A/N: Here is chapter two, thanks to everyone who has followed, favourited and reviewed. i hope you enjoy this chapter, I am currently in the process of writing the next chapter so it may be a few days before an update but for now, enjoy!
Fitz's heart was racing as they fell through the air, fighting all instincts so he could keep a hold of her hand. Fitz's coat flapped around his thighs, his clothes hardly aerodynamic, unlike Simmons' tactical gear. It felt like they'd been falling for hours before they landed on something solid, Simmons ushering him over to a seemingly impossible hatch floating in the air. They both dropped down into a plane, an impossible plane that security should have detected. His mind raced through all possibilities as he caught his breath. "Is this based on my cloaking specs? My highly confidential cloaking specs." He turned, having lost sight of Jemma when they'd landed, finally seeing her just as she took a seat with the pilot. He watched as she planted a soft kiss to his cheek, his heart sinking at the small gesture.
Jemma looked over her shoulder at him, rolling her eyes. "You aren't the only one with the capabilities of perfecting cloaking." She spoke with a smile before gesturing to the pilot. "Meet Milton. He graduated the top of his class in engineering from the Academy. Milton, I know you're familiar with Fitz's work. It's sweet really, how enamoured he is with you."
Fitz took one look at the man and instantly felt his nose wrinkling. Milton. The name itself made him want to recoil and when paired with the hog face he possessed, he really couldn't understand the appeal. He'd perfected cloaking technology before he had and he was certain that's why he held an instant grudge against him. It had absolutely nothing to do with the kiss she'd given him when entering the plane. "It's Leopold actually." He mumbled under his breath, strapping into one of the seats.
"Sir, when Jem Bear told me that you would be our next mission, I can't even tell you how excited I was." Fitz fought to contain his smirk as he saw the wince she gave to the nickname. Maybe he didn't have as much to worry about. "And here you are. Really sir it's an honour. You know I was a little worried though. The way she talks about you, I don't need to tell you your reputation, I would suggest keeping it professional."
Jemma looked over to Fitz again, her breath catching as their eyes connected. With her eyes still on his, she playfully hit Milton's arm, the flash of a memory changing her expression from playful to a pain he couldn't quite describe. "If you think I'm that kind of girl, you grossly misjudge me Milton." Fitz shivered, having to be the first to look away. This situation seemed too familiar, the words identical to something he'd heard before, a memory just out of reach to him. "Not that Fitz here would want somebody like me I'm sure. His type is much more blonde with supermodel tendencies. Something I've heard from Hunter that you also admire about him."
Fitz switched off as they started to bicker. Maybe it wasn't Jemma that his jealousy was directed at but more the relationship they had. Jealous of the forehead kisses as opposed to the thought of Milton himself. His thoughts were interrupted when he was plunged into darkness moments later. "A blindfold? Really?" He stood up as a delicate hand pushed his back gently, the hands then moving to frisk his body and pockets. "I've not got anything that you should worry about. Just my phone and my wallet."
"But I know that your secretary will be tracking you when you don't return for the non-existent meeting with Pearce. I know you despise golf." The soft lilt and playfulness to Jemma's words made him mentally kick himself. The way she knew him as if they were old friends, did everything to reassure him that he'd made the right call in trusting her, but now, with no escape plan, he was rethinking that trust. "Don't worry, this is purely for your protection. We're doing what we can to save people, you being one of them."
Fitz could feel the plane landing, following the guide offered to him by the hand on the small of his back once the engine cut out. He noticed there was a lot of corners to turn around, doing his best to keep track of the directions he was moving. A new escape strategy, just in case. They stopped after he heard a door opening, his blindfold lifted from his eyes. Before him stood a man, about his height, a lanyard proudly dangling from his neck and a machine beeping behind him. "Director Simmons, is that who I think it is? Leopold Fitz, I am a huge fan. I'm Sam, my brother Billy doesn't trust you, the HYDRA connection but I know that's not who you really are."
"Sam, stay calm, he needs testing for a lanyard, just like everyone else. He's not that impressive." She pat Fitz's arm, making her way to the door. "Oh and send him to my office when you're done with him, there's a few agents he should meet."
With that, she was gone and Sam asked him to sit in the chair. He sat down, letting Sam hook him up to the machine, unsure what was about to happen. "So what is this? Some form of brainwashing? I know HYDRA has the capabilities so why not SHIELD?" He looked over the machine before shaking his head, trying to get a closer look but being told to stay as still as possible. "It's a quick lie detector. Nothing to worry about. Let's start with some baseline questions. Name?" Fitz sighed, looking across to the man. Was all of this really necessary to make a deal with SHIELD? If that even was the reason he was there.
"Leopold Fitz the Third." He replied, answering every other stupid questions that came his way. From why he was here, the simplest answer being because of Simmons, to a ridiculous riddle about washing up on an island and being given a box, his answer of course being that he probably owned the island so a map back to his resort. All of the questions seemed simple enough, until the last.
"Finally, do you have any association with Doctor Holden Radcliffe?" Fitz felt his heartbeat pick up, his brain beginning to pound against his skull. That name made his skin crawl, but just like his connection to Jemma, he wasn't entirely sure why. "Leopold, do I need to repeat the question?"
Shaking his head, Fitz looked up to Sam, the pain fading slowly. "The name is familiar I'm just not entirely sure why." He could see warnings flying up on the screen before Sam, knowing that meant only one thing, an impossible thing. He wasn't lying. "If I do know him, I've done everything in my power to forget that I do."
Sam looked at the screen before looking back to Fitz, holding a lanyard his way. "I don't know why she trusts you above everyone else but she does. So for now here is your lanyard. I believe she has sent Agent Morse to collect you. I wouldn't keep either of those women waiting." Fitz pulled himself out of his seat, taking the lanyard before walking out of the room. He looked down the hallway, feeling horribly out of place. He usually commanded a room, even if he wasn't familiar with it, but here, he was lost and vulnerable, something he hadn't felt in a long time.
"Fitz, this way." Looking over, he saw a tall blonde woman, his eyebrows raising high. "Agent Bobbi Morse. I believe the director wants to speak to you." Stepping forward, Fitz extended a hand to her, ready to get back to himself, ready to start flirting with the beautiful tall blonde. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Seeing the ring on her finger glinting, he shook his head, falling into step behind her instead. Bloody brilliant. Every woman on this base seemed unattainable.
They walked in a comfortable silence, Bobbi knowing he would have to get his head around all of this. It wasn't exactly a usual day for the billionaire but they couldn't waste too much time, the director had been clear about the directive and who to recruit, even if it went against their prime directive. It was a terrifying prospect but nobody dared to question her motives, not after everything she'd been through. Fitz could sense that respect, from how Sam admitted his distrust of him, to the way Bobbi knocked before entering the office, despite the open door. There was a burst of pride as Fitz walked through the office door, looking around the space, wanting to know more. There photographs scattered sparingly around the room, a few outside o an old English cottage, one of her and Milton together, her face free of the scars she wore now, but one photo stood out. A family holiday photo, inexplicably he could tell it was Perthshire. How he could know that, he had no idea, he just knew.
"Fitz have a seat." Jemma motioned to the seat opposite her and he sat quickly, picking up a metallic, potentially vibranium, cube while she talked to Bobbi. "Could you go get agent Johnson for me. Then I need you back on mission, I'm sending you, Hunter and Milton out. I'll give you any intel we find." Turning the cube in his hands, he tested for any interesting properties. No real markings, nothing that would make it sentimental, so why was this on the desk. "Put it down." Jemma's words pierced the quite that had descended the room and he decided his best bet was probably to follow the order.
"You remind of somebody. I can't quite place who but you're a lot like an old friend of mine. Same feeling I had when Radcliffe was mentioned in the lie detector. I'm assuming there's no coincidence in that?" He saw her push her glasses up, keeping her focus on the papers in front of her, seemingly unfazed by what he had said. "You're trying to make me remember something, I don't know what yet, I'm working on that but-" He was cut off by a knock at the door, looking out of the corner of his eye, only seeing a flash of black and blue.
"Daisy, Mace. Meet Leopold Fitz. Fitz, Daisy Johnson and Jeffrey Mace." Fitz stood up, ready to extend his hand to the two but felt his jaw dropping at the sight in front of him. "I believe you know them better as Quake and Captain America."