A/N: Yay, thank you so much for kudos and reblogs and likes on tumblr! I never expected that someone will actually want to read this story haha 3
Also, big thank you to my lovely beta, agentcalliope, because honestly, this chapter is 293804094 % better thanks to her! And also to leosbiochemist and crystabelshalott whose opinions made my day!
"I k...know that it's... oh god, it's such a tragedy! I can't believe s...someth...something like this happ-"
"Please, calm down Miss Hutchins." Coulson says gently, trying to comfort the trembling woman wringing her hands. She seems very scared and Jemma understands - there's a thief on this ship that hasn't been caught yet, and she would be scared too if she hasn't seen so many crimes like this one.
In fact, she's seen far worse things - theft is awful, sure, but it could've been murder, and homicide is definitely something more serious.
"I'm tryi... trying!" Hannah Hutchins says but from the way she doesn't meet their eyes, Jemma suspects that she's not telling them everything, and it might not be a while until they hear the entire story.
"Okay, that's earful," Jemma says, smiling warmly at Hannah, "You're free to go, Miss Hutchins. Just remember, when you feel better, please come to my father or me and tell us exactly what you were doing yesterday." when woman's eyes widen, Jemma adds quickly: "Don't worry, we just want to make sure you didn't hear or see something that could be helpful. Even the smallest detail could be very important in catching our thief!"
Miss Hutchins nods, thanks them profusely for their help, and leaves Coulson's cabin.
Jemma sighs.
"It's going to be a hard one" she concludes, something weird in her voice like she can't decide whether it's good or bad - she does love a challenge, after all.
"You always say this, Jemma." her father chuckles and she rolls her eyes but her heart surges at his words. "I think you deserve a break. You know you're not actually a detective, right?"
"I just want to help!" she exclaims and looks at Coulson with determination, as if she wants to say that she'll be fine. When her father gives her The Look, she knows she should listen- it's not like he's wrong, she does need a break. She didn't exactly get much sleep and her eyes are closing even though she's doing her best to keep herself awake.
"Fine. But promise me you'll call for me when something happens, please?" she smiles sweetly like a little girl who wants a new doll and her father chuckles again, a grin spreading across his face.
"Okay, I promise."
Jemma nods - she trusts him to do as he promised and she heads out the door of the cabin. She actually feels a little better when she's out of that room - she can stop thinking about what happened, even if it is for a short moment.
"Jemma?" she hears someone say and she can't help but smile when she recognizes the man with the sandy hair.
For some reason she can't explain, her heartbeat picks up speed but she chooses to ignore it. She's probably still thinking about the case.
"Hi, Fitz. How are you feeling today?" she asks rather brightly and then she remembers - it was his dad whose necklace was stolen. She internally curses her sudden state of mind- she really does need a break.
"Not well, I suppose?" she adds with sympathy. "It must be horrible!"
"It is," he agrees and doesn't smile but Jemma can see he's grateful for her empathy. "But, yeah, I heard this Coulson detective is goo- wait" he stops and looks at her, narrowing his eyes and Jemma can practically see the gears turning in his mind, and she can barely surpress a giggle as he puts it together. "Didn't you say yesterday that your father's name was Phil Coulson?"
"It seems like I did, yes." she relays with a wide smile, but becomes more serious once she remembers it isn't exactly a happy moment for Fitz "Look, my father is the best of the best. He's never failed, not even once, really. He's going to solve this one, too, I promise!" she says energetically and stomps her foot.
Again, she inwardly cringes- that must look so childish, stomping her foot like that.
"Well, you sound sure of it." Fitz says, unconvinced.
"Because I am! And if, for some reason, he doesn't find the thief, we will" she jokes, although she's actually sure she could find something, at least a little clue, by herself. Because hey, why couldn't she - she's Jemma Simmons, private detective's daughter, right?
Fitz laughs a little though and she's not mad - that was kind of the purpose of her sentence until that ridiculous idea popped into her mind.
"Of course," his smile looks like he's picturing this, "We can definitely solve this case and then found our own detective agency when we're in Boston!"
"Oh, now you're on the trolley!" she smiles widely "Simmons & Fitz's Detective Agency sounds good!"
"No way! It'd be called Fitz & Simmons'!" he argues and Jemma feels like at least this time they're both childish, as if they're both five year old kids who live in the same neighborhood, bickering all the time but loving it. She definitely has no problem with this feeling.
They both laugh and it's ridiculous, really, because for a moment, Jemma believes she would be fine with life like this, in Boston, owning a detective agency.
"Hey, do you, um, want to take a walk, maybe?" he asks after they both finally calm down and she nods, maybe a little too vigorously.
"Sure! It'd be good if I finally got to see more places on this ship other than my cabin and the restaurant!" she laughs. They both leave the cabin corridor, walking along until they enter a big hall full of people. Couple of them are playing bridge, but most of passengers are talking with each other.
Jemma's sure it must be about what happened last night.
She looks at Fitz who suddenly looks more distraught and wants more more to see him smile again.
"Hey, come on, let's go somewhere else!"
Fitz gulps and looks at one of groups of people, one that she hears talk really loudly about how "it's probably Mr. Johnson's daughter or son!" but then he nods and they both start walking towards the door, when suddenly he halts in his tracks.
"What is it?" Jemma asks, turning her head to look in the same direction he is. In the corner, there's a brunette talking to a strange looking man she didn't see yesterday at dinner. She can't quite put her finger on it, but there's something about him that makes her want to look away but apparently the woman doesn't share her instinct, and suddenly begins giggling.
That's when it hits her - the woman is Daisy Johnson, Fitz's step sister.
"Who is that guy?" he crosses his arms across his chest, narrowing his eyes. He's suddenly very protective of Daisy and Jemma envies her a little - it would be nice to have a big brother when you're in trouble.
Or maybe, Jemma thinks for an instant, it would be nice to have Fitz by your side when you're in trouble, but she shakes the thought away.
Besides, Daisy really doesn't actually look like she's in trouble. She smiles and she laughs and she looks rather fond of the man she's talking to.
"I don't know." Jemma speaks hesitantly, wanting to give Fitz an answer even if its not the one he wanted. "But we can find out!"
She grabs his wrist (while ignoring how natural it seems to be) and drags him to where his sister and the stranger stand.
"Hello, Daisy!" Jemma grins and Fitz's sister smiles back when she catches sight of her.
"Jemma, hi!" she says with enthusiasm that actually makes Jemma wonder if anyone told Daisy about the necklace. "And my dear brother!" she adds with weird smile Jemma has trouble placing.
Oh. Daisy's looking at Fitz's wrist and Simmons' fingers.
Quickly, she lets go of it.
"Hey, Daisy" Fitz says but he's looking at the man Daisy was talking to. "Who is your friend?"
"Oh!" Daisy looks like she's forgotten about the man she had been speaking to for a moment.
"This is Grant Ward. Mr. Ward, meet Jemma Simmons and my annoying little brother, Leopold Fitz"
"Daisy, please stop telling people you're older than me, okay?" Fitz frowns, and it probably isn't supposed to be funny but for some reason Jemma just can't stop herself from laughing quietly.
She stops and clears her throat when he looks at her and gives her an eye.
"Well, anyway, nice to meet you, Mr. Ward. Are you coming home from vacation?" Jemma asks before Fitz can say something else, and she might've only known him for a short while but she can tell it wouldn't be something nice at all.
Mr. Ward narrows his eyes for a moment like he's making a hard decision but then his gaze softens a little.
"My uncle and I were meeting his business partners and now we're coming back. We-" he explains.
"His uncle is a lawyer. " Daisy empathizes the word lawyer and gives Fitz a wide-eyed glance. Jemma notices that Mr. Ward doesn't seem very happy when she interrupts him. "Isn't it swell?"
Jemma doesn't see anything swell about it and she suspects that Daisy doesn't either. Or maybe she just thinks she does because Simmons has to admit that Grant Ward is a good-looking man. Definitely more handsome than Milton.
But then there's Leopold Fitz, this man with sandy curly hair that she just met yesterday who is more of her type than Mr. Ward.
"Jemma?" She refocuses her attention when she hears his voice and smiles nervously. What is she doing? She has to keep her head straight!
"Are you okay?"
"Um, yes, of course!" Jemma says a little bit too quickly "What's your uncle's name, Mr. Ward? Maybe I've heard of him?" she asks, not really wanting to know this but she wants to prove that she was listening.
"John Garrett." Grant Ward answers and Jemma could swear she's heard that name before. "Oh, I think I might know who he is." she says, allowing an awkward silence to follow until she speaks up again. "Fitz? Weren't we supposed to go for a walk?"
"Oh, right, we should probably go, then!" he quickly responds, and they both leave after saying goodbye. Daisy and Mr. Ward seem happy about it, and immediately go back to chatting with one another.
Now that she pays attention to people around them, she can notice that some of them have gone. They had to be really wrapped up in the conversation with Fitz's sister and Mr. Ward. She's ready to leave the room but then something interrupts them, again.
"Hello, Jemma!" this time the interruption has bright hair, a violet dress and a friendly smile directed at both Jemma and Fitz.
"Hi, Bobbi. And Hunter." Simmons says and smiles back at them warmly. She's really glad she knows so many people already, since that definitely makes travelling more interesting - not that it's being boring, with a theft occurring on only the second day. She introduces them to Fitz when she realizes that they hadn't met yet.
"This is Leopold Fitz, but apparently he'll do something evil to you if you don't call him Fitz." she jokes and laughs when she sees him rolling his eyes.
"Nice to meet you, Fitz! Oh, so how's the investigation going, Detective?" Hunter asks, looking at Jemma and judging by his smile, he finds the whole thing more interesting than terrible.
"Hunter." Bobbi's voice drips with disapproval."This is a serious thing. We shouldn't joke about it!"
"Sorry." he mutters and Jemma thinks it's funny how he apparently always listens to Bobbi. She remembers his odd choice of words when he had described her, and vows to find out why Hunter said she was his old love. That means they had to break up at some point, right?
When she looks at him, Fitz's face is as white as a sheet.
"Hey, let's change the subject?" she asks and before she knows what she's doing, she squeezes his hand and he doesn't seem to mind - or maybe he's just still upset. "We can-"
"Miss Simmons?" when she turns around, she sees a man in a uniform. "Mr. Coulson ordered me to inform you that he's found something, and he wants to see you in his cabin as fast as you can."
"Oh, okay" she says and tries to stop the pounding of her heart "Thank you."
"Do you... do you think it has something to do with the case?" Fitz asks and Jemma nods.
"I'm sure of it! Bobbi, Hunter, it was great to talk to you, but we have to bounce! I promise I'll find you two later. Come on, Fitz, let's go!" she's almost running now, still holding his hand. She didn't ask him if he'd like to come with her but he doesn't protest. For now, the only thing Simmons can think about is the case. She's probably a really, really bad person but she's somewhat excited and something tells her it's going to be an interesting one.
This is new for Fitz. Normally, he definitely wouldn't like it if someone just grabbed his hand and took him somewhere without asking, but for some reason, Jemma is different. On the first day, before dinner, he had no idea that he was subconsciously looking for someone this whole time, but he knows the answer now - that girl with brown hair and hazel eyes that bumped into him on the first day. The previous day, he reminds himself.
And that's why he's still holding her hand and briskly walking through the corridor. She stops at the same spot in front of a door he met her today, and Fitz assumes it must be her father's cabin. She doesn't make a move to step inside though.
"Shh." Jemma whispers before he can ask her why they're not going in. He raises his eyebrows but then he hears it - Mr. Coulson's inside, and he's having a rather loud conversation with someone.
"We can't know for sure, Coulson!" the woman exclaims and Fitz believes he's heard this voice somewhere. Well, it wouldn't be such a weird thing since she's definitely one of passengers.
"May, I am sure, okay? We'll find out who stole the necklace and there will be no problem! This doesn-"
He doesn't finish because his daughter finally opens the door and steps inside, dragging Fitz with her.
She lets go of his hand, and he feels the separation immediately.
"May, hello!" she says and now that Fitz can see who Mr. Coulson was talking to, he recognizes the woman Jemma went to talk to after they finished dinner the day before.
"Hi, Jemma. Actually, I was just leaving." she gives Jemma's father quite a scary glance and then leaves the cabin without looking back.
"Dad? You wanted me to come here? Did you find out something?"
"Um, yes, Jemma, come in!" her father says, and he doesn't sound upset anymore. Fitz really wants to know why he was arguing with the woman - May, apparently - about the necklace. But it's none of his beeswax, and there's a more important question at hand.
Mr. Coulson is quiet and Fitz realizes he's looking at him.
"Fitz. Leo Fitz." he introduces himself and extends a hand for a handshake. "I didn't mean to interrupt but Jemma insisted I'd come with her. I can leave, though if you-"
"Fitz, huh? I'm Phil Coulson, it's pleasure to meet you. Was it your father's necklace?" Mr. Coulson accepts Fitz's hand and shakes it.
Fitz nods. "Yes. He wanted to give it to my mom. I really hope you can find it, Mr. Coulson." he says with bitterness in his voice, not directed towards the detective at all, but at the thought of the missing jewelry. His mom definitely deserved that necklace, and now she won't get it. "But your daughter told me you were the best of the best and I believe her." he steals a glance at Jemma and his throat feels dry.
"Oh, really, Jemma?" Mr. Coulson asks with a wide smile, she laughs a little.
"Of course! It's true, isn't it? We're going to find the necklace and save Fitz's family's honor... or whatever. Well, anyway, what was it you wanted to tell me?"
Instead of answering, Mr. Coulson shows both of them a newspaper, from five days ago. There are couple of articles on the front page but only one of them has a really big headline. Another necklace stolen, the inscription reads.
"Oh! I remember hearing about it" Jemma says, with her eyes narrowed like she's trying to figure something out. "Wait. You think the thief is here, on this ship?"
"There might be a possibility, yes." Mr. Coulson nods "We can't be absolutely sure, but it actually all matches."
So this is what he and May were talking about, Fitz realizes. This May woman must be very passionate about this case, for some reason and Fitz wonders why.
"So is this what we're dealing with? A professional thief that no one is able to catch?" Fitz mentions, upset. Until now, he was still hoping it was someone who's never stolen anything, saw the necklace and impulsively took it. If it's this thief that everyone is talking about...
"Well, yes, there is a chance. But Fitz, I already told you my father will solve it!" Jemma assures him and for some reason, this time he believes her. He nods and takes a deep breath.
"Okay," he says slowly, "But level with me, please. If at some point you'll think you won't be able to-"
"We'll find the thief, Fitz!" she interrupts him and Fitz notices that she's suddenly way closer to him than just a moment ago. He moves away from her a little bit, and wills his heart to slow down.
"Alright, I believe you. And well, we can always carry on with our idea from this morning!" he manages to joke and Jemma laughs quietly.
"Yes, of course! We'd make even better detectives than my father." she grins.
"Excuse me?" Mr. Coulson asks but he's definitely not mad, given that he's laughing just like the two of them.
Fitz likes it, a lot - he suddenly feels calmer and really, he's probably never laughed this much in one day. For once he believes that everything could be fine or at least better than it is now - because it's definitely not perfect, with a thief on the ship, his sister talking to a suspicious man and on top of that, Fitz feels a little seasick.
That's what that feeling is, right?
And then, obviously, something happens and destroys the moment of peace. The door opens suddenly and a young woman runs into the room and immediately Fitz knows that something's wrong.
"Mr. Cou... Mr. C..." She can barely speak, and tears are flowing down her cheeks.
"Miss Hutchins?" the detective worriedly questions. "What is it? Did something happen?"
The woman - Miss Hutchins – is no doubt terrified . Her face is pale white, her hair is a mess and her eyes are red. Something horrible must have happened.
"Yes!" she's almost shouting "He's... oh god, oh god!"
"Hey, Miss Hutchins, calm down." Jemma's next to her in a moment and she's trying to comfort the woman.
"He's dead, Miss Simmons! He's dead!"
Fitz's eyes widen and he's sure his face has gone as pale as Miss Hutchins. He's holding his breath, and he notices that everyone else in the cabin has too.
"Who's dead?" Mr. Coulson asks, and Fitz wonders how he can control his voice and keep it this calm.
"R...room 56" Miss Hutchins cries in Jemma's arms and the detective nods.
"Listen to me, okay? You have to stay here. Jemma, stay with her, please!"
"But-"
"I said, stay with her!" this time he demands it, and Jemma sighs but doesn't protest. She's tensed but who wouldn't be in a situation like this? Fitz wants to sit next to her and hug her but he can't move. Mr. Coulson walks out of the cabin and Fitz makes his decision - he stands up and follows him, ignoring what sounds like Jemma calling out to him.
If Jemma's father's acknowledged Fitz's presence, he doesn't show it. They both keep walking silently until they reach the door numbered 56.
It's open by a crack, and Mr. Coulson pushes it as they head in. Fitz hesitates, but just for an instant and he immediately starts to look around the room.
His heart stops.
There's a man lying in the bed, and he could almost be mistaken for sleeping, if not for the huge gaping wound in his chest.
He's dead.
And someone murdered him.
