accusingly - agreeing with the worst case scenario, wondering how long the scientist had been sat alone with nothing but her own thoughts for company.
"Oh Jemma," she whispered, her voice soft, as her friend's shoulders began shake almost imperceptibly with gentle sobs.
For a few moments they sat in silence, Skye knowing that the biochemist didn't need anything more than someone there just yet - as she cried for reasons that even with two PhDs she didn't quite understand.
Eventually the shaking stopped and she looked up, her face so lost and young - younger than Skye at that moment.
"How long have you known?" Skye didn't raise her voice, well aware of how thin the walls could be in this place, her natural curiosity overriding ... everything.
"For sure, this morning. But I think I've just ignored it for a while." Jemma didn't have to worry about raising her voice - she wasn't sure she could even if she tried.
"And how far do you think..."
"Eleven weeks and four days." Simmons finished before Skye could even finish her question.
"That's, uh, precise." Skye remarked, her eyebrows nearly at her hairline.
"It's the only...I mean ... I only ... A year ... and outside of SHIELD..." Simmons never stammered, ever - she was always so sure and confident in her words and her work and in everything she could do, and Skye felt that this was truly the first time she realised just how young Jemma was as well - she'd never appeared this young, even during the...
Just over eleven weeks - that was just under three months right - and just under three months ago was the ...
"Just after when you were ... infected." They didn't like to speak of it, even now, didn't like to think how close they came to losing their friend forever.
"It was just one night... Me and Fitz..." Her voice trailed off again
"So it is Fitz," Skye would have laughed, had that response not been entirely inappropriate for the situation, but never the less, she made a mental note to collect on her bet with Ward.
"Who else would it ever be?" Her smile was watery, but it was a smile, and it was real - reaching her eyes - so Skye counted that as a win - but her face quickly returned to its previous pensive state.
"We were protected... I don't ... I don't understand." She was talking to herself more than Skye, but Skye felt she had to reply regardless.
"And sometimes these things happen." It came out harsher than she intended, leading to an uncomfortable wince as she struggled to find suitable words to follow up with.
As it turns out, she didn't have to.
Jemma let out a short gasp of air, a short laugh of sorts that didn't lend itself to the producer having found anything funny, just extremely unusual. "This changes everything."
Skye didn't know what to say - at least not consciously, so she just let herself talk. "Yes. I suppose it does." Jemma opened her mouth to cut her off, but Skye shook her head needing to continue. "And it isn't going to go away by pretending it's not happening. You're ... what ... actually, how old are you?" Skye trailed off slightly curious as to why she had never asked this before.
"Twenty five," she supplied with a smile, the traces of tears all but gone.
"You're twenty five and whether you like it or not, there's a baby or a foetus, or whatever in there, and it's up to you and Fitz what happens next, because hiding isn't going to make it any better."
Skye's eyes blanked as she lost herself in distant memories for a moment, and was suddenly snapped out by Simmons' remark of, "I really hope it's not a whatever."
And it wasn't funny, not really - not to anyone outside of their job anyway, but for some reason, they found they couldn't stop laughing, as the seriousness of their conversation fell away and they were just two young women in their early twenties trying to find out what they're meant to be doing with their life, and royally screwing up along the way.
The door slid open suddenly, exposing the intimidating form (at least while he was stood, and they were still sat on the ground - why they hadn't moved to the bed at the some point baffled the pair but they didn't dwell upon it) of Ward, an almost unamused expression on his face.
"You're twenty minutes late for training." He told her, and suddenly Skye remembered why she had come into her bunk in the first place.
"... Oops?" She tried, an apologetic smile on her face.
He rolled his eyes, and turned to leave. "Oh, and Simmons," he added, "Fitz has been wondering where you are down in the Lab."
A flurry of emotions flickered across her face, all the while underpinned by one, very serious, very familiar look - determination.
Skye smiled as the other woman left to speak to her other half, left to change their futures forever.
"What was that about?" Ward asked, suddenly confused.
"None of your business." She replied immaturely sticking her tongue out at him, but following him down to the training area - the one at the opposite end to the Lab - anyway.
Regardless of how this went, Skye thought as she picked up a water bottle she knew she'd be desperate for in just a minute or two, one thing was for sure - life on the Bus was going to get strange after this.
Well... stranger, anyway.
Thank you for reading, and please review,
Mia.
Oh - and if anyone has any idea how Simmons would tell Fitz - you mind sharing?