Drabble 98: Magnitude

A/N: This drabble was requested by Post-Apokiasulyptic-Misha. It's a continuation of my Simmons AU 'Shaken', in which Simmons undergoes the transformation in the underground city instead of Skye. This drabble takes place during the episode of season two with Lady Sif and the Kree. Hope you like it!

Simmons closed her eyes and breathed out slowly, focusing herself, and felt the charge inside her start up. She imagined the sparks coming to the surface, and heard the crackle in the air that meant she had succeeded.

"Good. Now try to focus them to your hands."

She imagined them moving to her hands, and heard the crackling intensify as they started to gather near the tips of her fingers.

"There you go, Sparky."

Her concentration slipped and the electricity fizzled out. Simmons opened her eyes. "Seriously, Fitz, with the nickname?"

He looked down at the tablet in his hands and wrote down a note. "Didn't think it would break your concentration like that." He mumbled.

"It didn't." she said. "At least, not entirely." She sighed. "It's been over a week and I'm still not any closer to controlling this."

He stepped closer. "Well it doesn't help that you have to be so careful about practicing, what with not everyone knowing about your abilities."

"I don't like keeping it from them, but…"

"But they might not react like we hope they would." He finished. She noticed that he left out that she had been growing in hysterics about all of it just before she'd gone through the transformation, and nodded gratefully.

Coulson walked into the room. "You two should get back upstairs. We've got something to check out, and I'm debriefing in five."

Simmons nodded at Fitz's silent question of if she was ready and followed him up. She took a deep breath before walking into the room and facing the others, reminding herself to stay calm and act normal. Her acting had definitely gotten better since her undercover time in HYDRA, but these were people who really knew her. She couldn't show that anything was off.

Coulson told them about Lady Sif being spotted, and sent Fitz along with most of the team to investigate. Simmons stayed behind, to analyze the samples Fitz was getting. And keep everyone safe.

But once they came back with Lady Sif, and after finding the container with more Obelisks, Simmons felt her pulse start jumping. Fitz was by her side in the lab as they prepared to open the container, but she kept flashing back to that underground city, to a pulse of energy coating her in rock, Trip disintegrating before her eyes…

"Jemma." Fitz said sharply.

She came fully back to the present and realized the lights had been flickering.

"Everything okay down there?"

Skye's voice, over the video feed.

"Yeah, just something wonky with the lights." Fitz said quickly. "Seems to be fine now."

Simmons swallowed nervously and refocused herself on the task at hand, opening the container and flinching as she saw – nothing.

"It's empty." She said. "The obelisks – they're all gone!"

"This just gets better and better." Fitz muttered. "How do we find those?"

"Come to my office." Coulson said over the comms. "We'll make a plan with Lady Sif and our Kree friend."

"I hardly think friend is appropriate, considering he tried to kill people." Fitz whispered to Simmons. She smiled for a microsecond, still trying to recover herself from those horrible memories.

As she thought about them though, even to tell herself to not think about them, her heartrate increased, and her breathing became more shallow. She felt the particles inside her start charging, a precursor to the electricity outside her skin.

"Fitz," she said in an urgent whisper. "I'm losing it again."

He took her hand and led her into the hallway, where there was no camera or comm channel on. "Jemma, you can control this." He said quietly, looking her in the face. "It's just nerves. You've shown me that you can control it, whenever you focus the sparks to your hands."

She bit her lip and nodded, forcing down her fear. This was not the time.

They walked to Coulson's office together, and Simmons stood partially behind Fitz as they faced Lady Sif and the Kree.

"It is troubling that the diviners are gone." The Kree said. "I will have to locate them before any more monsters can be made."

"What do you mean, monsters?" Skye asked.

"The diviners failed with every race. Every race, except humans. Certain humans are changed by it, and made into weapons of unbelievable power. They are bloodthirsty creatures bent on destruction, and must be put down."

Either Simmons started to shrink behind Fitz, or Fitz moved to stand in front of her. "How do you know they're all monsters?" Fitz challenged. "Maybe they're just changed."

"They were designed to be soldiers." The Kree said.

"The Kree is right." Sif said. "The creatures cannot be allowed to live."

"But you're not even giving them a chance!" Fitz cried.

Sif looked at him carefully. "Why are you so insistent on this?"

The Kree stepped closer. "Do you know where one of the creatures is?"

"Of course we don't." May said. "But we know someone who was changed. We were searching for them."

Sif was still studying Fitz, and Simmons knew the Asgardian didn't buy May's excuse. Sif knew Fitz was asking for a different reason, and as Simmons watched with no breath Sif's eyes flicked from Fitz to Simmons, just over his shoulder. Simmons started trembling with fear and took a step back, and Sif's expression changed. Her theory had been confirmed, and Simmons felt a chill of horror go through her.

Sif took a step towards her and Simmons panicked. She stepped back further.

"Did you go through the transformation?" Sif asked, her eyes locked fiercely on Simmons.

She didn't answer, but she didn't have to. Her terror got the best of her and her powers flared. The light in the corner shattered in a burst, and electricity crackled into existence along her body.

"Run." May said in the split second of hesitation. Then she leapt forward to keep Sif and the Kree from going after Simmons.

Fitz took her hand and they bolted from the room.

"Where are we going?" Simmons asked.

"I don't know!" Fitz stopped by the lab's door. "They're going to need a distraction." He said. "For the Kree." He glanced behind them and then looked at Simmons, torn. "I have to get the weapon ready, to give us a chance against him."

"Of course you do." She said. "I'll be fine."

He looked pained as he rushed into the lab, but Simmons didn't blame him. He was trying to protect her, like they all were. Whether they should or not. She ran through the base mentally and started heading to the holding cells when she realized they were the best place to hide. She'd just gotten there when May ran in.

The woman didn't even stop, just grabbed Simmons by the arm and walked her into the confines of the cell, taking the remote from Simmons' shaking hands and turning on the barrier that hid them.

"May, what are you -?"

"Don't say anything." May said. She was completely tense, one hand extended towards Simmons, the other hovering over a weapon in her belt.

A lump formed in Simmons' throat. "Thank you." she managed.

May looked at her for a second with a lighter expression in her eyes, then went back to her watchful position.

"I thought something was different about you." she said without looking.

"I can't control it. Whenever I'm scared it just -."

A sword appearing through the wall made Simmons cut off with a shriek. They'd found her. What could she do to stop them? May was incredibly strong, but against as Asgardian and, unless Fitz had already found a way, a Kree, the woman's chances weren't good.

"Surrender yourself willingly." Sif said as she worked on getting through the cell wall.

"She's not a threat to anyone." May said with an edge to her voice.

"Not yet perhaps." Sif said.

Simmons felt herself freeze as Sif started to walk through the now open cell, her mind moving so fast she couldn't process much of anything. She did know one thing, though. She couldn't sit here and watch May put herself in harm's way, not when she wasn't even trying. She stood and jumped between May and Sif, facing Sif.

"What are you doing?" May hissed.

"I surrender!" Simmons cried, looking at Sif and the sword she held pointed at Simmons. "Please, don't hurt anyone else."

"I do not wish to hurt anyone on this team."

Simmons was aware of the sparks racing over her skin, hundreds of tiny pops reflecting her anxiety and fear. With extreme effort she slowed them to an almost complete stop, and raised her hands. "Please." She said again.

Sif moved too fast for Simmons to see, knocking her off her feet and holding her sword to her heart. Simmons couldn't look away from the object as it hovered over her, and then pressed lightly against her chest.

"You aren't defending yourself." Sif said. "You would let me kill you?"

Thinking that there wasn't much she could do to stop it, Simmons forced her gaze to Lady Sif. "I'd rather you didn't, but I understand."

Out of the corner of her eye Simmons saw May reaching for her weapon, and reacted without thinking. "No!" she threw her arm out, sending a charge at May just as the woman was about to fire at Sif.

The sword pressed closer on her chest and then vanished as both Sif and May looked at her in surprise. "Don't fight!" Simmons gasped.

Sif sheathed her sword over her back and offered Simmons a hand to stand up. Simmons looked at her, confused. May still seemed wary.

"You kept your friend from shooting at me. Even though it may have allowed you to escape."

Simmons looked at May, hoping she wasn't mad about the shock. "I'm not running anywhere."

"Then for now, we'll leave things as they are." Sif said. "I hope you prove me wrong, Jemma Simmons, and show me that not all things the Kree create are monstrous."

She turned and walked out of the room.

"May, I'm sorry I -."

"Don't." May said.

Simmons bit the inside of her lip and nodded.

"We'll need to work on controlling your emotions. You did a good job just now, but you need consistency. I'm working on it with Skye. Join us tomorrow."

Simmons opened her mouth, caught unaware, but May was already walking after Sif.

"Thank you." she said quietly.

May hesitated by the foot of the stairs, and Simmons thought she saw the woman incline her head in acknowledgement. Then she was gone.

Fitz rushed to her as soon as she came off the stairs, and she hugged him as he questioned if she was alright.

"I'm safe, Fitz." She reassured him, thinking of how valiantly Fitz had stood in front of her.

She caught May's eye as the woman started talking to Coulson and Sif and smiled.

She was definitely safe here.