Mothers' Day
Summary: With everything falling apart around him, Leo Fitz calls the one person he knows who could make things better again: His mother.
Disclaimer: Anything pertaining to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. does not belong to me.
A/N: There will be SPOILERS! for current episodes. The story will be AU since I'm taking liberties in making stuff up. Btw, this story stands alone. It does not share head canon with any of my other stories.
I just loved the lie detector scene in "The Only Light in the Darkness." And I just loved the proud smile Leo had when he said, "Just me and my mum," when asked who his immediate family was. And since we were treated to a lovely scene with May and her mother, why not a fic with Leo and his mom? I should warn you, though, this won't be as fluffy.
Ward is HYDRA
Leo must have read and reread those words—written sloppily across the inside of the medicine cabinet door in the sickly, brown hue of betadine solution—a dozen times over before Coulson slammed the door shut, shattering the mirror in the process. But it didn't matter if his eyes could no longer see the words. They had already been imprinted on the forefront of his mind.
No matter how many times he repeated them, whether silently in his head or whispered under his breath, Leo could not comprehend them.
They couldn't have been true.
Only, they were.
He, Jemma, Coulson, and Triplett had seen the footage of the security cameras. Leo himself had brought them up on the LCD monitors.
The four had left on a mission to save Audrey Nathan, and were gone for less than a day. When they returned, they were surprised to find the BUS gone and the rest of their team missing. Not even the enthusiastic Agent Koenig was there to welcome them back.
It was Jemma who found Skye's message. She knew something was amiss when she saw small splatters of brown liquid on the sink console. Her shriek drew the rest of the team into the restroom. After Coulson's outburst broke him out of his daze, Leo turned and ran for Koenig's office. The others were right behind him. He quickly brought up the security footages on the monitors, and the team watched their nightmares being broadcasted in high definition.
Not only did they learn that May had abandoned them; they also found out that Ward, trusted friend and teammate, was anything but. To make matters much worse, Skye was with him. Despite her training, Leo knew that she was no match for Ward.
The betrayal, anger, sadness, and worry Leo felt was too much for him to handle by himself. Usually, he'd have Jemma right beside him, and they'd handle the situation and put things in perspective. Together.
But she wasn't beside him. And as much as he wanted to, he couldn't approach her, sit next to her on the couch, and hug her close. Someone had already beaten him to it. Someone had taken his spot.
Leo was already too weary from all that's happened—the downfall of S.H.I.E.L.D., losing May, finding out about Ward's deception, Skye leaving with Ward to protect herself—that he couldn't muster up any more hurt, anger, or even jealously at seeing the woman he loved being comforted by Agent Triplett. His mind, in order to save itself, had gone numb.
In a daze, he walked out of Koenig's office and headed towards his quarters. No one bothered to stop him, for which he was both saddened by and grateful for. Once there, he closed the door softly and made sure it was locked. Then he searched through his backpack and pull out a mobile phone. Though he always had it on him, he never thought the day would come that he'd have to use it. No one in S.H.I.E.L.D knew he had it. Not even Jemma.
He sat on his bed and studied the phone for a long moment. Nothing in particular was special about its black design. In fact, it was terribly outdated. The only unique feature it had was the upgrade Leo made to turn it into an encrypted line. He'd done so right before he'd moved to America. And there was only one number the phone would call.
Leo slid back on his bed and adjusted his position so that his knees were up and his back was against the wall. Before he could think better of it, he press and held the '1' key. The first ring hadn't even finished when someone picked up.
"Leo?" He smiled as he heard a very familiar voice.
"Hi Mum."
"Oh, Leo! Thank goodness. I've been so worried. I wanted to call so desperately, but I was afraid I would call at the wrong moment and give away your location to an enemy. Where are you, sweetheart? Are you safe?"
"For now, I am. I'm in a secret bunker Fury had set up somewhere in the Canadian wilderness. I'm here with Jemma and two other agents."
"Weren't there six of you? Where are the others?" At those questions, the proverbial dam that Leo had built up around his thought had broken, and he let out a mournful sob.
"It's all gone wrong, Mum. Nothing's right anymore."
"Oh, sweetheart…."
Between his sobs, Leo let out everything he'd been keeping to himself—not just from the last couple of days, but also for the past couple of months.
He told her about his heartache when he believed he lost Jemma forever to death—not just in one, but in two different incidences. He told her of his frustrations when Coulson was taken and his self-hatred when he hadn't stopped Skye from going into Quinn's villa alone and getting shot in the process. He talked about his fear that Jemma no longer needed him and had replaced him with someone else. He yelled out his anger about Ward's betrayal. He whispered to her his sadness at watching his team fall apart.
Some small part within him knew he was basically spouting out classified information to his mother. But at that moment, he didn't really give a damn. His world had crumbled away from beneath his feet, and he'd reverted back to the little boy that would run to his mummy whenever he needed comfort and reassurance.
Plus, he thought forlornly, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s gone. It's not as if I'm going to be court-martialed.
"Oh, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help you." The unconditional love Leo could hear in his mother's voice calmed his reeling emotions.
"You're already doing it, Mum."
"Promise me you'll be careful, sweetheart. And that you'll take care of yourself. I have this phone you built on my person at all times. You can call me whenever you want to or need to. Promise me that you'll call."
"I promise, Mum."
"I love you, Leo."
"I love you, too, Mum. And this is such horrible timing, but Happy Mothers' Day. I really wish I was there with you. But—
"—But you have work to do," she finished for him. Leo heard a sniffle from the other end of the line. "I understand, sweetheart. My baby boy's got to save the world, after all." She gave a watery laugh. "Maybe next year, though? Maybe we'll be together then?"
The question weighed heavily in Leo's heart, and he had to shut his eyes tightly as the pain became almost unbearable. 'Next year' was a hard promise to keep when 'tomorrow' was so uncertain.
"Of course, mum," he lied, doing his best to keep his voice from breaking. "We'll celebrate Mothers' Day together next year."
End