Drabble 36: The Hero
A/N: Requested by Sherlock 2.0. Hope you like it, and please leave a review!
Fitz ran down the hallway and threw open the door. He ran in and grabbed the box from the table, not even fully stopping as he spun around and raced back to the lab. He passed everyone else from their positions outside the lab and saw Coulson start to protest, but didn't pause to explain himself. He opened the door and burst in, laying the box down on the lab table.
"No, you can't be in here!" Jemma said.
"Too late. It's done. Just try your best to keep your hands off me, yeah?"
"Fitz, I don't know what you think you're doing, but-."
"I'm doing what we always do." He looked at her, completely serious. "We're gonna fix this. Together."
He put on gloves and took the Chitauri helmet out of the box. Then he scraped the inside of the helmet and put the epithelial cells on the slide Jemma had been preparing.
He watched anxiously as she made the antiserum, alternating between standing beside her and pacing just behind her. He knew he should be acting confident, to reassure her, but he wasn't a very good actor.
Finally she started the final step of the process, the machine that completed the antiserum whirring and glowing red as it worked. When she opened it the antiserum floated straight up, accompanied by a small static sound. She tried to catch it and missed, but he had already placed his hand below hers. He caught it easily and looked at it with his mouth open a bit, suddenly feeling nervous.
"Third time's a charm." He said quietly as he loaded the antiserum into his delivery device. Just as suddenly as the nervousness had set in he felt a calm settle over him. He was focused, and he made sure no fear showed on his face when he looked at Jemma. "May I do the honors?"
She just nodded, and he walked over to the third white rat. He picked it up and shot it with the antiserum, and then set it down. This was the moment that really mattered. He didn't take his eyes away from the rat for a few seconds. When he saw it not dying he looked up at Jemma, not quite daring to smile but amazed.
"Fitz." She said with an almost smile, her voice rough from worry and non-use. He thought he heard hope in her voice.
And then they saw the blue light, and the white rat floated in its cage. Just like the others.
"No." he said. His voice was small. "No, it can't be." He couldn't look at Jemma, so he looked at the rat. He saw her walk behind him and go talk to Coulson. She was talking about telling her parents she had died. He couldn't look at them, and there was nothing else to look at in the cage, so he turned back to the lab table and inspected his device. Jemma may have lost hope, but there was no way he was going to let her die.
"Would you mind if I have a brief moment alone with Fitz?" he heard her ask their team.
He glanced over and watched as they all did as she asked, walking away either solemn or openly crying.
"We'll try again. The electrostatic pulse from the third rat seemed much less, so we'll make progress if we can calibrate the antiserum."
"Antiserum, yes." He heard her say from behind him. "You finally got it right, Fitz." He was running figures in his head, but he thought he heard her whisper something. Then he felt something solid collide with his head and gasped in pain, his hand flying to the back of his head as his body naturally fell. He landed on his side and gasped again, still holding his head. His head spun for a minute, and his vision wasn't so clear, but he knew Jemma walked past him, towards the door of the lab.
But he couldn't stop her. He couldn't even stand yet. He realized what she had said though. I'm so sorry Fitz.
She had resigned herself to the fact that she was going to die. He didn't see it as a fact. If she had worked with him, they could have found a solution. They had to.
He couldn't lose her.
He eased himself up, still rubbing his neck, and found himself looking into the third cage. The white rat was moving, walking around on its bedding. "Hey," he said with pleasure, "it worked." His realization made the start of a smile he had vanish. "The pulse just knocked the rat unconscious."
He had to give the antiserum to Jemma. He looked out the lab doors and felt his heart catch. "Jemma?" he said, unsure. "Jemma!" he yelled.
He saw her standing on the open cargo ramp, her back to him. She was going to jump out of the plane.
He forgot everything else but her. He started tugging at the door with all his strength, yelling her name, even though he knew she wouldn't listen.
"Please God no!" he yelled a bit softer.
He couldn't lose her.
She looked back at him with pain in her eyes, and then the pressure became too much for her, and she was sucked out into the open air.
"Jemma! No! NO!" he screamed.
She was gone. He ran back and refilled his device with the antiserum, and then ran out of the lab with it in hand. Why wouldn't the door open before?
He ran to the wall and grabbed a parachute, throwing it over one shoulder and struggling to get it on. Then Ward appeared next to him, hastily taking the parachute from him, and the antiserum.
"The antiserum works!" Fitz said. "But she jumped out of the plane!"
Ward didn't respond except to jump out, just like Jemma had. Except he had more control. And a parachute.
Which he hadn't put on, Fitz realized. He stared at the edge of the ramp, his pulse still thumping and his heart still racing. Blood roared in his ears.
He couldn't help feeling he had failed her, even as all he could process was his shock and despair.
Coulson came and stood next to him after a few minutes. "He saved her." He told Fitz. "We're picking them up now."
Fitz felt himself start to come out of that fog and nodded at Coulson, trying to tell him how much he appreciated being told right away. The man seemed to understand, and placed a comforting hand on Fitz's shoulder for a moment.
Fitz watched as Ward walked back up the cargo ramp after climbing on, soaking wet but unharmed. He carried Jemma in his arms, limp and just as wet as he was, but alive.
Ward set her down in the medical section, and Fitz lay a towel over her, starting to dry her. She already looked better, her skin starting to even out its tone. Fitz knew she would wake up any moment, so he stood by her side, ready to help her if she needed anything.
The first thing she did when she woke up was wrap her arms around him, holding him tight. He felt happy about it, but knew she probably would have done it to anyone. She just needed human contact; for comfort.
He sat with her like that for a few minutes, and then she separated from him. He didn't meet her eyes, just stood up from the bedside and walked out.
He didn't see her again until after her talk with Coulson, when she found him sitting on the padded bench and sat down beside him.
"I was going to do it." He said softly, looking at his hands.
"I know you were." She said, just as softly; reassuringly.
"I had the antiserum, the chute, everything, I just couldn't get the straps on." He felt the need to explain himself to her, and his words flowed out of his mouth faster than he meant them to.
"Fitz, please." He was aware of her looking at him, wanting him to look at her. She was trying to make him stop talking.
"And, maybe I couldn't have done the whole James Bond in midair, time-."
"Fitz, shut up!" She said a bit louder, firmer. She brought her hands up to her face and then back to her lap, and then smiled at him. "Ward did an amazing thing, yes. But it wasn't Ward by my side in that lab searching for a cure. It wasn't Ward giving me hope when I had none. It was you." Her voice raised as she said 'you', and he felt the compliment actually sink in. "You're the hero."
That got him to look at her. He even smiled. "I am." He said
"Yeah." She replied, sweetly. Then she lowered her voice again, showing him the last bits of fear she felt. "Thank you."
He nodded, and then she leaned in closer to him, slowly, and kissed him on the cheek. He felt himself blush and tightened his hold on the pillow, smiling. Then she walked away.
Maybe he hadn't been very Bond-like that day. Or maybe he had, in his own special way. Either way, Jemma saw him as the hero.
He'd never been called that before.
And he had to say, it felt good.
Especially coming from her.