Jemma walked in front of Leo, tears held in pools in her eyes. She didn't allow them to fall, dabbing slightly with her sleeve as they made their way to the lab, but keeping them under control. She led him inside and settled against a counter, keeping her breathing level.
"Fitz, how far back do you remember?" He was looking at her, studying her face. The biochemist knew she probably looked horrible. Time and stress had carved bags under her eyes and given an almost sickly pallor to her skin. "Leo?" It was his first name that prompted it, the signal that things weren't okay and she needed him right then because things were not okay.
"We got back- the plane was gone. It was, just, um, gone, and the base was empty. And… Something about pancakes… And…" His brow furrowed in frustration and he used tight fists to rub at his eyes. "God, it just gets fuzzy," he muttered. Simmons swallowed, hard, remembering the fiasco had broken out moments later.
"This- this is going to be quite a bit to take in, I'm afraid," she said in a small voice, almost fearing what was to come.
"See, I- well, I went to go get some mix, for the pancakes, a-and you went to the bathroom, to wash up. Well, there was a screwdriver stuck in the window rolls, and you pulled it out." She took another deep breath, and his brow knotted further with concern. "S-Skye had left a message, carved into the screen." This was it. She knew it was, and every nerve was a live wire, waiting for something to happen.
"It said, 'Ward is HYDRA'." Leo tensed immediately, eyes going just ever so slightly wide. There was a tense moment, devoid of sound or movement as she let it sink in, let the truth penetrate his heart like a dagger. Finally, he spoke a single, ragged, breathy word.
"No." Jemma's hand moved to cover her mouth as more tears rushed to her eyes. "No, he can't be," he echoed, voice still tight and painful.
"He was, Fitz," she choked out. "I- when I went into the storage room, I- I found A-a-agent Koenig. He was asphyxiated by W-ward."
There was a pause.
"No. No, Ward wouldn't do that. He- he had to have been controlled. Someone was forcing him. He would never- no. No, he's not HYDRA." Jemma felt tears unwillingly slipping down her cheeks. "He can't be HYDRA!"
"After that, Coulson managed to get Skye," she continued, voice a whisper, hand on his shoulder. "We began to track the plane, try and get one step ahead of Garett. The others went to go and enact a hack with Skye, and we found it, just the two of us." Another deep breath, and his arms moved so that his hands covered hers. "We were going to just try and track it, but Ward, h-h-he found us, a-and brought us in. Y-you used a-an EMP and we ran into- into a storage pod. We locked it, and Ward was trying to get us, and then he- he dropped the pod out of the airplane." Jemma let out a single sob before continuing. "We s-sank, Fitz. W-w-we were at the- the bottom, a-a-and y-y-you sacrificed yourself so I could get out alive, Fitz, and I- I pulled you w-w-with m-me a-and-"
And then everything seemed to happen at once.
"Goddammit!" An arm swept a variety of things off the counter as he screamed, clattering to the floor.
He slammed his hands into the table and Jemma's eyes raked over the surrounding area before she rushed to him and threw her arms around his torso. She couldn't take the same destruction that had happened before. Not here, not after everything. His fists were clenched, jaw clenched shut. He needed to release this horrendous feeling bubbling inside of him, this fury, this betrayal. He needed the shattering of glass and the clanging of bent metal, the sounds of destruction ringing in his ears to drown out the truth, that horrible, painful truth. But her arms around him took off the edge. He could feel each breath she took tremble and knew he couldn't break down. Do it for her.
"How could he, Jemma? He was our friend." He sounded so broken, voice cracking on the final word.
"I don't know, Leo," she whispered into his shoulder. "I don't know." Another pause filled the air around them as labored breathing slowed. Jemma still had her arms around him, holding onto her partner as if he was her lifeline. Her cheek was pressed to his shoulder and tears caught themselves on the fabric. A small damp spot began to appear and grew as the minutes passed.
After another moment, Fitz's arms gently tugged on her own. She released him slowly, cautiously, and took a single step back. After a breath, her partner turned around to reveal a face as tear-streaked as her own. Wordlessly, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. She returned the gesture, reaching up to thread her arms around his neck. Face buried in his sweater, she let herself choke out another sob as they held each other together.
That night, they lay together in Leo's bunk, arms and legs tangled, taking in each other's presence for comfort. As long as the other was there, they would pull through.
Together, Fitzsimmons would always turn out alright.