Previously on Agents of Shield:
Best friends for years, Engineering Genius Fitz realizes he's developed feelings for Jemma Simmons, his Bio-Chem partner in science, after following her on adventures in the field with the Agents of Shield. He finally finds the courage to tell her how he feels when he realizes they're about to die, trapped at the bottom of the ocean. He sacrifices himself to keep her safe, and ends up with brain damage which causes him to have trouble stringing words together and doing tasks that came so easily before.
Jemma, confused about her friend's confession and her own feelings, decides to stay away from him for a few months to let him heal. When she returns from her undercover mission, she tries to repair the rift between them, but slowly begins to realize she may have feelings for her friend too. Right before he's sent off on another mission, she confesses there may be more than just friendship between them after all. When they have a moment alone, he decides to ask her to dinner. Of course nothing can be that simple, and something beyond their control is about to stand in their way yet again...
"No, I don't. You keep rambling on and on and I still don't know what you mean." Simmons doesn't glance up from taking down notes about her findings of the Kree stone. Not that there's too much in her notes to begin with. There's just one thing that's been bugging her about it… If she could just -
"Dinner," Fitz tries again.
She sighs, doing her best not to be distracted by him. "Fast approaching, yes, and we'll eat it I'm sure."
"Yeah! No no no, but, uh… Me and you," he says. She pauses, realizing she should really pay attention to what he's trying to say. "Maybe we could eat somewhere else. Y'know," he puts his hand on the door trying to act casual. "Somewhere… nice."
She looks up at him. Finally understanding, she slowly nods. "Oh..." she says. She smiles carefully. He smiles back. He suddenly fumbles and slips at the case he's leaning against.
Trying to recover, he taps it casually. "Good. Okay." She grins, watching him try to act cool. "Uh, well, you - you should come find me when you're finished here and w- then I'll start working on options to run by you… for that…" He turns and walks away before he makes it worse. He closes the door behind him, and she smiles to herself.
He stops outside the closed door and lets out a big breath. He did it. He grins. It could have been smoother, yes, but at least he took a step in the right direction. Hopefully she actually understood what he meant. She got it, right? This was a date? This was their chance to talk? This restaurant needs to be really nice.
He goes to the lab and turns on the computer. He would normally ask Hunter for the best date spot, but he's busy with… Well, besides he'd tease Fitz mercilessly, and his nerves are already in pieces as it is. Research. Research will calm him down and give him something to do while he waits for Jemma to finish up.
Somewhere nice… somewhere nice… Expensive usually means nice, right? What can he afford? Expensive also means dressing up, and then Simmons could wear a fancy dress… but he doesn't want to make her uncomfortable. Does she even own a fancy dress? Plus then he'd have to dress up too, and… Okay, let's not make this too expensive.
What food does she like? Italian? Everybody does Italian, but then is it special enough? Maybe she'd want to… Option one can be Italian where they can dress up, have some expensive spaghetti. You know, if she wants. It's her choice. Option two… Japanese? He'd have a hard time with the chopsticks, but she does like sushi. Or a club? Similar to the boiler room? They can recall their academy adventures there and how they used to be inseparable… There might be dancing… It wouldn't be his first choice. What about… a pub. A quiet pub with good beer on tap and a nice British menu where they can actually talk. But again, it's up to her. He checks the clock.
He hits print on the options he's found so she can sift through them herself. He'll just start sorting them for now. In order of what he thinks she'd like best. And niceness. What if she does want to go somewhere really nice and dresses up? She's already beautiful, but then she'd be with… him. He looks down at his cardigan. He can't wear this. He looks at the clock again. There's probably enough time to quickly change. Something nicer than this. Just in case. But still casual. Just in case.
He rushes back to the lab, brushing past Skye as he goes. He took far too long deciding what shirt to wear. She's probably already there looking for him and going through the pile of restaurants he printed, but he wants to explain his reasoning first so that she has a better idea of what he means. So he has a better idea of what she wants. He shouldn't have changed first. What if she decides to go change too and then he has to wait again? He's already finished everything that would keep him properly distracted, and he doesn't want to start tinkering with anything that would get his nice shirt all mussed.
She's not in the lab when he gets there. He breathes a sigh of relief and picks up the papers with the restaurant options. He flips through them and pulls a few out, tossing the rest in the trash. He checks the clock. It will probably be a late dinner if he has to wait for her to get ready, but that just means it will be even fancier still. Later does also mean fancier, right? He's glad he picked the nicer shirt. He should probably check on her to see if she needs help with anything. If she's much longer they'll miss the dinner altogether, and just have drinks. Lots of drinks. He's not sure he's quite prepared for that yet… though it honestly would be nice to see where a few drinks might take them… He'll just go hurry her along again.
He takes a deep breath before he knocks on the door. This isn't the time to second-guess himself. He knows how she can get, losing track of time on things just like he does. She must have found some interesting breakthrough. He pushes the door open. "I know I said you should come find me, but I've already got some options to…" He looks around, but the room is empty, "to run by you."
He walks all the way in and around the back of the big stone in the middle of the room. "Jemma?" He circles around it. "If you don't want dinner we can always just go for drinks?" he says quietly, hopefully, fairly sure she's not in the room. Coming back to the front, he notices her equipment and notes are still on the table. The door to the glass case is open. He stares at the big stone for a few moments. It stares back. His heart beats faster.
He walks quickly back to the door of the room. No need to jump to conclusions. He probably just missed her. He checks the lab again because it's the first place she'd go looking for him. She's not there. He goes to the garage just to check. Mac is there. Alone.
"Hey Fitz, I wanted to run something by you for the new bus…"
"No. I mean sorry. I can't now - has Simmons come by?"
Mac shakes his head. "I'm pretty sure she's buried herself in studying that rock all day… Everything okay?"
"Right. Yeah." Fitz turns and rushes back out.
Maybe she's in her room getting ready. But it's empty too, no hint she's been in there at all. He runs down the halls now, racking his brain for where she would have gone, checking in random rooms as he goes. Nothing.
"Hey, where are you off to looking all spiffy?" Skye stops him before he can bob back out of the kitchen for the second time. She's smiling until she sees the look on his face.
"Simmons?" He asks.
"She's not here." Skye glances down at the papers he's holding, raising an eyebrow but not questioning them yet. "Are you looking for her for something?"
"I can't-" he turns. "She's not-" he turns back. "We're supposed to-" he can feel the sentences slip away from his tongue.
"Hey, deep breaths," Skye says moving carefully towards him. "She's probably still studying that freaky rock thing and lost track of time. Have you checked there?"
He turns away and grabs the back of his head, frustrated. "She's not. She's not there. She's not here. I can't- I can't find her."
"Oh," Skye says quietly. "Do you think… You don't think something happened, do you?"
Fitz paces on the spot, not wanting to answer the question. He turns to leave and keep looking, just as Mac steps in and blocks the door. "Hey, careful. Found Simmons yet?"
Fitz looks down impatiently, wanting to push past the big man.
Skye and Mac exchange glances.
Skye pastes a smile on her face and touches Fitz's arm. "Hey, why don't we just check the video logs? You know, for overkill. She's probably just trapped in the bathroom or something and no one can hear her."
"Yeah," Mac says. "I'll set up the system."
Fitz follows, holding his breath, not allowing himself to think. He grips the papers tightly.
Skye glances through the surveillance system. "Okay, so far nothing. She doesn't appear to be on the base at all. Would she have anywhere else to go?"
"She was in that room. With the Kree rock," Fitz says. He's pacing, trying not to look at the screens. Trying to keep his panic at bay.
"Okay, we'll check back and see where she went from there." Skye cues up the playback. They all watch as Fitz enters the room, and are silent as the awkward scene takes place on the small screen when he talks to her. He feels his face grow hot and looks away until he hears Mac take a sharp breath. "Oh hell! What-?"
"No, that can't be right," Skye says. "Let me play that again."
She rewinds. And again. Fitz stares at the screen. Simmons is smiling to herself. She puts the box down. She notices the door he accidentally opened. She goes to close it, and -
Fitz drops the papers and runs as fast as he can back to that room with that stone. He doesn't hear Mac and Skye try to stop him. He doesn't notice when he nearly runs over Hunter. He's only focused on that stone. He throws the door to the room open and runs towards it, calling her name. Right before he reaches the stone, he feels someone grab his arm, holding him back.
"Stop! Think about this!" It's Mac. And Hunter. They're both pulling him away from the stone before he can touch it.
"But she's in there! That-that thing!" He tries to break free. "Jemma!" They're too strong and hold him back, dragging him further into the room away from it.
"Lock that thing back up," Mac says. Fitz doesn't know who he's talking to, but he knows that the door can't close if they have any chance of getting to her.
"No!" He shouts. "Jemma!" He hears the door to the case shut and he stops, falling to the ground, trying to gain control of his panic. "Open it. We need to- Open it again." He stands, but Mac blocks his way forward, pushing him back.
"Fitz. Think about this. We don't know what that thing is, what it can do, if she's even still-" Fitz glares before Mac can finish the sentence. Skye hovers in the doorway to the room.
"I missed something big, didn't I?" Hunter says. Skye nods for him to come over and shows him the surveillance clip on the tablet she brought with her. Hunter watches, raising his eyebrows at Fitz in approval at first. He then swears and covers his mouth in shock. He looks back, seeing Fitz struggling and Mac blocking his path to the rock.
"Hey, I'm sure she's fine," Hunter offers. He looks back at Skye, bewildered. Fitz tries to move forward again.
"We don't know what it does," Mac holds his arms out, standing firmly in the way. "All we know is that this rock thing is dangerous-"
"- to Inhumans." Skye finishes from the doorway. "It's only dangerous to Inhumans."
Hunter looks from Skye to Fitz. "You don't think she's..?"
"No." Fitz shakes his head firmly. "At least I don't think so. I doubt it." He rubs his eyes, trying to think.
"There you go," Hunter tries a grin. "Nothing to worry about then. She's human so she's fine. It just, you know… ate her?"
There's a heavy silence in the room.
Fitz squares himself to face the rock. "I need to get in there."
"No," Mac says firmly. "Not until we know more."
"I'm not asking permission," Fitz stares at him hard, clenching his fist.
Skye takes a deep breath. "Let me check with Coulson first. He might know something." She takes a step into the room. "Just don't - don't do anything drastic yet. Mac is right. We have more questions about this thing than answers, and we don't know what it will do to you." Fitz shrugs, not taking his eyes off Mac. "...or what it will do to every other person on this base," Skye finishes slowly, making eye contact with Fitz. "Okay?"
He returns her look hard, but then softens and turns away quickly, taking a small step away from the rock. Fitz covers his face with his hands, realizing the truth to what they are saying. He looks hopelessly around the room.
"I- I won't open the case," he finally sighs. "Not until we hear what Coulson has to say." The tension in the room starts to relax. "But," he points at the equipment Simmons left behind, "I'm getting my own answers." Mac starts to say something, but Fitz talks over him. "Help or get out of the way," he spits out. "I'm not leaving."
Mac nods, frowning. Skye gives him a grim smile, "I'll be back with Coulson."
"We're here to help, mate," Hunter says. "Just tell us what to do."
Fitz nods. He slowly picks up the clip board of Simmons' notes. "We figure this out." He fixes his eyes on the stone. "We get her back."
Her eyes open carefully, but there's only darkness. Darkness and a heavy pressure surrounding her from all sides. Her stomach is in her throat like she's in free-fall, but she gets the feeling she's not moving. Just floating. She has no idea how long she's been like this. Hours, days, weeks?
A burst of light crackles through the space in front of her. It morphs between colours and shapes with blinding speed. Her very skin suddenly burns like it's on fire, like she's being turned inside out. Among other things she's hit by an incapacitating wave of nausea, unable to breathe, not sure which way is up or down. She can't tell how long this lasts, but it eventually begins to fade. She feels something like a hard surface beneath her and sinks down to her knees as the light recedes to darkness. She holds her head in her hands, not sure if she's shouting or sobbing. Probably both. Eventually she grows quiet. She tries to take a deep breath to calm herself and get her bearings, but the breath comes out shaky and shallow.
She hears something from far away and lifts her head towards the sound, scared. It's like someone is talking. More than one person maybe. She hears a name. Could it be hers? It's very muffled, but she feels like the voices are familiar. She tries to move closer but a soft light bleeds into the air in front of her, like a screen.
A young gangly girl with dark curls march across a stage, head held high. There's a cap on her head. She waves shyly to someone in the distance as a camera flashes.
Now the girl is rushing forward, cheeks flushed. "Mum, Dad! I got in! I'm going to America!"
"I wish they'd give us more information about this. I'm sure I'd feel better if I even knew the name of the academy you were going to."
"Mum, it's extremely exclusive! It's apparently some secret branch of the government. The world's top scientists instruct there, and think of what I can do with access to their resources alone!"
"You know we're proud of you no matter what, Jem. Just be sure to call often."
Now the girl is in goggles, alone, pouring something into a beaker, looking anxiously around her. There's a tap on her shoulder and she glares at the young man who nervously points without making eye contact.
"You know if you cut the hydroxide by half it will actually be more potent."
Her eyes widen as she stops pouring, waits, and checks her notes. "That's brilliant," she smiles, turning to her partner. "How did you know to do that?"
He grins quickly before looking away and shrugs. "I like experimenting sometimes."
The young man looks back up. He's a little older now, and looks like he's in shock. "You did what?"
"We're going into the field, Fitz! I submitted our names and we got snatched up almost instantly!" She jumps, holding his hand in excitement.
"Both of us? But - you didn't even check with me first!"
"Of course both of us, don't be ridiculous! This is what we're always talking about, it's our chance to do something both practical and important."
"You know there are actual aliens out there now, Jemma. Aliens. The kind from outer-space."
"Exactly! Think of how much is out there that we haven't yet encountered. It's the most perfect opportunity for us to see the world, Fitz. We'd be fools to pass this one up!"
"Maybe I don't want to see the world. Maybe I like it here in the lab," he crosses his arms grumpily.
"Oh, Fitz," she says, looking back at him with a twinkle in her eye. "Don't be so frightened all the time. Live a little!"
He's suddenly behind glass, screaming her name desperately. She looks back with unspoken meaning, taking a deep breath, knowing that she has to do this for him, for the team. She meets his eyes and falls backwards out of the plane into a rush of wind.
Medical equipment flies around her and she tries her best to shield herself from it. He's falling with her. They hit the water with a crash. They've sunk to the bottom now and she peers out the small window, up at the blue glow surrounding them. She knows he's watching her, and she turns to face him, excited that their combined intellect has got them out of yet another tight fix. Only he's saying maybe it hasn't this time. Not both of them. His voice catches as he pleads with her to let him show her how much she means to him. In her terror she tries to memorize his face in the small amount of time they have left. His eyes close, and her heart stops. They won't open.
He's lying in a hospital bed now and she can't look away until he looks back. When he finally does, he doesn't recognize her at first. He looks around desperately, trying to form questions but can't find the words. She covers her mouth, helpless. She turns and runs, only to run straight into him. Now he recognizes her, but there's hurt there. There's anger.
"You left! I needed help," he says. "Someone to talk through at least. And you left, what, because I'm useless?"
She shakes her head, "that's not why I left-"
"-No, let me finish," he holds up a hand to cut her off. "I've decided to leave the lab. I can't work with you anymore."
"But why?"
"You know why." He won't meet her eyes.
The heat of betrayal bubbles up stronger than she's ever felt it before, and she glares at him. "But you lied to me!"
"Yeah, well now we're even," he spits back. "And can you blame me?" He turns away.
"N-no," she stammers, facing his back. Suddenly none of it matters anymore. "I just- It means a lot to me that we're friends again. And I-"
She reaches out to grab his hand before he can walk away. He looks down at her touch and places his own hand on hers. He looks up and searches her eyes in a way that makes her heart skip so many beats.
"Dinner?"
She smiles softly and opens her mouth to answer, but she can't find the words. He drops her hand.
She tries again. No sound comes out. She becomes suddenly panicked as she watches his heart break with her silence. He turns away, lost to her, and she can't call out to make him turn back. She tries to grab his hand again, but he's already out the door. She's falling backwards again and can't hold on to anything. Darkness swallows her.
"No!" she's finally able to sob.
Before she can even begin to recover, the film plays once more against the darkness. The young girl accepts her doctorate. Smiles at her cranky lab partner. Falls from the plane. Tries to reach out. Again. The scenes she now recognizes as memories surround her, moving in and out of focus. They linger on certain moments, bleeding into each other, twisting around until she's not simply watching them. She re-lives every breath of excitement, every gulp of fear, every glance, every touch, every heartbeat…