Drabble 96: Joyride

"You've never done anything like that?"

Jemma shook her head, and Skye exhaled in a huff. "I don't know why I'm surprised, really. You and Fitz practically scream goody-goody."

"We don't scream anything." Fitz protested.

"I seem to remember you screaming not too long ago." Ward said, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He was looking at Fitz with amusement. Jemma fought to keep her smile hidden at the memory, for Fitz's sake.

Fitz seemed to deflate slightly. "Well we don't scream goody-goody."

"Skye's got a point." Ward pressed. "It's like you two skipped right over being teenagers. You went from kids to adults, with no stops in between. No rebellion, no attitude. No daring."

Jemma scoffed. "Excuse us for choosing to pursue academic feats instead of trivial, meaningless -."

"Fun." Skye interjected with raised eyebrows.

Jemma looked appealingly at Fitz. "We did fun things, didn't we, Fitz?" She considered many of their activities fun, but she wasn't about to tell Skye and Ward about their trivia tournaments and science conventions.

Fitz was biting the inside of his lip, obviously thinking the same thing. "We had the club at the Academy."

"Doesn't count." Ward said. "This has to be something the two of you did on your own. I know I had a few 'rebellious' stunts."

"I've had some too." Skye said. She smirked. "I remember the first joyride I went on, the guy was so close to catching me! It was such a thrill."

Jemma smiled nervously. She knew what some of those stunts were, for each of them. She was in no way going to try and repeat those. She did plan on doing something, though. Just the fact that Skye and Ward were ganging up on them made her want to prove them wrong, but the thought that she had missed a defining opportunity with Fitz… that had to be changed. Skye had said she went on a joyride…

"We'll do something right now." She said defiantly, fixing Skye a look.

"Really? Like what?"

She looked at Fitz, hoping he would say something else, but he hadn't thought of anything yet. So she took a deep breath and said it. "We're going to take Lola for a joyride."

There was silence for a second, and then Skye laughed. Ward's expression ticked towards amusement again. Fitz stared at her like she was crazy.

"What on earth would give you that idea?" he demanded. "Do you know how much Coulson loves that car?"

"We're not going to damage it! We're going to take it out and bring it back before he even knows we're gone."

"And if he does know we're gone?" Fitz asked, his pitch rising. "What'll he do then?"

"There's always a risk, Fitz." Ward said. "That's what makes it rebellious."

"Coulson would freak if you stole Lola." Skye said. Her tone was joking, but Jemma knew there was sincerity behind it. Coulson would be very upset if he caught them.

She looked at Fitz, communicating with him in the way only the two of them could. We have to do something, she said.

Are we really willing to risk this? He asked. It's such a stupid thing to do.

If we back out now, we'll never hear the end of it.

She heard his silent protests. She was telling herself what a stupid idea it was as well. But they had to prove that they could be more than just smart scientists. It wasn't just proving it to Skye and Ward, but to themselves. They hadn't passed their field tests, yet here they were, on a team that practically lived in the field. And they were thriving because of it. Maybe doing something they would never normally do, which many do as teenagers, would be as good an experience.

"You guys really are psychically linked, aren't you?" Skye murmured.

"Let's do it." Fitz said, nodding to Jemma.

Skye's expression changed to shock. "You guys aren't serious."

"Why wouldn't we be?" Jemma asked. "You want us to do something, don't you?"

"But not steal Lola!" Skye said, her own voice rising now. "Do something smaller! You don't steal a car when you haven't practiced stealing a bike, right?"

"We're not teenagers anymore." Fitz said. "We can do the grown up stunt."

"Atta boy." Ward said.

Jemma walked next to Fitz as they moved to the loading dock of the Bus, where Lola sat in pristine condition. A flare of nerves made her stop next to the prized vehicle, but with another look at Fitz she got into it.

"This is comfortable." She said. She'd never sat in it before.

"She is very nice." Fitz said. He gripped the steering wheel experimentally, adjusting his position and then the mirror.

"Slowest grand theft auto ever." Ward said.

"Right." Fitz said. "See you soon, then."

Ward lowered the ramp for them and they backed Lola off of the Bus. Jemma looked all around as the car touched the ground outside, expecting to see Coulson. But he was somewhere on the Bus, hopefully occupied in something that would keep him busy for a while. They were on free ground.

"Ready?" Fitz asked her in a low voice.

"As ready as I'm going to be." She said in a falsely cheery voice. "I'm thinking less of this plan every minute."

Fitz started driving Lola away from the Bus. "Coulson does have good taste in cars." Fitz said. "Do you want to go a bit faster?"

Though she was worried about being caught, Jemma found herself swept up in the excitement. Skye had been right to say it was a thrill. The rush of adrenaline she felt was incredible! "Please!"

Fitz pressed down a little harder on the accelerator, and Jemma's hair started flying out behind her as they picked up real speed. Which gave her an idea, making her look at Fitz with a devilish grin most unlike her. The light in his eyes was equally devious as he shared the same thought, and Lola started climbing into the air.

Flying around in Coulson's car, Jemma understood what Skye and Ward meant when they looked back on their stunts with pleasure. It was exhilarating, knowing she was doing something just because it made her happy, with no rational benefit. It was freeing, and she and Fitz were laughing by the time they came back to the Bus, landing on the ground with a soft thump.

"That was amazing!" Fitz said. "I never would have done it on my own, but I'm so glad you convinced me to come."

She smiled. "I'm glad you drove. I wouldn't have been able to even back out of the Bus!"

He looked around. "Didn't May park around here?"

Jemma mirrored him, her joy being replaced by unease and dread. She took her time looking around, but they were definitely in the right spot.

The Bus was gone.

Fitz had his mouth open in shock, and Jemma felt a familiar ball of panic form in her chest. "This is why we don't do things like this!" she cried. "Fitz, they left us!"

"They won't be gone long." He said. "When Coulson realizes we're not there, or that Lola is gone, they'll come back for us."

Jemma put her head in her hands. "Oh why did we do this? I shouldn't have bowed down to peer pressure!"

They sat in a tense silence for a minute, and then Fitz shook his head. "No, we had to do this." He said. "Sooner or later we had to do something like this."

"But it's backfired!"

He shook his head again, smiling slightly. "Not yet it hasn't."

She looked up. "You don't mean…"

"He might not know we're gone yet, and the worst it can do is -."

"- leave us red-handed with Lola." Jemma finished. But that ball of anxiety was quieting, as it usually did when Fitz helped solve a problem. "It's a chance."

Fitz started the engine again, bringing Lola up into the sky.

"Fitz?" Jemma asked a few minutes later.

He glanced at her.

"We forgot something."

"What's that?"

Jemma pointed at the fuel marker. "To replace the fuel."

"And to ask permission."

Jemma froze, and saw Fit stiffen. Both looked at the radio.

"Come back to the Bus." Coulson said over the comms. "The fuel is the last thing you should worry about."

Jemma closed her eyes while she took a deep breath, and then met Fitz's eyes as they approached the Bus. "It was a nice ride." She said with forced optimism.

Fitz mirrored her tight smile. "At least if we die, we've done something rebellious."

They watched the ramp lower and flew Lola inside the Bus, touching the floor just as the door resealed. Coulson stood facing them, his arms crossed and his expression stern. Skye and Ward were nowhere to be seen.

Jemma couldn't meet Coulson's eyes as she and Fitz walked up to him.

"Leaving the plane without telling anyone?" Coulson started. "That's foolish for anyone, but I never expected it from you two. It could have been dangerous."

Jemma glanced up when he paused, wondering how much of a punishment they were going to get, and saw the sternness fading from Coulson's features. His tone changed drastically as he looked at his car and then back at them and asked "So how'd you like Lola?"

She and Fitz smiled.