A/N: Hello!

I know what everyone's thinking. I was thinking it too. It's been so long since I updated, a part of me worried I was done with this story. Not intentionally, but because I have been working so hard on my book that I haven't written any fanfics in months (the good news is that I have come extremely far in my book). And then, the night before the season four premiere, I had a dream, and decided to write it down. And here it is. I am extremely sorry about the months between my last update. I want to promise it won't happen again, but I can't. Just know that for now, I do plan on finishing this story (with many more chapters, though I know exactly what to write for the final one). Whether or not I actually make it to 100 drabbles... we'll see. I will certainly try.

So here's another drabble, this one Simmons-centric. Hope you like it!

"Everyone has to participate?" Fitz asked.

"Those are the new Director's orders." Simmons said glumly as she tightened the laces of her shoes.

They hadn't seen much of this new Director, but he seemed to be a serious business type. It had only been a short while that he'd actually been at the base with them, and now he was insisting that everyone on base go through a training exercise. Even the scientists.

"It just seems like a waste of our time." Fitz said.

"It is." May said, walking up to them. "But he wants to see how we do in high stress conditions. If the base is ever attacked, he needs to know exactly who can defend it."

"But physical testing isn't going to prove anything." Jemma said, straightening. "We could build something that would be just as effective as actually fighting!"

"You can do this." May said, looking directly at her. "You've trained. Just get it over with, for him, and then you're done."

Jemma looked at Fitz, who nodded, and sighed. "Let's be off, then."

They were taken to a new part of the base, which had been reconstructed after S.H.I.E.L.D. came into the open again. It had to fit more people, so it was made bigger. When the three made it to the meeting point, they were given ICERs and combat glasses, to create a visual battle.

"This is gonna be tough." One of the leaders said. "There are obstacles in the physical space that weren't there before, and they won't show up in your goggles. But if you take off your goggles you won't see the enemies. Tread carefully, but don't slow down. If you get shot, your goggles will act accordingly. Kill shots shut off the goggles, injuries affect the vision. If you slow down you'll be left behind. Just find the nearest exit. Every man for himself. Understood?"

There was a chorus of assent, while Jemma looked at Fitz with an expression that said 'really?'. He mirrored her reaction, and she smiled and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"We'll stay together." He said. "I don't care what they say."

She nodded. And then they put on the goggles, and the training started. For the most part, the group stayed together. Jemma fired her ICER only once, when an enemy was coming up behind Fitz. He returned the favor a few minutes later. Everything seemed to be going fine. They alternated between moving stealthily and running, so that pretty soon Jemma was tired and sweaty. The exercise seemed to last forever, and there still wasn't an end in sight. It was in the middle of one of their sprinting sessions (probably the fourth or fifth) that Jemma stumbled and fell. People kept racing past, but Fitz stopped and went to help her up. They were in the back of the pack, still caught up but no longer in the safe middle, and then Jemma's vision became spotty. She stopped and looked around, confused. Fitz stopped too, and suddenly fired a shot behind them.

"You're not dead, right?"

"No." she said. "Just spotty."

It was so weird, only knowing she had been "shot" from the suddenly spotty vision of the goggles. They started to jog again, now in real danger of being left behind. Unfortunately, it only got harder from there. The next time they were in a room of a mass of enemies, which happened every once in a while, Fitz wasn't fast enough. He was hit and his vision got spotty, like Jemma's. But she saw that the enemy that had shot him was aiming for a kill shot. And before she thought to use her ICER she pushed Fitz out of the way, her vision deteriorating to tell her she had been hit. But that wasn't the bad part. The bad part was that the group was running again, almost all the enemies dead, and her forward momentum and horrible vision made her trip over an obstacle that felt like a rock, sending her tumbling down.

Fitz looked back from a few feet ahead and started to try to come back to her, but some of the people grabbed his arms and pulled him away.

"Jemma! Are you okay?"

Her vision was gone. The goggles had gone dark, which meant in the exercise, she was dead. "I'm alright. Go ahead!"

He didn't have much choice. She thought it was sweet how concerned he was, even for a fake exercise like this. Then again, they'd been through so much real stuff that it was understandable. She hadn't liked seeing him keep going without her, and she was sure him seeing her on the ground gave him much the same feeling.

Beaten by a rock, she thought as she took off the goggles and stood up. That was heroic. Then again, she had tripped after protecting the man she loved. So maybe it was slightly heroic. Either way, she thought it was worth it. She hoped Fitz made it to the end.

She tried to find the nearest exit. This new area had been sealed off until recently, and she'd had no reason to explore it. And after running with the goggles on, she was a bit turned around. She finally found a door that led into a hallway, and following that, decided to check other rooms in the hall. If she could identify one, she could orient herself and find her way back to the lab.

She was almost at the end of the hallway, checking the second to last room, when she happened across the Director meeting with someone, in a large supply room. She had walked in, not knowing exactly which room it was, and had ducked behind boxes when she'd seen them. She tried to leave without disturbing them and heard them talking as she did, and stopped when she heard Daisy's name. And May and Coulson's.

"Agent May doesn't trust me. They're too unpredictable. Quake needs to be stopped, by whatever means necessary. And if Coulson happens to be caught in the crossfire..."

She couldn't help it. She gasped. She knew they were after Daisy, but Coulson and Mack were trying to bring her back safely, and she knew they wouldn't let S.H.I.E.L.D. hurt her. But if S.H.I.E.L.D. hurt Coulson... Everything would fall apart. And their teammate would be gone.

She had to tell May. May could get a message to Coulson, to tell him not to trust any help from S.H.I.E.L.D. It would be harder on him and Mack, but they would be safer.

"Who's there?"

The Director. He'd heard her. Jemma was so close to the door, she just needed them to look away so she could slip through it-

And suddenly a hand was reaching in her direction, from in front of the boxes, and it touched her and froze. And then the arm appeared, followed by a face. A face that looked at her in shock and anger.

"Agent Simmons, what are you doing?"

"I was just getting some files, and then I heard you and decided to leave, so sorry to interrupt." She looked down ace tried to walk past him, but he grabbed her arm.

"How long were you there?"

"Only a few seconds sir, really."

He slapped her, and fear started up her heart. "Don't lie."

"There's no way of knowing how much she heard." The companion said. "You can't trust her."

The Director studied her. "You showed some skill even being able to sneak up on us. You've been holding back." He looked at his companion. "Go ahead. You know what needs to happen."

The other man left, and then the Director looked at Jemma again, still holding her arm. "I don't suppose you're going to keep what you heard secret. And if I threaten Agents May and Fitz... I think you would do anything to keep them safe. But you're too smart for your own good. Eventually you'd find a way to get what you heard out there. So how to make you stay quiet without killing you?"

She couldn't say anything, knew she should but didn't know what and didn't want to make things worse.

"I could throw you in a cell somewhere. But there's two problems with that. One is your devoted little team. They'd press for you to get out, and demand to know why I did it. Two, I don't want to waste your brain in a cell. You can be too smart for your own good sometimes, but that's only when you're not obedient."

How his grip lessened, and she saw an idea form in his eyes. Renewed fear surged through her.

"I never liked HYDRA, but they did have a few good ideas. One of those was compliance."

Jemma's thoughts turned to Donny Gill and Kara, and she tried to back away without realizing it. He held her tightly, keeping her close.

"I know what you're thinking. But don't worry. I had my best scientists modify it. It's practically harmless."

He smiled. "It just makes you completely obedient to one person: me. You'll still be Jemma Simmons. You'll still love your team, your work, and Agent Fitz. But your primary loyalty will be to me."

"Nothing could work like that." She said, logic piercing through her panic for a moment. "It's impossible."

"Let's test it out." He said, leading her to his office. "You're my first patient." He kept her arm tightly gripped as they walked, making her walk slightly in front of him. He was really stong.

He pushed her through the door and locked it behind him. Jemma looked around for anything she could use as a weapon, something to call for help with-

"You're no match for me in combat." He said confidently. "And even if you managed to get a phone, everyone is training in that skills test. I assure you, we're alone."

He was right. What could she do? He walked to a portrait on the wall and fingered the underlie of the frame, and something dropped out: a syringe, with a cool blue liquid.

"It looks intimidating. But it's much simpler than the way Whitehall did it. No screens or phrases. Just administer it and stay in their sight while it takes effect, and they're yours. You can appreciate the simplicity. It's essentially a neurotoxin. I'll just have to give you another dose before your body breaks this one down, but we should have some time before that happens. So let's go."

He walked closer. She backed away until she hit the far wall and realized she had nowhere else to go, and felt her heart start hammering away. And he smiled when he saw the helplessness in her eyes.

He administered it in her arm, a swift jab of the needle. Immediately the spot felt cold. Cold, liquid but almost freezing. Cold spreading from her arm to her shoulders, her neck. And when it reached her head it did a curious thing. It got warmer.

She wanted to freak out about it, but as it got warmer, it faded, until it started cooling to her regular body temperature. And as it did she looked at the Director, who held her chin to force her to look in his face, and for what seemed a long time she was just staring at him, not trusting him at all and hoping that the liquid had not worked. Hoping she could pretend it had and be off, and tell the others what they needed to know.

And then the last traces of heat from the serum faded, as it spread throughout her body and brain, and as if a lock clicked everything changed in an instant. She audibly gasped, her eyes widening and locking on the Director, pupils dilating to twice their usual size, and she took several deep breaths, her eyes locked on his face, memorizing it and associating it with every feeling of loyalty she'd ever had. The Director lowered his hand from her chin and took a slight step back, inspecting her carefully.

"Agent Simmons?" he asked lowly.

She didn't answer, just stood looking at him, her mouth parted, her breathing fast as the serum performed its duty working on her mind, being absorbed.

"Agent Simmons?" he repeated. "Are you alright?"

Her pupils dilated back to normal and her breathing eased. "Director." She said, still looking at him but with less intensity.

"Do you feel any different?" he asked.

She assessed herself quickly. Everything seemed to be in order. Then she remembered what she had overheard. "What about Coulson?"

His eyes narrowed. "What about him? He's a threat to S.H.I.E.L.D., however good an agent he is. It's easier on everyone if he disappears."

Her face twisted as she considered what he said, her loyalty to the two men opposing each other. "But he's a good man. He hasn't done anything wrong!"

"He's broken the rules too many times for my taste, and he's just going to keep breaking them. And what are rules for if certain people don't obey them?" he looked at his watch and then back at her. "Besides, as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. it's my decision."

However much she wanted to argue in favor of Coulson, she couldn't question the Director further. That would be disloyal, and in their world, loyalty was everything. "Please don't hurt him."

"I forbid you to speak of this to anyone." He said with command. "You are my agent, and you will do as I order."

She looked down in shame at being spoken to like that. "Yes sir."

"We're clear?"

"Very clear, sir."

She looked up again and saw that he was smiling. "Fantastic. Now go back to the lab, and tell Agent Fitz you exited the test early and went right to the lab. No need for anyone to know we spoke."

"Yes sir." She said again, walking past him towards the door.

"Oh, and Agent Simmons?"

She stopped with her back to the Director.

"I'm glad you were so willing to comply."

She waited a second to see if he had anything else to say, but he was silent. So she walked out of the office, closing the door behind her. She was worried about Coulson, but the Director said it was his decision. And she couldn't challenge the Director. She'd been too challenging before, just asking him not to hurt Coulson. Of course she felt loyal to Coulson, but the Director had made his decision, and she couldn't disobey. No, it wasn't right to question your leader.

He was the true leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. now.

She owed him all the loyalty she had.

A/N: So I didn't completely wrap it up. That's everything I wanted to say about this. In my head, the story ends well. Everyone is safe, and the neurotoxin wears off faster than expected. Forgive me for not writing that, but I thought I'd leave exactly how it happens up to you guys. If you do have questions though, let me know. I always thought more should have been done with compliance, and this drabble kind of satisfied that thought. I hope you liked it, guys. It feels good to be writing drabbles again. I'll try not to take so long next time.