Title: Hands
Summary: "In the field," Skye said, "I would never leave my team mate behind!"
Rating: T for hypothetical mentions of death
Word Count: 1055
Other Chapters: No.
Disclaimer: ABC owns Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and all related characters, settings, and trademarks. I do not in any way profit from the use of this material.
Pairings: Could be interpreted as pre-Skimmons or just a friendship fic.
Contains: friendship
Warnings: no major warnings apply
This was why Jemma had failed her Field Work assessment. The fact that she was a rather poor shot and couldn't hold her own in a fight had contributed to it, but she might have been able to recover from that if she weren't so slow. Jemma could sprint short distances when her life depended on it—most people could; that was basic survival instinct—but when it came to treks like this, when it came to running for miles, she struggled. A lot. She'd lost sight of May and Triplett ages ago. She couldn't even see them when she was going down a hill, now. Coulson was deliberately hanging back to monitor Skye and Jemma's progress, turning around every few minutes to yell at them. Skye was panting and staggering, but she was still well ahead of Jemma.
Just a little more than a mile left.
Fitz was on mandatory health leave for at least a few more months, until he was fully recovered, so he was at home in Scotland with his mum, either sleeping or watching Clever Monkeys for the hundredth time. Or having breakfast. Oh. Given the circumstances, Jemma felt rather bad about envying Fitz, but she couldn't deny that she would much rather be sitting in a warm kitching in Scotland eating kippers (Jemma had been extremely skeptical of kippers, until Fitz's mum had made her some, several months before Jemma and Fitz went into field work.) than running through the rainy countryside somewhere in Germany.
Just a little bit more than a mile, and then they'd be back at the bus and she could collapse onto her bed and read until she no longer felt like dying.
More than a mile.
She was trying to comfort herself, but honestly, that glass was half empty. Her lungs felt like ice.
She stumbled. She managed to catch herself before she ended-up face-down on the ground, but it threw off what little rhythm she'd had and it completely sucked the last of her energy out of her. She stopped. She stood there in the grass and just barely talked herself out of dropping to her knees and taking a nap right where she was. She panted and moaned (no one was close enough to hear her anyway) and she thought, not for the first time, that maybe she'd be happier in a lab. True, there were plenty of other times when she was very glad that she was not in a lab, but now wasn't one of those times.
"Simmons!" Coulson yelled. He'd stopped and turned around too, just to lecture her. "Hurry it up!"
Jemma needed a few more seconds of panting before she could answer "I'm coming! Just give me a minute!"
"Nobody's going to give a minute in the field, Simmons!"
Okay, Jemma thought, staring down at the grass to keep the rain out of her eyes. I'll just die then. There are worse things...
She glanced up and noticed that Skye had stopped running too. Skye was panting as well, but Jemma suspected that Skye could have gone on, if she'd wanted to. Skye had more physical training than Jemma did. Skye was waiting for her. Going down with her. That was sweet. Together, they could cushion each other's falls a bit. Defend each other while Coulson and May yelled at them later.
"Skye!" Coulson yelled. "Are you coming?"
Skye looked from Jemma to Coulson and thought about it for a moment. Jemma waved her arm dismissively, because there really was no need for Skye to get in trouble too, but Skye didn't move. She turned back to Coulson. "No!" she yelled, then she turned and walked back toward Jemma.
"In the field—"
"In the field," Skye said, cutting him off, "I would never leave my team mate behind! And neither would you! You're not moving either!"
Skye plopped down in the grass in front of Jemma. "Come on," she said, gasping for air a little herself. "No one is chasing us. We might as well catch our breath."
Sweet permission. Jemma hit her knees, and then went the rest of the way down so that she was lying on the grass. In the rain. It was wet and itchy and she didn't care. It was also kind of nice and cool.
"We're going to get such an ear-full..." Jemma said.
Skye smirked.
"This is serious!" Jemma said, but she was smiling too. She sighed. "You're a bad influence."
"You're welcome," Skye said. She glanced over her shoulder, then back at Jemma. "Coulson's coming over here."
"Oh dear," Jemma said, not getting up. They were both quiet, and Jemma became aware of the sound of Coulson's footsteps in the grass. They drew closer and closer until—
"You know," Coulson said, sitting down with them, "I wouldn't put it past May to move the Bus if we take too long to get back there."
"Then we'll need to be well-rested to deal with that problem," Skye said, lying down next to Jemma.
Coulson sighed.
"You can go back, you know," Skye said.
"You know I won't," Coulson said.
"I told you you were cool."
"But I'm not lying down either."
"Do what you want."
Jemma suddenly became aware of a movement in the grass beside her head. She turned quickly, expecting a large insect or perhaps in a snake, but instead she saw fingers. Skye's fingers, attached her hand.
Skye was looking at Jemma expectantly. She flexed her fingers, almost like a 'come here' sign, but they were already so close, that couldn't possibly have been what Skye wanted. Did Skye want Jemma to grab her hand?
Or was Jemma just thinking that because she wanted to grab Skye's hand?
"Everything alright, Simmons?" Coulson asked.
"Absolutely," Jemma said, lying down again. "I'm just tired."
She slowly brought her hand up next to Skye's so that Skye would have plenty of time to pull away if she wanted to. She apparently didn't want to.
Jemma grabbed Skye's hand just as Coulson said "Have I ever told you two about the time I met Captain America?"
Skye and Jemma squeezed each other's hands and smiled at each other.
Yeah. They'd ride this one out together.