It had only been peanut buttered toast, but somehow he'd managed to make her feel as if she'd done something special, sending her that grin that seemed reserved for her and her alone, the one she couldn't believe it had taken her so long to see.
"You're too good to me," he praised, thanking her with a quick peck on the cheek when she took the place beside him. "Thank you Jemma."
Her eyes narrowed warmly at him, thinking that he was exactly that to her. "You're quite welcome."
"We have a lead," Coulson announced, drawing the team's attention towards him. Most of the familiar faces were present, however Daisy, May and Hunter were out on a mission, tracking down their own lead on Lash which Jemma had been following with deepening despair. The body count was growing and she knew that was, at least partially, her fault. "Bobbi and I have been interviewing the families of the victims and they all seem to tell the same story."
"They all went missing in the same park," Bobbi continued, flicking a switch so that the image of the park flashed onto the overhead screen. It was nice, a winding concrete trail, towering trees dappling it with shade and a large, green, grassy field where someone was throwing a frisbee for their dog. It didn't look like a place that could be the source of so much tragedy. "Their stories are are actually really similar. They went for a stroll, the victim lost his wallet and went back to look for it and after that he never came home."
"All men?" Mack asked.
"Yes and all couples," Coulson told him. "Which, along with with what Jemma found last night, gave me an idea."
Jemma perked up at that, seeing the connection but not understanding what it meant. "When I did a chemical analysis of the tendril I found unusually large amounts of dopamine, serotonin, vasopressin and oxytocin," she told them.
"Love hormones," Fitz explained beside her, they'd discussed it already the night before.
"Well, more specifically they're involved in the reward pathways of the brain," Jemma corrected, unsatisfied with the simplicity of the statement. "Vasopressin is released after sex along with oxytocin which is also involved in long term bonding."
She noticed Fitz's cheeks flushed at the word sex and she rolled her eyes at him. He hadn't been that shy about it last night.
"So…. hormones that you could associate with someone in a relationship, with couples?" Coulson asked.
She nodded. "Yes."
"And the region of the brain with the most damage," he pressed. "That had to do with emotions?"
"Emotions and memories," she confirmed, at last following his train of thought and she frowned. "But sir… I don't understand why someone would…. are you trying to imply that…"
"That they were somehow leaching off these people's experiences together?" he said seriously. "Is that possible?"
"The brain is one of our greatest mysteries," she admitted with a shrug. "Neurons allow the transport of messages… it's…. from all the things we've seen inhumans do it wouldn't the first to stretch our knowledge of the laws of nature. The hippocampus is also involved in memories, which was why we originally thought this was about interrogation. But if they wanted to experience love, well you'd need the memories of it, a walk in the moonlight, a ride on a ferris wheel," her eyes couldn't help but be drawn to Fitz as she spoke, "a slow dance at a wedding."
Bobbi frowned. "Why would someone be going through all this trouble to… what? Experience someone else's relationship? It seems a bit far to go for that."
"You ever been lonely?" Mack pointed out. "Love makes people do crazy things, maybe wanting love does too."
Jemma and Fitz exchanged a glance and she knew they both understood. Neither of them would ever condone murder, but they both knew how much it ached to be alone and no one had to remind them how far love could drive someone to go.
"Either way, I think we can be pretty sure what he's after," Coulson's voice cut through their silent communication. "And the best way to catch him is to set out some convincing bait. Since Hunter's away and so is Daisy we only have one couple left on the base."
It took her a few blinks for her to realize he was talking about her and Fitz and the implications of that sent a thrill of terror up her spine. 'He takes the men,' she thought in alarm. 'He takes them and he destroys their brains.'
An objection rose in her throat but Bobbi beat her to it. "You can't send them out in the field again so soon," she said testily. "Not like this."
"I don't really think we have much of a choice, Agent Morse," he shot back, eyes flaring in a warning. This side of him had been rearing up more and more lately and Jemma knew she wasn't the only one it made uneasy.
"Send me and and Mack," Bobbi offered, refusing to budge.
"I don't think you'd be as convincing as the real thing," Coulson countered.
"You don't think we know how to play a role?" she deadpanned.
"I think the real thing is our best shot," he snapped, patience as thin as the tip of a blade. "People are dying, Agent Morse, do you want to tell the next new widow the news?"
"He won't be after Jemma?" Fitz's question sent their heads whipping towards him. "He only takes the men?"
He sounded relieved. It made her want to yell at him, but she was a stone at his side. She hated that his agreement was conditional on the fact that he be the one in danger but Coulson was right and maybe she was being selfish. Someone could die if they didn't do this, someone without a SHIELD tactical team to protect them.
"I'll do it," he told them bravely, turning to her as he spoke. "If Jemma agrees."
She couldn't convince her head to nod, her stomach hurt and her skin had turned to ice. It was a risk. It was a huge risk on his part and as much as she knew it was necessary she was having trouble forcing herself to agree to it.
Her chest rose in a painful breath and she swallowed the lump back down her throat. "He won't actually be taken?" she inquired, looking her leader in the eye.
"No one's going to touch either of you," he promised. "We'll have SHIELD agents monitoring you the entire time."
"You don't have to do this," Bobbi reminded them, ignoring the side-eye from Coulson at that. "But if you do I'll be right there." She gave Fitz a half smile. "I'm not letting anyone take you anywhere."
They did though, have to do it. One look at Fitz told Jemma he knew it as much as she did, and though a part of her wished he'd be more resistant to jumping into danger, she also knew that the man she loved was brave enough to put aside his fear for the good of others. It frustrated her as much as it made her adore him.
Their eyes met and she nodded her acceptance, doing her best to stifle the voice in her head that was screaming that this was mistake.
"We'll do it," Fitz told them.
/-/-/
The park was as lovely as it had been in the pictures, more so with the sunlight washing over them and the smell of grass mingling with birdsong. Any other time, in any other situation, she would have been enjoying this, walking hand in hand with Fitz on a peaceful afternoon. Today though, even the sunshine couldn't warm the icy fear that had settled over her. She'd never been like this before, she'd been afraid for him but not like this. Never had she been so irrationally convinced that she was going to lose him and never had that fear been able to consume her the way it was now. This was months in the making. It was Maveth and Will and Andrew and watching Fitz step through the portal all mashed together, weighing on her like the mass of the ocean had weighed on their little pod so long ago.
"Cheer up Jemma," Fitz whispered teasingly, rocking their hands between them as they strolled side by side down the path. "We're supposed to be a happy couple remember? I'm not going to be very good psycho inhuman bait if you keep frowning like that."
He'd meant it as a joke, to lighten the mood, but it only made her heart jump into her throat. It was the truth behind his words, however, that snapped her out of her head. He was right, they needed to be convincing and as much as she hated it she had a job to do.
So she forced a smile, pushing down her fear, and leaned in to kiss him, trying to lose herself in the way their lips moved together, give her body something other than fear to react to. It worked, fleetingly, but long enough for her to regain some composure and when they pulled apart her smile didn't feel as false as it had been only a moment ago.
"You need to stop referring to yourself as bait," she scolded. "If you want to be at all convincing as an innocent civilian."
His mouth turned up in a smug smirk and he butted her forehead with his, tilting his head so his words whispered into her ear. "An ordinary civilian wouldn't know their wallet had just been picked."
It had started then. Their plan had worked and Fitz now had a target painted on him. That or he was out twenty six dollars and a points card with nothing to show for it. Jemma grit her teeth doing her best to keep her cheerful demeanor when he pulled away.
Bobbi's voice sounded in her hidden earpiece. "The trap's been sprung. Wait ten minutes and then meet us at the corner of St. Catherine street."
It was as if she were slipping down a hill, struggling against the instinct to reach out for something to stop her until she felt gentle fingers tuck a lock of hair behind her ear and she met Fitz's eyes to see them shining with affection.
"Let's enjoy our walk then, shall we?" he offered, giving her hand a squeeze and beginning to move away, slow enough to give her time to follow. "It'd be a shame to waste such a beautiful day." he chuckled. "I think this is the most time in the sun we've had since Sci-Ops."
She rolled her eyes. "We're still technically working Fitz," she reminded him, falling into step beside him.
"Does that mean this doesn't count as a date?" he asked slyly.
"If I'd have know that I might have done my hair," she teased back, crinkling her nose at him and allowing the warmth coming off of him to thaw her. "Worn something special for the occasion."
"It was nice at the wedding," he agreed, eyes running over it. "But you always look beautiful," He shrugged, his expression still glowing with affection. "And you're what makes an occasion special."
He said it as if it were a fact, the way he'd say that light traveled faster than sound, as if it were a given constant of the universe and it made her stomach crinkle, cheeks flushing. How was it so easy for him to make her feel loved? It came so naturally sometimes she wondered if he wasn't even aware he was doing it.
She didn't know what to say and her face had probably turned bright pink, it felt as her skin were buzzing, blood roaring past it as the vessels dilated.
Of course she didn't have to say anything, Fitz gave her a moment in case she'd had a response and then he was talking again, swinging her hand between them. "You think our cottage should be near a park?" he asked, head turning to take in the gnarled branches of an old oak tree.
"I think that would be lovely," she agreed. "We could bring our dogs."
"Copernicus and Alferov," he reminded her. They'd named them last night. The sweet little things probably weren't even born yet and they already had the best names in their litter. "Yeah I'm sure they'd have fun, chasing frisbees, sniffing other dog's poop-"
"We aren't letting them sniff other dog's feces," she insisted. Already he was planning to spoil them! Of course she hadn't expected anything different and though she tried to hide it her annoyance was mixed with amusement. "We have to set firm boundaries for them so they'll be well behaved."
"Well we have to let them have some fun too," he protested.
She huffed out an exasperated breath, foreseeing the future struggle she was going to have. He was a handful, this one, but he was her handful and she knew she wouldn't have anyone else in in the universe.
They continued on the conversation, detailing out this little piece of their future and the ten minutes flew by far quicker than she wanted it too. Before she knew it, it was time to meet the others and in a few hours the second part of their plan would play out.
The first trap had been sprung. Now all they needed to to was bait the second.
/-/-/
SOOOO I think it's really interesting that these hormones do a bunch of different things. Like Vasopressin, aka ADH, functions primarily in water retention and blood vessel constriction- which are both important in maintaining constant blood pressure in the body. However also it is released after sex and plays a role in social behaviour. Weird right? :P The body is a magical place.
Also the dogs are named Copernicus after ohifonlyx33's post about Fitzsimmons dog on tumbrl and Alferov after Zhores Alferov, a physicist Jemma mentions in Eye Spy
Thanks to the ever-awesome notapepper for betaing this chapter :D