Jemma was still quivering, her face buried into Leo's shoulder, as the world lit up around them. He held her tightly and she could feel him shaking against her as he whispered, barely making a sound.
"We can't stay hiding forever," he said.
"I know," she replied very quietly, pulling her face away and seeing her own terror reflected in his.
Neither of them moved.
"What are we going to do?" "Why the hell are they trying to kill us?" They wondered panicked.
"I don't know," they answered together, each at a loss.
She hid her face against him again, taking comfort in his warmth and the feel of his breathing even if it came in short, frightened gasps.
What was happening? Why would whoever it was attack them? Had they set the traps?
That net hadn't been a regular hunters trap, Jemma didn't have any experience trapping wild animals but she was sure that the electrified wire was not standard gear. And that pit...
They were far from any type of town or city, she had reasoned that the trap was set by a hunter not expecting anyone to be wandering around but that attack had been deliberate. Leo had called out in his very human voice and the aggressor had continued to shoot at them.
"Do you think they're still searching for us?" He asked in a low whisper.
"I don't know," she answered again, a horrible hopelessness creeping into her.
They were so helpless. They had nothing, no place to hide, no place to run to and no way of defending themselves. Her mouth was dry, her stomach empty and she knew that even if whoever was chasing them didn't catch them they could starve to death running or catch hypothermia in the night because they couldn't build a fire. She couldn't see a way out, she couldn't think of a way for them to come out of this.
"We could- we... We could... Jemma what are we going to do?" He squeaked and the fear in his voice lit something inside of her, a burning need to protect him, a fierce determination to chase away anything that would hurt him.
He didn't want to die out there and neither did she. She wanted to go home and share that stupid cheese ball she was craving with him and beat her friends at Scrabble (or lose, whatever, so long as they were both home again). She wanted them both safe once more.
They were at a major disadvantage but they were FitzSimmons and they were not helpless. Maybe they would die out there but it wasn't going to be without a fight.
"I don't know," she admitted. "But we're going to figure something out," she resolved, sitting up and meeting his gaze.
Her confidence seemed to strengthen him and he gave a short nod. "Yeah, yeah we are."
She gave him a small smile and he returned it, filling her with courage, before kissing her forehead.
"We should go find the crash site," he suggested quietly. "There may be something left of the plane we could use to call for help or it may have some sort of beacon."
"And the further we get from here the better," she added.
"Agreed," he replied grimly.
"We should get going then," she declared.
"Yeah," he conceded, taking a breath but instead he pulled her into his arms once more and held her close to him.
She returned the embrace, soaking him in and hoping this wouldn't be the last time she felt his arms around her.
"We're going to be OK," he insisted.
"Yes we are," she asserted, even though she wasn't sure they were.
Side by side they popped their heads over the log and peered around. The woods seemed empty but that didn't necessarily mean anything if their attacker was stealthy and in hiding.
"I'll go first and-" he began, rising.
"You will not," she hissed, grabbing his shirt and pulling him back down.
"What if they're waiting for us?" He demanded.
"Then we'll come up with something better than that," she countered firmly, refusing to let him shelter her. "We both go. They can only shoot one of us at a time anyway."
"Unless there's more than one of them," he pointed out.
"Right," she mumbled, feeling a jolt of fear.
They didn't have much of a choice however so, very slowly, they crept out of their hiding place and into the open.
Something moved and they both let out a yelp, as she tackled Leo to the ground and threw herself on top of him.
"Leave us alone!" She screamed, closing her eyes and waiting for a metal shaft to stick into her back. "Or we'll call for back up! We can do that! We have a phone, umm... a satellite phone."
Nothing was happening.
"Jemma it was a bird," Leo told her soothingly. "There's no one here."
Not yet but their shouting may have alerted whoever it was to where they were.
"I'm sorry," She gasped, far quieter as she let him up. "Oh no! Did I give us away?"
"We both may have attracted some attention," he confessed. "At least now we know you can duck quickly." He joked, attempting to lighten their anxiety and she gave him a nervous smile.
"We should get out of here," she fretted.
"Yeah," he agreed.
They found a long stick and used it to prod the ground in front of them as they put some distance between themselves and their compromised position, keeping close beside each other and flinching at every crick and creak.
Once they reached what they believed was a far enough away the pair stopped for a rest. They were both sweaty and thirsty again but they couldn't risk going back to the stream. Whoever was after them could be waiting there or could have set more traps.
"We need to figure out where we're going," Leo decided and she nodded to show her agreement.
"If we could find a tall enough tree we could get a look around," he thought out loud. "I think I could recognize the place where the plane crashed, give us a direction to go in."
"I'll come up with you," she offered even though the idea made her queasy.
Despite living on an airplane, she really didn't like high places. High open places specifically, like trees. "It'll be better if we put our heads together, we always work best as a team anyway."
"OK," he answered, touching her shoulder comfortingly and she knew he remembered that she didn't like climbing.
They searched for a suitable tree, tall and easily climbable and found a large pine with thick, numerous branches. She let Leo go up first before lifting herself after him.
"Be carefully," she warned as he climbed to a worrying height above her.
"I'm fine," he assured her. "We're not high enough yet, I can't see anything."
He was right, she wasn't too far below him and she could barely see above the trees so she gulped and tried not to think about falling as she reached for the next branch.
When they finally stopped and peered around she was both dazzled and distressed by the view.
It was gorgeous with a short mountain range not so far away and a sparkling, winding river between them and it. However they were also dangerously high up and there was wilderness as far as either of them could see.
"Over there," she said, pointing to a familiar mountain side.
"I see it," he answered. "That's where we need to go."
So they began a slow, difficult trek, towards the mountainside. It hadn't seemed too far from where they'd spotted it but between the thick woods and the fact that they had to keep climbing trees to reorient themselves and their need to feel the ground in front of them before going forward it took them until the afternoon just to reach the river.
By that time they were sore and hungry and really, really thirsty. She'd been listing off the chemicals formula of a root beer float in her head for the past hour as if she could magically make one appear that way. If only.
Her feet were throbbing and she noticed Leo winced whenever he gripped the stick the wrong way.
"Let me see that," she requested, holding out her hand for his.
"I'm fine," he protested. "It was just a little shock." However he complied and put his hand in hers.
It actually wasn't so bad but the skin was still shiny and red where he had been burned and it must have been hurting him.
"We should soak that in the river," she advised, frowning sympathetically at his injury.
"There's no time for that," he dismissed, grumpy because they were both hungry and tired. "Stop worrying about me."
"Just a quick soak," she insisted. "We need to get water anyway, I'll dig the hole again and you cool that off, it may bring down the swelling."
"Fine," he gave in, heading carefully towards the river side and dipping in his hand while she dug into the sandy shore.
He closed his eyes as the water washed over his injury. "That does feel better," he admitted, opening them and grinning at her.
"Oh does it?" She teased. "What happened to 'I ain't got time to bleed,'" she quoted Predator in a tough guy voice and he flicked some water at her playfully with his good hand.
She scrunched her nose at him and he narrowed his eyes affectionately before they turned back to what they were doing and she felt small flickers of happiness dancing in her chest, forgetting for a brief moment her fear and her weariness.
However the moment quickly passed and the fear returned in a cold jolt down her spine as she saw the water behind him swell up, releasing a large, clear plastic ball with a splash.
The ball rolled toward him across the surface and she shouted his name before lunging forward to pull him away from it.
"What- ahhhhh!" He screamed, scrambling to his feet.
They dashed away into the woods, hoping the ball would catch on something but it didn't.
It was fast, rolling towards them, running over small trees and shrubs like a giant evil hamster ball.
Her foot caught in the root of a tree and she fell to the ground, turning over and trying to get back on her feet.
"Jemma no!" Leo screeched, panic and desperation clear in his voice, and she knew he coming back for her but it was too late.
It was so close that there was nothing either of them could do so she shut her eyes and held her arms in front of her, bracing for whatever horrible thing was going to happen.
But nothing happened, not to her.
It rolled passed her and collided with Leo, enveloping him inside of it before she heard it seal with a hiss.
"No!" She cried, pounding on it with her fists before searching around madly for a rock to smash it with.
It had stopped rolling and he stood shakily.
"I'm OK," he assured her, testing the walls with his hands. "I've just been... er, hamstered."
"Don't worry, I'll get you out." she promised, glad he was calm and on his feet. She still needed to free him before he ran out of air though.
As she looked around for a rock there was another hiss and the ball began filling with wispy grey smoke.
"Ummm... Jemma?" He gulped, eyes widening as he pulled his shirt over his mouth.
She found a rock around the size of a lemon under the carpet of leaves and hurried over to him.
"I know," she replied hitting the side of the sphere as hard as she could until it began to crack. "Try not to breathe, I'm coming." She demanded but he was already sliding to the ground coughing, his head dropping.
"I feel strange," he mumbled and he coughed again.
"Hold on," she pleaded, bringing the rock down with as much force as she could muster and finally shattering the hard plastic.
He was barely moving as she dragged him out of it and he stared past her when she lifted him into a sitting position.
"No, no wake up," she ordered, shaking him and hitting his cheeks.
He was breathing normally, however when his eyes took in her face they were blank and he remained expressionless.
"Sweetheart please we have to go," she begged. "Get up."
She tried to help him stand but his legs crumpled underneath him and they both fell back down.
He didn't seem to care what was happening and she wasn't sure if he was paralyzed or zoned out or both.
"Wake up," she sobbed, not knowing what to do.
They had almost nothing, next to no way to figure out what was wrong with him or get him better and she didn't know if whatever was affecting him would wear off or if it was permanent.
She pulled him as far away as she could and tried to hide them in the thick bush as she looked him over.
He was awake, but he wasn't responding even when she pinched his arm he simply continued to stare off into space. His pupils were dilated however he was blinking every now and then and holding himself up with a bit of assistance from her.
"Leo?" She whispered but if he heard her or recognized her it didn't show. "It's going to be alright," she vowed. "I'll fix this, you'll be OK."
Someone was coming, footsteps crunched the leaves.
Her heart rate sped up and she tried not to breathe too loudly as she took him in into her arms and attempted to make them both as small as possible, as hidden as they could be.
It wasn't a human. She recognized it from pictures and videos. Anyone would, any Shield agent would have to.
It was a Chitauri.
/-/-/
Thanks so much for all the likes, follows, reviews and reads. :) You are all too awesome to bleed.
The Fringe reference is the listing off the chemical formula of a root beer float. Walter can and does do this (sometimes when people are trying to sleep.) He and Simmons would totally be friends and play with giant flu viruses while Peter and Fitz bond over their mutual disgust of the creatures haha.
The main inspiration for this story is Predator and Predators. Admittedly I haven't seen the whole thing of the first one (just parts of it like, "I don't have time to bleed"). The predator in the movie is not a Chitauri and doesn't set traps but I thought traps would be more fun to write especially in a FitzSimmons fic. And reading the description of the Chitauri they actually seemed similar.
Of course I have taken inspiration from other places like The Hunger Games