Chapter Six

Fitz watched in horror as his fathers body crumpled to the floor. His heart pounded in his ears as he went to move forward, hands grabbing him to pull him backwards. He had to fight them off, he had to get to his father, not understanding why they wouldn't let him see his father. Just as he was starting to trust SHIELD, to trust Jemma, she does this. "How- Why...?" The words fell from his lips without fully being formulated into anything further than vague questions that trailed off before he really knew what to say.

"Get him to the interrogation room and get Fitz to a bunk." Jemma spoke as if completely detached from the situation, as if this was just another mission to her. He felt them trying to drag him away, fighting against his restraints. "Fitz please, go. You shouldn't even have been here."

"You shot my dad. You killed my dad!" Fitz could feel the rage building as he spoke. He looked between the two men holding him back, seeing their muscles, knowing that the build up of adrenaline meant he could do something to free himself. "You are going to pay for this Jemma." He kicked out at the legs of the man on his left, moving his arms to flip the one on his right, his breathing heavy as the adrenaline pumped around his body. Stepping towards Jemma, he watched as she cocked her gun. When the bullet flew towards him, he knew there was nothing he could do. It penetrated his leg, the pain radiating through him, adrenaline dissipating on impact, feeling something replace it in his bloodstream. Unable to keep his eyes open, Fitz let sleep overcome him, his last thought focused on Jemma's betrayal.

He woke in a white room again, this time it was smaller and more simple than the hospital room he'd been in before. There was only a simple cot on one wall, a window on the opposite wall looking out onto a large white room. "What the... so this is heaven then?"

He heard a laugh, looking around to see Jemma in the larger room. His hands curled into fists, his anger returning as he remembered. He started to pound against the glass, knowing it was useless the moment he realised what the pod was made from. "Fitz, calm down. You're okay. So is your father." He watched as she turned on a screen, seeing his father and Daisy talking. So not dead then? He needed to understand what was in those bullets, some sort of biological substance that causes paralysis. Clever. "So far we have discovered that your father knows Radcliffe, that he has an arrangement involving you and him and that the both of them have strong links to HYDRA." At her words, he took a step back, shaking his head.

"No. No that isn't right. My dad doesn't work with HYDRA." His words seemed lost as Jemma spoke over him, flicking through evidence of the contrary on the tablet in her arms.

"Radcliffe and your father, your father leaving HYDRA, your father and known HYDRA operative Melinda May. Any more proof needed or can we move on?" He looked over the photos, logically knowing there were few other reasons for the photos other than the obvious but he couldn't believe them. Vague memories of an etching in a painting, the feeling of betrayal.

"Even if he is HYDRA, they aren't the villains here. SHIELD is." He watched Jemma wince, smirking to himself. Good, she needed a little taste of her own medicine. "Yeah. And I know that you could have faked those photographs." He turned to the screen, seeing Daisy slam her hands on the table.

"Skye. My son knows nothing about all this. Sweet boy but dim where it really matters. Much like his mother in many ways." The words that came out of his fathers mouth matched the movement on screen, all of it foreign to him. This was nothing like the man he knew and if this was him in private, he dread to think what else he said about his family behind closed doors. "HYDRA doesn't need people like him, they need people like me. Strong, intimidating, nothing like my Leopold."

Fitz's skin crawled as the screen went blank, the doors beside him opening. He left the pod, sinking into the bed to absorb the information. His eyes found Jemma, seeing the guilt in her eyes that she had to sink that low.

"I'm sorry Fitz." She took a seat beside him as she spoke, her hand finding his. "I needed you to see that icing him was for a reason. When you wake up from all of this, you'll understand." He pulled his hand away, once again lost at her words. He was awake, unless this was another head splitting memory surfacing. "I need you to trust me. Please?"

Fitz rolled over facing the wall instead of her. Just because he couldn't trust his father anymore, didn't mean he automatically trusted Jemma and SHIELD. "No. No I am not trusting you that easily." He felt the weight next to him move, mind running through the memories he'd had up to that point. "There was a woman, she looked like Agnes, my assistant." He turned back around, seeing the director hesitate in the doorway. "She injected me with something and as far as I can tell I woke up in my bed. Weird thing is it's a new memory and you're involved somehow."

Jemma listened as he spoke, thinking back to the chill she'd felt when she saw his assistant a few days ago, although she supposed it was a few hours in the real world. "I suppose that has something to do with Aida. Clearly your memories are returning but without the context, I'm afraid you won't quite believe it all." She was clearly holding back and he had to trust her if he was going to get any answers.

"I promise, I'll believe you." Swinging his legs around the edge of the bed, he sat up, patting the space beside him so she could sit too. "I don't trust you but you haven't lied to me yet."

Jemma moved to sit beside him, shifting around, clearly these weren't comfortable memories for her. "Radcliffe worked on an artificial intelligence system with your assistance called Aida. She was based visually on your assistant Agnes which is why you are making a link between the two. You also created an artificial world for the purposes of training agents. Radcliffe and Aida built on it to create this world." Her voice was completely steady, something he could sense was difficult for her to control. "She created replicas of agents on our base, putting you into this world. Sh-she had the replicas attempt to bring Daisy and I to her in order to replace us all but we managed to escape."

Fitz moved closer to Jemma without thinking, his hand reaching for hers. He didn't believe her but he could sense her distress, a part of him sure that he could ease some of her pain by being close to her. "So if she didn't get you, why are you here now?" As he spoke, he felt her rest her head on his shoulder, something that felt so familiar that he didn't think to push her away. He looked down, watching her with a soft smile. Maybe he was starting to believe her a little, even if it was nonsense she was spewing out.

"Me and Daisy hacked our way in. She'd created our avatars already but without her programming we're aware of this being a false reality." Jemma looked up, hoping to find any recognition in his eyes but instead finding herself face to face with Fitz, her heart racing being so close to him. "We thought we'd be able to save you but it's more difficult than we anticipated."

Fitz nodded slowly, his head tilting lower to press his lips to hers. The moment his lips touched hers felt right, like everything in the world was in the right place. Slowly, and slightly reluctantly, he pulled away, knowing it was wrong to kiss her while she was upset. "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate."

"Fitz, it's okay. We actually do that a lot in our reality." Fitz could feel the memories fighting with his version of reality. They were all flowing together now, memories that all included Jemma. Without hesitation, he leaned down, lips brushing hers again. He lifted a hand to cup her cheek, her hand lifting to his in synchronicity to his movement. He wanted to stay like this forever but they had to quickly spring apart when the door opened. Milton stood in the doorway, his eyes wide as he looked between the two of them, focusing on their joined hands closing the already small gap between them. "Milton, Fitz and I were just discussing the technological advancements we can make on the base to improve security measures."

The tension was already set between the two men, Fitz already feeling closer to Jemma, protective of her, especially around Milton. Of all people. "We're ready for briefing ma'am. We have another one."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm planning to have three more chapters and to have this story completed by the time Agents of SHIELD returns. Thanks to everyone reading this story, you guys spur me on to write.