Drabble 85: Motherly Wisdom

A/N: Hey guys! This drabble takes place immediately after the season finale, with one minor change. Hope you like it!

Fitz looked at the details on the screen and hit print. He'd gone over the details numerous times in recent days, never actually booking the ticket, but now he was ready. He needed to go home.

He'd started thinking about going home right after the team had shared that meal together, once Aida had been taken care of and things were sort of settling down. When they hadn't been arrested, he'd realized maybe they had a little time before they faced punishment from the government. And if they had a bit of time, he owed it to his mother to pay her a visit, before something potentially life-changing happened.

As if the time since his last visit had been a vacation, he thought with a bitter laugh. It had been much too long since he'd been back home. He'd been thinking of a visit to his mum again before the Framework, but especially after being in it, he needed to see her. He needed to thank her for being the one to raise him, and not his father.

He'd seen the man he would have been without his mother. He hoped he never acted like that man again.

He packed his duffel bag and put it over his shoulder as he walked out of his room, the ticket in his hand. He had to tell Coulson he was leaving. His thoughts turned to Jemma, and he looked at the ground. She could hear it from Coulson, after.

He gave a sound knock on Coulson's door and stepped partly inside. "Sir, can I have a word?"

"Sure."

Fitz stepped the rest of the way into the office. He saw Coulson's eyes go to the duffel bag over his shoulder.

"You're leaving?"

"Just temporarily." Fitz said quickly. He couldn't let them think he was abandoning them. "I figured I should visit my mum, before we get into more trouble." He didn't share the Framework reasoning; Coulson probably knew anyway, but he didn't want to talk about it.

Coulson looked at him for a second and gave him a deep nod. "Alright. As long as you're coming back."

"In a few days." Fitz assured him. "Thank you, sir."

"Take care of yourself."

Fitz ducked out of the room, closing it behind him and turning – to find himself face to face with Jemma.

"Oh!" she said, smiling lightly. "Didn't expect to run into you here. I just wanted a word with Coulson."

"Yeah, me as well."

He saw her eyes move over him, from his awkward facial expression to the bag on his shoulder, and finally resting on the ticket still clutched in his hand. "Fitz, are you leaving?" she looked up at his face, and he was shocked by the alarm written across her expression. "You can't leave, not when I've just gotten you back and we're all together! We need you, Fitz, you can't beat yourself up over what's happened -!"

"Jemma!" he interrupted, touching her arms. "I'm not going away forever! I just need to visit my mum for a few days."

She searched his face. "You're not lying, are you?"

He shook his head. "No. I told Coulson the same thing." He held the ticket out for her to inspect. "One ticket home."

She read the destination and bit the inside of her lip. "Okay."

"I'll see you in a few days." He said, starting to walk past her.

"Wait!" she said, catching at his arm. He turned to face her, unsure what she wanted. He was unsure around her all the time now, and he didn't know how to fix it. He hoped a trip home would help set things right, even if it just enabled him to move on. "Fitz, you weren't going to say goodbye, were you?" she asked quietly.

He looked at the floor. "I thought it would be easier that way." He muttered.

"Was it easier for you, when I left that way?"

He was brought back to the time right after their drop in the ocean, when he had woken up from a nine-day coma with brain damage. Jemma had been there for the first few days after, but after a week or so, she'd disappeared without a word. He'd learned afterward that she'd gone undercover, but the fact that Coulson had told him she went on assignment, not Jemma, had hurt almost as much as the fact that she left. He supposed his plan to have Coulson tell her he'd left wasn't as good as he'd thought, now that he considered the side she was on.

"No." he said, flicking his eyes up from the floor. "It was worse."

"I know it's not the same thing, but you need to know I care what you do." Her hand tightened on his. "I need you to come back."

He returned the pressure on her hand. "I promise I'm coming back, Jemma." He said. He met her eyes, hoping she could tell that he was being completely sincere. They had always been good at nonverbal communication. She finally seemed to believe him.

"Tell your mum I say hello." She said softly.

"I'll give her your best." He said. And he walked away.

Fitz stepped inside the small house he had grown up in after giving a light knock. "Hello?"

"Oh, you're here!" Fitz's mother appeared near the door, immediately wrapping her arms around Fitz. "Leopold, I've missed you so much!"

The door swung gently shut behind him. He hadn't even had time to set down his duffel bag before his mother had rushed over to him and started hugging him. He put his arms around her, and swallowed heavily. When his mother let him go he blinked rapidly, but of course she saw the tears behind his eyes, and her expression softened and became more concerned, in that way only mothers could look.

"Oh, sweetheart, come inside, tell me what's going on. I'll make some tea." She led him to the kitchen and directed him to a chair, then moved to a cupboard to get out the kettle. Once the water was boiling she came and sat down next to him, touching a hand to his arm. He had managed to compose himself while she got the water, so he was in no danger of crying. It had just been the motherly embrace that had prompted tears; something he hadn't felt in a long time. "Now, what's wrong?" she asked him. "I know something made you come here."

"I can't just come to see you?"

"Now of course you can, but something's happened." She said. "And don't try to pretend."

He looked at her and was tempted to smile. It was good to be home. "Jemma says hello."

"Oh, how is she? I was so happy to hear you two had finally gotten together."

"She's alright. I don't really know what's going on between us at the moment. There've been some difficult situations recently." And Fitz, who tried to tell his mother as little to alarm her as possible, told her everything that had happened in the past few months. He told her about Aida, and the LMDs. He told her about the Framework, and everything he had done in there.

He watched her reaction as he told her: the shock and confusion when he spoke about the technology, and concern when he described the Framework. The teakettle whistled, but it was left ignored as she listened. "I just really needed to see you." he finished. "To let you know I love you, and thank you for raising me the way you did."

She sighed and rubbed his hand soothingly. "I know, Leopold. You're a good man, whatever reality you're in. You know that, right?"

"Not with his parenting. Jemma barely recognized me in there. I barely did, once I came back to myself."

"This is the real world." She said. "Your father didn't raise you. That's not the man you really are. But that's not what you're worried about." She took her hand away. "She still loves you."

He looked at her in surprise. Was he that transparent? "How do you know?" he asked. "I feel like I broke everything good we had."

"I'm not going to say it'll be easy, but you'll get past this." His mother said.

"How do you know?" he demanded, his voice moving up on him in pitch and betraying his emotions.

"Because it's always been you and Jemma, for God's sake!" She said. "Since the day you two met, you've barely been apart from each other. You keep hitting bumps in the road, but after each one you end up closer than ever. You need each other, Leopold. Don't you dare push her away because you think you've ruined something. I know she doesn't think your relationship is ruined. The only way you ruin it is by running away."

He stared at her, not really seeing her. He continued to stare in that same spot when she stood and started rewarming the water, lost in thought. The only way you ruin it is by running away. He'd tried to leave without saying goodbye. And he'd been distancing himself lately, unsure how to act around her.

He looked up when his mother sat back down, actually seeing what was in front of him again. He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand. "I know." She said softly. "You need to go back."

He closed his mouth. That had been what he was going to say, but now he wasn't as decided as he'd been a second ago. He had just gotten home. He ought to stay for at least one night. "I do need to go back." He said. "I need to talk to Jemma, set things right." He leaned over and hugged his mother. "But I need to be here with you first."

His mother looked like she was about to cry, but she nodded, moving to get the tea. Fitz stood and placed the duffel bag in his old room, taking out his phone and sending a message before returning to the kitchen.

I'm sorry I left so quickly. I needed to see my mum to start to feel better. I want to talk when I get back. We have lots to talk about. But I'm ready to, if you are.

He sent that message, and then typed another one, his finger hovering over the send button. He touched it before he chickened out. It wasn't as if he hadn't said it to her before.

I love you.

Then he went back to the kitchen, where his mother was waiting for him.