While Coulson may have all but declared the mission over, Felix Blake continued to review the rosters. He saw a familiar face or three (Hacker Grrrl, Fitzie and a few other agents)and some others on the guest list that looked quasi familiar so he tagged them for further review. That done, he vowed to keep Jemma far, far away from her fellow Agents. At least until she was not actively panicking.
A glance at his watch reminded him that he had made dinner reservations at Le bistro exclusive cher qui devrait impressionner la femme qui voulait sa mort aka The pricey exclusive bistro that should impress the woman who wished him dead. If Jemma wasn't up to eating, he needed to cancel them.
This escalating situation deserved more tact and sensitivity that he had even been accused of possessing. And while Jemma had really wounded him because of her distress over him and his position, he could admit to himself that he wasn't entirely blameless. He hadn't confessed because he had been loath to upset the proverbial apple cart because… God help him for admitting this, even to himself as he sounded so PATHETIC, he had been lonely. He had enjoyed their relationship, such as it was. Jemma would pop into his life and then pop out at completely random intervals so … he always had something to look forward to.
If he pulled her psych eval post-jump to ascertain how she had managed to bluff her way back into the field, red flags would go up, firecrackers would burst over the HR/PSYCH department and it would be quite utterly bad. For now, he'd chalk it to up to her Big Bambi eyes and cartoon animals breaking into the HR office during the middle of the night and typing up a new eval. Seriously, Disney Princesses had nothing on Jemma Simmons and her God Given ability to have people desiring to help her.
He entered the cabin to discover Simmons was sitting on a chair and brushing her hair. She wore a sundress and from the amount of cosmetics on the table, it appeared that she had spackled the damage caused by an extensive amount of crying.
"I can cancel if you want to stay here," he softly offered.
Keep buggering on was part of her DNA, he reminded himself so he wasn't surprised when she pulled herself up by her bra straps to glare at him.
"We have a mission," she reminded him. "AGENT."
"At the moment, I'm not sure if we do," he confessed. "Our main suspects were pulled over for speeding in a van with tinted windows with stolen, mismatched plates. They blew a red, too. Supposedly, they are singing like a bunch of canaries."
She wrinkled her adorable nose at him.
"Yes. It's just too easy, too pat, too obvious," admitted Felix. "So we're still here, keeping an eye out for any possible terrorist that didn't break any traffic laws. However, you shouldn't be on this mission."
"I was cleared to return to work without any restrictions," she protested. "I will be able fulfil my part…."
"Easy," Blake stated as he held out his hands in the universal 'Don't Shoot Gesture'. "Tell Agent Simmons to go take a hike, I desire to speak to Jemma Simmons."
"They're one and the same," she protested.
There was a long, slow sigh as Felix rubbed the back of his neck. Really, he needed Dear Abby on retainer for this mission – or Dear Carolyn, as he enjoyed her sassy, realistic advice.
"I know that you hate me with the fiery passion of a thousand burning suns, but I wish you'd believe me when I tell you, once again, that I will not fuck you over," he quietly stated. "However, there is no denying the fact that you shouldn't be on this mission. The question is, why did you agree to this mission? Was it Coulson?"
"Coulson is a good man," she began.
He needed to cut off that conversation before she got to full volume in order to extol the many virtues of Phil Coulson.
"I have firsthand knowledge how everyone adores Phil Coulson," he bleakly stated. Thanks to one Melinda May.
"I wouldn't had any problems if he was still my partner on this," Jemma informed him. "He's kind and supportive."
Low blow there, Simmons. That's too personal a shot to be anything but deliberate. No doubt you and Melinda decided to have drinks one night and I was the subject of conversation.
"Instead I got …. You," she continued.
Once again, I am second best to Phil Coulson. I need to find my self-respect IMMEDIATELY. Why are I am putting up with this shit? Yes, she needs help but she won't take it from me. So stop trying, asshole. You've done what you can, she won't accept it.
Blake nodded his head in tired defeat. "I'll change for dinner."
They were very quiet even after they sat in the restaurant. Felix pretended to be a perfect gentleman and assisted her with her chair, even waited for her to order her meal, before he ordered his plus the wine. The waiter nodded his head, once, and complimented Felix on his choice of wine.
"Nothing but the best for Jemma," Felix quietly stated.
Then silence except for a few brief snatches of small talk. Yes, she liked the wine as it went well with her meal. No, she didn't want afters, however Felix still ordered the Trio Crèmes Brulées for her which she deigned to sample. To her surprise, the brulées were quite tasty and so she informed Felix of such.
"I thought you'd enjoy them as you have a bit of a sophisticated sweet tooth," Bake advised her.
After they returned to their cabin, Felix removed his sport coat, rolled up his sleeves and began to rearrange the furniture into a suitable, makeshift bed. After that was done, he sat down in a chair and placed his long legs just so on the ottoman.
He grimaced, and rearranged the furniture until he was content.
Jemma said nothing because what could be said?
That night, she dreamed of falling from a very great height into the ocean, and no one, not Ward, not Coulson….not Blake… was there to rescue her.
She was the brightest biochemist of her age, she could admit that with no false modesty. Never the less, it took her two days to realize that Felix Blake was no longer talking to her. In her defense, she had been too delighted over not having to deal with the 'Bubbly Blake' that she had failed to notice his reticence?
Yes, they did 'speak' to each other, mainly about the activities Felix had planned for their day, both joint and separate with plenty of outs for her to enjoy solo time but they didn't talk about anything but work. Possible suspects were discussed as Felix still believed something was amiss but lacked enough proof to confirm it.
On the third day, it being a Sea Day, there was a previously planned romantic spa day for two. The very idea had been nerve wracking as they had booked a joint steam bath prior to the massage. Fortunately, Felix had displayed enough leg for her to realize that he was wearing trunk boxers, while she was completely al fresco under her towels.
Really, in the couples massage, were they supposed to gaze lovingly at each other? Naturally, Felix was no help so she was completely on her own. She quickly determined that Felix kept his eyes closed, fortunately, even when he answered Annika, his massage therapist's question. Yes, he was a desk jockey as his back, neck and shoulders were quite tense, she need not worry about applying too much pressure and he had blown his left knee out so not to apply too much pressure there as it had been rebuilt.
He was deeply asleep within minutes of lying on the massage table, and Annika softly laughed, "Wearing him out, are you?"
Jemma smiled a faux smile yet she truly blushed at the idea of her sexually exhausting Felix Blake
"He's holding a great deal of emotions inside him, as his neck and shoulders are literally boulders," Annika explained as she performed a complicated maneuver that looked painful, but she promised would release all of his tension.
"He's been under a great pressure at work, I'm hoping that this trip will help," she lied.
That night her dreams were full of the ocean, vast, wide, and limitless.
"Hello, Felix," Jemma heard the next morning. She was having a late lie-in due to not getting any rest the previous night and she was annoyed when she heard a female voice. She opened her eyes long enough to see that Felix was having a conversation with his tablet and that there was no one else in the room.
"Good morning," Felix rumbled. "To what do I owe the honor?"
"Fyodor wishes to say 'hi', as you haven't called him," a female voice cheerfully informed Felix.
"Victoria, seriously? He's a cat, he has the brain the size of a walnut. Give him some treats and he'll be fine."
A female voice stated, "Look Fyodor, Daddy's on the screen."
There was a loud meow and then purring.
"Did you buy him a new collar? A studded leather collar? Izzie?" Felix protested. "That's your style, not Victoria's."
"Yes, he seemed rather depressed, he really missed you, Felix. We brought him a new collar and…." Izzie stopped talking while Felix sighed.
"Fyodor, what did your aunties do?" Felix questioned. "Auntie Victoria didn't put scarlet stripes in your fur, did she? Because she will have to get them removed. I hope you just bought him some expensive cat treats, perhaps too much Cosmic Catnip."
There was a long delayed silence and Felix exhaled. "What did you do?"
"No…. we… found him a girlfriend."
They did not. They were Fyodor's Aunties and cat sitters, not matchmaker!
"Those parts were snipped," protested Felix. "At a very early age so he has no idea what he's missing."
"I was shopping when I saw this ad, free to good home. She's a Russian Blue also, but she's only thirteen weeks ago. Her new owner is highly allergic to cats, so she was free to good home. Fyodor really likes Katya. See?"
The purring grew louder until there was a heartbreaking sound of a kitty whimpering.
"He just stepped on her head," protested Felix. "I'm not witnessing a great deal of love there."
"Accident!" Izzie swore. "Come here eKat, let me check your head."
"Ekat?" Felix asked. Felix then exhaled, once, twice, three times before he spoke. "Never mind. It's time for me to go. They're serving breakfast shortly. On this cruise, you need to be in the breakfast line when they open the doors and yell 'Sooie!' else people will run you over with their walkers. Fyodor, please stop stepping on the kitten's head. It's not nice, ok? You don't want to damage Auntie Victoria's kitten."
"No, she's yours!" Izzie explained. "Victoria and I got Ekaterina for you!"
There was a thousand and one things he wished to voice about their generosity, however none of it was suitable for expressing to his direct supervisor.
"Goodbye, I'll talk to you both AT LENGTH later." He disconnected the call and then he spoke to Jemma. "You didn't sleep last night."
He didn't face her, instead he concentrated on the far wall.
"I did," she lied. She had catnapped for most of the night, until the overwhelming panic had woken her from a sound sleep.
"You didn't," he stated. "You sounded exactly like Katya getting her head stepped on. Trust me, I heard repeatedly last night. Speaking of Katya, I can't believe that the two of them got me a kitten. I should never have let them cat-sit. The most I feared was that I'd have to send him to detox to get off the catnip; the idea that they're find him a girlfriend never crossed my mind."
He tried to be flippant but Jemma, naturally wasn't having any of it. She was stubborn, determined not to show the slightest weakness to him.
"OK, so I woke up once or twice," she lied. Then to confuse the issue, she added, "You do snore."
He exhaled loudly once more and shook his head. "Jemma, I counted nine times," he stated. "We need to work on this because between your nightmares and sleeping on a chair, I can't survive a month of not sleeping."
"I don't need your help," she protested.
"No, you need Coulson. Sadly, for all concerned, you got Felix Blake instead. We will have breakfast first, then one hour later, I will escort you to the pool where you will put your feet in the water. Fortunately for you, Coulson splurged on the tickets so we have access to a private pool. Well, at least one that is restricted so we don't have to deal with those poor souls in steerage."
Ninety minutes later, they were being waved into a select area by a smiling employee. Jemma was trying not to shake noticeably, but she knew that she was failing. Miserably. She used to love swimming, even used it as her physical education credit at the Academy, but now even a hot tub made her uneasy.
"See, no one's here. Everyone is sleeping off last night's margarita party," Felix stated as he walked over to two lounge chairs. He pulled off his shirt, shorts and footwear, to reveal a pair of knee length swim trunks. "Did you remember to apply sun tan lotion? You can't be too careful about preventing melanoma."
That public service announcement completed, he walked over the edge of the pool and sat down so he could dangle his legs in the pool. He patted a spot next to him and motioned for her to join him.
"For today's lesson, we'll just enjoy sitting on the edge of the pool," he announced. "Put your feet in the water, and relax."
To Jemma's surprise, Felix held out his hand when she began to sit on the edge of the pool. She grasped it, unexpectedly glad about the physical support. Even if it was Felix Blake's hand.
"Feet in the water," he reminded her as she was sitting away from the edge of the pool, with her legs tucked under her. "But only if you feel comfortable, if you're scared, tell me. We can stop this. You can admit your fear to me, and it won't go anywhere."
At a snail pace, she gingerly uncurled her legs and placed one, then the other into the water. They sat like that in silence for ten minutes or so. She had just gotten comfortable enough to actually move her feet somewhat when silent Felix leaned forward to cup pool water in his hands. He poured the water over his head and then spoke. "Put your goggles on, and do that. That way you don't get the chlorine in your eyes. After you do that, do you want to try getting into the shallow end of the pool using the ladder?"
She shook her head.
He slid into the pool and looked up at her. The water barely came up to his waist and he easily walked over to the pool ladder.
"Are you afraid?" he asked once he arrived at his destination. "Truthful answer."
"No. Yes. Maybe?" was Jemma's confused admission because her thoughts were jumbled, her stomach was nauseous and her heart was racing. "I'm not afraid, I just don't want to get into the pool."
There was a hair's difference between the two ideas, so Jemma hoped that Felix would let it go. Wrong. Instead he pounced.
"Get into the pool. Else your dislike will be ingrained into a fear," he explained. "So, get into the pool so we can walk in the shallow end. I'll be with you, and I promise to keep an eye on you the entire time."
It wouldn't seem like much to anyone watching them, but for Jemma Simmons to actually walk over to the ladder and to climb down into the pool was a very large step for Jemma.
And yes, she latched onto Felix's forearm for support.
"Ok, right step first," he informed her. "Then left."