Over on A03, I've been writing this massive fic, and its about half/two-thirds done and I've finally transferring it over to here. It is based on the AOS comics, one of the plot points there but you don't have to be familiar with them to be able to read this. Just a little warning, this one is angsty as heck. Like major angsty. Hope you enjoy and thanks for checking out!
"Simmons!" came May's voice in her ears, agitation predominant in her voice.
"I know!" came her reply, urgent and full of panic, caused by the countdown that has happening in front of her. She had been trying to disable the bio-weapon that was in front of her, and it was working. However, there was less than a minute for it to take effect but there was also less than a minute until it would detonate, and if it wasn't rendered harmless in time⦠Jemma shuddered at the thought and willed the process to occur quicker. And if that wasn't bad enough, she was the only one who could. There was no one else to help her. Bobbi would have helped, but when she saw the specifications on the hard drive the Jemma had stolen from Hydra, she just shook her head, not understanding anything. Jemma however, understood the theory behind it. It was the basis of her second doctorate.
"Jemma!" came a second voice. Skye. "We can't hold them off longer! They're breaking through the coding into the room where you are. We're coming to you. Just get that thing disabled."
Jemma could hear the desperation in her voice. No one needed to say what the consequences would be if Jemma failed in this mission. She focused her attention back on the screen build onto the glass container of the bio weapon. The liquid was fading from a dark vivid red to a pale pink. The screen still said it was lethal, and time was running out. If it hadn't changed from its current state to one of non-lethal in the next thirty seconds, then everyone here was at risk, as well as a 50 mile radius (but that number was dropping with each second). She held her breath as the time counted down from fifteen. She had almost done it.
Then she heard it. The banging at the door. The Hydra agents had found the room that she had been holed up in. Alone. She reached back, where the Icer was hidden, tucked into the band of her trousers. She took it out, finger on the trigger when the door gave way. At this point, May would be cursing herself for leaving Jemma alone. It was supposed to go well; all she had to do was to disable the weapon using the inbuilt computer. May, with Trip and Skye had taken out all the surrounding agents before she had been allowed in, then she entered, proceeding to work. But the weapon had remote access and Hydra had detonated it, threatening everyone in the base, even their own agents, just to keep their work hidden. May, and the others had moved on to the room just down the corridor where all the files where kept. Trip had tried to argue to be with her, in case something happened but Jemma told him she was okay, he was needed elsewhere. So he left, taking guard at the stairs at the very end of the corridor, preventing any agents of Hydra from reaching them.
Jemma shrunk back, there were 10 seconds until detonation and it was so close to being rendered harmless. It was a waiting game now. If Hydra had detonated it just seconds after they had, then it would have already been safe. It wouldn't be down to chance now. 9, 8, 7. All she had to do was wait for everyone else to come, 6, 5, 4 (it was almost there, almost rendered harmless), then she could leave, and then she would be heading back to the safety of the base, 3,2... At least, that was supposed to be the plan. The Hydra agents set off a weapon of some sort, hitting the glass container and shattering it. The blast sent her flying, and she hit off against the wall, her head pounding and the world swaying in front of her.
"Jemma!" a voice rang out that sounded somewhat familiar. Skye. There were no longer any Hydra agents standing in the room. May and Trip must have taken them out, as they were now looking at the remains of the bioweapon. The weapon was harmless, a computer that had also been linked to it was now showing this information. It was flashing that the weapon was disabled. She had did it. She allowed herself a smile, and then realised that she was slumped on the floor. She sat up, leaning against the wall. "Jemma!" came Skye's voice, close this time. Jemma moved her head to find Skye kneeling before her, a look of slight disgust upon her face. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Jemma looked long and hard at her trying to find the words. She must have blacked out, not seeing what had transpired in front of her as the room in front of her was now so very different from the one she remembered. "I think so, just a bump to the head, nothing much." She looked down and saw the chemicals that had made up the weapon, now a harmless pale pink, was splattered along her tact suit, parts of it torn from the shards of glass that had sliced it. "Oh this, it's not harmful. It will need to be examined then incinerated. Health and safety, you never can be too careful." Jemma smiled up at her friend, before wiping her hand on her top and taking the hand that Skye had extended out to you. Worry was still laced under all her features, but she was trying to hide it.
"Thanks," Jemma said, absent-mindly scratching at her wrist. "So what now."
"Now," May said, looking at her. "We clear up in here."
Clearing up hadn't been as much of a tedious process that Skye had imagined it would be. Back at base, she was flicking through the documents that Coulson had asked her and Trip to examine but these weren't related to the mission they had been on that day. These were related to the cravings that everything kept coming back to.
She gave a groan of frustration. This work was tedious. She had been looking at it for the last number of hours, but still none of it made any sense to any of them.
"Drink?" a voice asked. Male. British. Hunter.
"We're working," Skye replied but she was tempted. She was so tempted. "We can't drink on the job."
"You won't be drinking on the job. Coulson's off base, and you've been working for hours, and you had that mission." Still Skye looked unconvinced so Hunter used what he hoped would draw Skye to the common area. "Jemma's joining us."
"She is?" Skye asked, rising. Hunter was probably right. It was best they take a break, and go back to this with a fresh head. Would make everything so much easier to understand. Also Jemma was there, and since she had come back from Hydra, things were awkward to say the least. Her and Fitz weren't on the best terms, and she was withdrawn. She had raised her concerns to May, but May had said that she had a handle on it, that she was looking out for the other agent. Skye, who was still hesitant to trust after everything that had happened, just hoped that this was the case.
"Coming?" Hunter asked with a lopsided grin.
And he was right. Jemma was indeed there, as was Fitz, but they weren't sitting together. They weren't even sitting on the same sofa. Skye really needed to get them to talk to each other about what had happened. There was so much miscommunication between both of them, and no matter how hard Skye had tried, she had yet to succeed. But she would, maybe tonight would be the night.
Jemma gave a nervous looking smile as Skye sat down next to her, still scratching at her wrist. Skye looked down at it but Jemma told her not to worry, that it was just a reaction to the new hand cream that she had tested, that hopefully it should go away soon.
Skye nodded, feeling relieved at this, but couldn't help but worry that there was something more sinister behind it.
"See," Hunter said loudly, gesturing to the other young Brit. "Told you she'd be here."
Jemma laughed, something that caused heads to turn to face her. Even Fitz. It was a sound that they hadn't heard in so long, but it still sounded forced. Skye directed her attention to Trip then, who wore an expression that said it's something. "He used me as the winning argument then."
Skye nodded. "Would have continued to work if you weren't here."
"You'll have to go back. I'm heading back to the lab in about five minutes. I'm running some tests from the weapon earlier, have to see what they say."
Skye saw Fitz shift uneasily at this. Judging from this, it was evident that he wasn't helping, but when was the last time he had helped Jemma in the lab since she came back? He had been helping Mack in the garage more and more.
"I better head," Jemma continued, picking up on his unease. It was clear she hadn't wanted to be here. She had probably been told by Hunter that Skye was going to be there.
"Jemma," Skye called after her. She paused at the door, turning back to face the room.
"Yeah?"
Skye shook her head. "Nothing."
She didn't want to enter the lab, to pull up the results. She already had a feeling that she knew what they were going to say, but she still hoped that that wouldn't be the case.
Jemma, however, knew that hoping wouldn't delay the inevitable. She knew what was wrong, and what would happen. She knew that wishing that it wasn't true wasn't going to make it untrue but working would help make it untrue.
It still didn't stop her legs from collapsing under her when she saw the results on screen.
Every day for the next week and a half this shall be updated, and then updated as it gets updated on A03. It has a Pinterest board under the same name under my profile (Agentsofsuperwholocked) so feel free to check both out. The title comes from Miss Jackson by P!ATD. Hope you enjoyed!
