"Dr. Lewis is after Skye," Leo warned her as they dashed down the hall to where the dots on the screen of the tablet indicated the rest of their team was.
"We knew that, she wanted to come anyway," Jemma informed him, seeing him flinch as another piece of metal rolled under his shirt and fused to his body.
Why did this building have so much bloody metal? What was wrong with wood or plastic or ceramic? That tray could have definitely been made with plastic.
He was struggling to keep up, she could tell, and his face glistened with sweat between the increasing patches of grey. His hand was cold and his grip was weakening.
'Hold on,' she thought, slowing down slightly. 'We'll get you better, just keep fighting a little longer.'
There was loud popping from the direction they were headed and they hurried towards the sound of gunshots to the aid of their teammates. Jemma took out the night night pistol, ready to use it the moment they crashed through the door into the lab where the dots were.
It was complete mayhem in the room as their friends fought a small army of guards. Skye had fallen against one of the benches and the side of her head was bleeding as she looked up hazily at her attacker who, to Jemma's horror was pointing a gun down on her.
There wasn't even time for Jemma to aim the pistol before the guards gun went off. She cried out, and Skye's eyes widened in terror but nothing happened. The bullet went the other direction, towards them, and settled onto Leo's cheek, melting onto his skin.
He and Skye exchanged a glance and their faces set in concentration. The gun of every guard flew into the air causing them all to look up in surprise before being knocked out by a member of Jemma's team.
A few of the guns floated towards Leo but Skye glared at them and they fell to the floor.
"Did you do that?" Coulson gasped, turning to Skye.
"Did you just stop a bullet with your mind?" Trip demanded incredulously.
Skye smiled and tilted her head towards Leo. "We both did." She informed them.
They turned towards him and their expressions changed from impressed to alarmed at his state.
"Two heads are better than one," he said shakily.
Jemma could see he was trembling. His face was sweaty and ghost-like between smooth metal and he wobbled unstably where he stood. She rushed forward to steady him, a tight knot of fear twisting in her stomach. He was almost out of time.
"We need to get him back to the Bus," she commanded, "I need to give him the sugar toxin very soon."
"We can carry him," May offered, moving towards them.
"No!" Leo exclaimed suddenly, squirming away from Jemma, closing his eyes and grimacing like he was in pain. "No, just get out and I'll follow."
May raised an eyebrow but they didn't protest. They probably thought he was too stubborn to be carried, that he was being ridiculous but they had no time to argue with him. She knew though that it was something else. He was lying and she felt the knot in her stomach tighten painfully because she knew why.
/-/-/
Leo felt it again. That awful stretch of the elastic, straining the band. His heart was beating rapidly and he knew what was was coming.
"Out!" He yelled to his teammates, pushing them towards the door. He could lock it behind them then get himself far enough away he wouldn't hurt them. They complied because they trusted him and let him herd them into the hall.
Jemma was last and the second the others were safely outside she closed the door and locked it herself.
"What are you doing!" He cried as he heard the others calling to them from the other side.
She ignored his question and led him away from their shouts, sitting him down at one of the stools before hurriedly rummaging through the overhead cabinets.
"Jemma you have to go," he asserted. "It's not safe. Those cells, they're not just taking up sugar-"
"They're taking up sulfur," she finished, still searching. "Damn it, where is it."
"Jemma-"
"I know!" She snapped. "You're going to let out an explosion. I'm not letting you."
"The explosion won't burn me," he assured her. "They're also producing-"
"Heat resistant enzymes," she interrupted, rapidly reading labels. "I know. I figured it out when I was testing the sugar toxin. It's still going to kill you, you can't survive doing it now, it takes too much sugar, too much energy. You aren't strong enough."
"You don't know that," he protested even though he knew she was probably right. His head was aching again, his hands were shaking and his vision was starting to blur. He felt himself on the edge of breaking. The band was ready to snap.
"Sweetheart please," he begged. "You need to go, there's no time." He was frightened, he didn't want to die, but he couldn't stand the idea of taking her with him. This was the one thing he'd rather do alone, the one time he'd rather leave her behind.
She stopped what she was doing and stared at him, eyes filled with determination.
"You need to trust me," she insisted. "I can fix this. Please Sweetheart, just trust me."
She sounded so certain. He met her gaze and knew he did trust her, totally and completely. With his life, with both their lives. She could do this. She was Jemma Simmons and she was amazing.
He took a deep breath, "OK. What do you need me to do?"
She beamed at him and the love shining from her face made him brave. "Don't explode."
"Right," he agreed. "Don't explode."
Easier said than done, but she wasn't giving up so neither would he.
Eyes closed, using all of his concentration he held himself together, slowing the stretch of the band as he heard her sort through the cabinets.
"Oh good, here it is," she whispered, probably so not to startle him. "I'm going to inject a sedative into your arm OK?" She let him know softly after a few seconds.
Keeping his eyes closed, he nodded.
Very slowly she took his arm and he felt her cool fingers between the patches of metal before the needle pricked through his skin.
The sharp little pain caused the band to stretch and he struggled to keep it from snapping.
'We are not dying here,' he resolved. There was no way in hell he was going to let the fireball erupt out of him, he couldn't let Jemma get hurt because he was too weak to keep it in.
Jemma wrapped her arms around him, "Hold on," she instructed firmly. "You can do this."
He held his breath, wishing she had run. 'She fixed it,' he told himself, 'you can't explode now, Jemma stopped it.'
Remarkably, his body relaxed and he felt a wave of calm as the sedatives took effect. The band loosened and it was over.
"It stopped," he breathed, pulling back and staring at her in amazement. "You did it!"
"We did it," she corrected joyously as she pressed her forehead to his.
They grinned at each other, giggling in relief. That had been absolutely terrifying.
Footsteps clapped behind them and he spun around, getting to his feet. There was another door at the back of the lab, it probably led to the center of the building where they kept the chemicals and extra equipment. Dr. Lewis stood in the doorway, pointing a gun at them.
"Don't do this," he pleaded, placing himself between her and Jemma.
"Sorry kiddo," she said, her eyes bright with misery.
There was a bang as she pulled the trigger and pain exploded through his chest. The elastic stretched and snapped before he even knew it was happening and hot orange flames erupted from his body.
He fell into darkness but before he did he was sure he felt someone catch him. Someone was demanding that he not give up, not die and he was certain it was Jemma. Or his mind was playing tricks on him, making him hear what he wanted to even though it was impossible, and he was only believing the lie because he wanted to so badly.
No, it was her. He knew it was real and it was her.
Fun Background
Thank you so much for all the reviews, likes and follows and just for reading. You are all explosively terrific.
Do not worry! There is another chapter! It doesn't end here.
There is a Fringe reference in this chapter but you won't know what it is until the next one. A hint to those who watch the show it is from 3x15 Subject 13. Maybe you will guess, and then you will know what exactly happened at the end.
I wrote this one backwards, from the last sequence to the first.
Whenever I spell grey it gets autocorrected to Greg... Huh.
