Author's Note
Over 20 chapters! Woohoo go me! I hope you're enjoying this as much as I am.
The base is quiet as the two scientists potter over to the kitchen to start their day.
"I finished the prototype for the device for Caitlin," Fitz tells his partner as they walk together.
Tiredly he rubs the sleep out of his eyes trying to wake up. He'd worked late into the night and just a couple more hours of sleep would be nice but he'd promised Jemma that they would have breakfast together.
"Oh Fitz, that's wonderful," Jemma smiles at him proudly.
He smiles back, just happy to be spending some quiet time with her, just the two of them together as the rest of the base sleeps.
"Oh," Jemma stops as they enter the kitchen, looking at Coulson's form slumped over the kitchen counter.
"Should we let him sleep?" Fitz asks whispering closely in her ear.
She looks at the Director for a moment with a small little smile.
"I think we should wake him," she replies softly, "the base will be waking up soon and I'm pretty sure he'll want to be up before then."
He nods besider her as they tentatively approach Coulson.
"Sir?" Jemma asks softly as she places a hand on his shoulder.
He starts abruptly looking around before he realises it's just him, Jemma and Fitz.
"You fell asleep in the kitchen Sir," Jemma smiles at him softly.
"Ugh," he rubs at his neck tenderly, "I can feel it."
Fitz grins a little amusedly beside his partner.
"What time is it?" Coulson asks as he slowly rises from his seat.
"Just after six," Jemma answers.
He seems to pause for a moment before looking at them sharply.
"Shit," he mutters softly before striding towards the door. "Ah Simmons," he calls stopping in the doorway for a moment.
She turns to face him with a small questioning smile.
"Can you come down to check out May for me later?"
His eyes showing his worry for their once thought dead team mate.
"Of course," she reassures him with a soft look. "Go see her," she nods her head towards the door knowing how desperately he want's to get back to May's side right now.
He nods back in return with a quick appreciative smile before disappearing out the door on his way to May's room.
"It's great that he brought May back," Fitz says quietly beside her as she rest her head back on his shoulder.
"Yes, but at what cost?" she turns her head to look at him, eyes filled with heaviness beyond her years.
He slows his pace as he enters the hallway to her room. The base is quiet and he's not sure if she will be awake yet. Silently he walks up to her room, only to pause for a moment as he finds Daisy's form sitting on the floor leaning against the wall facing May's room. The young woman's hair falling on her face as she sleeps and he can't help the small smile that curves his lips up. He knew it was going to be nigh impossible to keep Daisy away from seeing May but her eagerness to see her former SO still warms his heart. Taking a deep breath he enters the code to open the door and walks in, making just enough noise for May to be aware of his presence. She rests the photo album she was looking through in her lap as he walks in.
"Hi," he smiles at her.
"Hi," she watches him carefully as he walks further into the room resting on the edge of the table against the wall.
"Are you hungry?" he asks holding his hands awkwardly as he attempts to get her to open up a little.
She shakes her head at him, continuing to watch him silently.
"Sleep alright?" he tries, struggling with how to deal with the situation.
A brief flicker of something flashes across her eyes before they track over to the window.
"Skye," the way she says the girl's name as if it were a foreign word pulls at his heart a little. "We were close?" she asks.
"You were her SO," he nods, "you made her into an agent."
A small frown crinkles her brow as she thinks over his words.
"SO?"
He mentally berates himself for forgetting that she's forgotten practically everything that the former Melinda knew.
"Supervising officer," he explains. "She was your trainee."
Nodding her head in understanding he lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
"So I was hoping," he starts a little nervously, "if you feel comfortable with it. Maybe we could give you a medical check?"
She chews her bottom lip as she thinks over his request. The action reminds him of the old habit Melinda used to have in the Academy of chewing her lip when she was nervous or stressed, it brings a small smile to his lips as he thinks perhaps his Melinda is still inside somewhere deep down.
"Ok," she says finally, "but here, not in a lab."
She watches them warily as the two scientists creep into the room. The girl has a small reassuring smile as she approaches but the boy looks slightly fidgety.
"I'm just going to take some blood," the girl, Simmons Phil said she was called.
A slight nod of her head is all she gives in response. Tentatively, Simmons comes forwards, hands gently placing a strap around her right arm as she brings out a needle and some vials. She takes her blood quickly and efficiently, minimizing any negative memories that the process might bring.
"Do you mind if I just assess your left arm," the boy, Fitz asks.
Again, she nods maintaining her silence. His hands run over the cool metal of her arm, marvelling at its master craftsmanship.
"Remarkable," he breathes to himself as he becomes absorbed studying its mechanics. "Simmons, I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this before."
His partner comes closer to inspect her arm.
"My, Fitz it's…"
Her mind zones out as the two scientists ramble on. Their chatter and matching looks with one another as they communicate with their own language pulls a memory forth from the depths of her consciousness.
She looks over at the two scientists, sitting so sadly together, backs to each other through the glass of the door.
"Simmons believes she contracted the virus approximately 36 hours ago when she received an electrostatic shock from the first victim." Phil says drawing their sad looks away from the pair.
"How much time does she have?" The young girl Skye asks, her worry for her friends evident on her face.
"Based on when the firemen were infected, how quickly their symptoms manifested... two hours at most." Phil replies, voice heavy with the weight of authority resting on his shoulders as he struggles between the hard decision that's to come.
"That's enough time, right?" Skye questions hopefully, "I mean, S.H.I.E.L.D. has dozens of labs and scientists working on this thing, don't they?"
She watches them all silently, knowing all too well what it's like to have to make the hard call. Life has made her not able to simply hope for the best and believe that everything will work out alright. That's not how life works, she knows that. But she has to admit that she is rooting for those two scientists', if anyone can pull through this it's them.
"They do," Phil answers before turning to her. "How soon can you get us on the ground?"
"Three hours," she states hating the fact that she can't do anything to make the situation better, can't fix it. "Our path to the Sandbox has us right in the middle of the Atlantic."
"Sir, correct me if I'm wrong, but if we can't land in time…" the man beside her trails off as the inevitable outcome of the situation dawns on them all.
"Simmons will release a pulse that will blow this plane right out of the sky," Phil finishes for him saying what they're all trying hard not to think about.
"We can't just sit here and watch her die," Skye interjects, her desperation for her friend shining through. "We have to do something."
"There's only one person on this plane capable of finding a solution for this, and I'm willing to bet my life that she will."
Phil looks over his shoulder sadly, pain clear in his eyes as he blames himself for the position that his young team member has found herself in.
"She's just a kid," she says quietly, her heart going out to the young woman and her friend sitting together but apart, through the doors of the lab.
"May? May?" Simmons' voice calls her as she resumes full consciousness.
Blinking slowly she tries to regain her bearings as Simmons holds her shoulder gently and Fitz watches on a little nervously. Phil is standing by the side of her bed with a small worried frown marring his features.
"I- You almost died," she turns to Simmons.
"You fainted May," Simmons says soothingly. "We lost you there for a minute."
"You were infected," she whispers almost to herself. "I was so worried about you."
Tears build up in the young woman's eyes, and for some reason it makes her want to comfort her.
A/N
A longer chapter this week, but I've been neglecting all my other stories. I've just lost a bit of inspiration and I've written little bits here and there for the different chapters of different stories but I'm a bit stuck. This one is by far the easiest to write. Please leave me a comment, I tried writing Fitzsimmons a little because I know how much the fandom loves them so feedback please!