Drabble 27: Lost and Found

A/N: Prompt given to me by SwifteForeverAndAlways. Spoiler Alert if you have not seen the winter finale! Oh, and I apologize for it being sad. It had to be done.

It was different, now. They could feel it whenever they walked on the Bus. There was a vacancy now, something missing from the atmosphere.

Trip.

When the wall came down in the underground city, Coulson had rushed to see what had happened. He had found Raina and Skye standing on opposite sides of a stand, staring at each other. That was when he noticed the changes.

Whatever had happened down there, it hadn't been good. Skye refused to talk about it after explaining it once to Coulson. She said that whatever had happened to her could be figured out in time, would be figured out. But they had to worry about Trip first.

She insisted on a ceremony for him. There was no body to collect and bury, no physical evidence of the wonderful man they had lost. So Skye took dirt from the chamber and put in in a small jar.

Coulson gathered the rest of his team on the Bus and told them what had happened, and how Trip hadn't made it.

Skye cried but stood tall, no doubt trying to be strong for her friends. Simmons turned away with a gasp, covering her mouth as soon as the words left Coulson's mouth. Fitz looked down and clenched his fist by his side. May's eyes darkened, Mack hung his head, standing back from the group, and Hunter walked out for a second, coming back in exhaling deeply. Bobbi walked up to Coulson to find out more.

Fitz looked at Simmons and saw her starting to cry. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she leaned into him, the sound of her gentle crying muffled against his shirt. He knew she was crying because of the horrible news they had just received, but that wasn't all. It had been an extremely stressful day for both of them.

The tension between him and her on the plane, his announcement that he would move to work with Mack. Then their little session before Mack went down the hole, where they had been as close as they had ever been in thought. A little spark of hope that things might return to normal, quickly forgotten when Mack had his experience in the tunnel.

They had both assumed he had died after falling into the tunnel. But they couldn't fall apart.

They had finished the job, placing the explosives as directed. Then they had learned that Coulson and Skye were down there, and Trip went down to disable the explosives.

That was the last time they ever saw him.

That was why Jemma had lost control so quickly, because everything had happened so quickly that it was overwhelming for all of them, even the senior agents. Fitz could tell Coulson was struggling to keep his composure.

So Fitz held Jemma close for a few minutes until her tears stopped falling. He had to blink some away himself, once he thought about Trip again.

Once she recovered he let her go gently and walked up to Coulson. "I want to help."

Coulson looked him over briefly, seeing what sort of shape he was in. Fitz wondered if he would say no. But he nodded. "Alright. You go with Skye and Simmons to find a spot."

"Yes sir." He said.

He looked to make sure Skye and Simmons had heard Coulson, and then led them down to the lab. He figured it would be a place of comfort, and they all needed that now.

Skye took the lead once they got down there. She faced the two scientists as they sat down. "We need to find someplace he would have liked."

"He loved tech." Simmons said. "Maybe somewhere focused on technology?"

"What about the Academy?" Fitz suggested.

Skye thought for a minute. "That's not a bad idea, Fitz. I'll go tell Coulson we have a place." She walked out of the lab briskly, without looking back.

Simmons looked at Fitz. "That was rather abrupt, don't you think?"

"She needs to be alone. She saw it happen, and it must be bugging her."

"Do you think we could be alone too?" she asked delicately. "I want to stay in here for a while, with you."

Fitz gave her a soft smile. "Of course we can."

They were quiet for a minute. "Remember when we first met him?" Simmons asked.

"Yeah. I didn't like him at first. I don't really know why."

She smiled at him. "He was always so sweet to us. The perfect buffer between the scientifically inclined and… those who are better with action."

Fitz laughed. "You're right. He got along with everybody."

"Unless you wronged him or his friends." She said. "He was very loyal in that way." She looked down. "I'm going to miss him."

Fitz wrapped her in a light embrace. "I know, Jemma. I will too."

They stayed like that for a few minutes, taking comfort from each other's presence. By the time they went back upstairs the Bus was already on the move, heading towards the Academy. They had the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. on their side, so there was no way their little ceremony could be denied to them. It also helped that the Academy was mostly empty, with the rebuilding going on.

When they landed, they walked to the area directly outside the entrance. "This looks like a good spot." Coulson said. "What do you think?"

He looked at Skye for an answer, and she nodded. "It's good. He'd like it here."

Coulson reached into his pocket and pulled out the small jar, sealed tightly and filled with soft brown earth. He handed it to Skye and crouched, digging a small hole with his hands. Skye handed him the jar and he placed it carefully in the hole, and then started covering it.

It took five minutes at most, but it did the team a lot of good. To wrap it up Coulson said something.

"We all know Trip loved tech, especially anything he inherited from his grandfather. I know he would love this spot, because it's where people learn to make that sort of technology. Once we've reopened it we'll come back and do this more properly. But we can take comfort in knowing that he's in a place he liked."

They solemnly walked back on to the Bus, and took off again, with no firm destination but a desire to put miles between themselves and the Academy. Even Fitz-Simmons wanted to leave, and the Academy was one of their favorite places.

It would take time; that much was certain. They lost Trip. But only partly. He was gone, and they knew he wouldn't come back. But he would never be forgotten by his team.

He would always be in their memories.