DAY 89 (after the big discussion, but before the little one…)

Coulson said that since we were clearing the air it was probably a good time to tell Fitz and Simmons how I felt. He said it might be part of the whole nightmare solving thing. Nothing would be better than sleeping all night and not having to deal with being trapped in that damn house with some goon trying to get me. I wasn't so mad anymore and it was weird but I did kinda feel better. So we took a long slow walk to the lab and of course they were both there, busy with some kind of science stuff.

Jemma smiled a huge smile when we walked in but it kinda melted when Coulson said I had something I need to say. She just nodded like she knew what was coming and Fitz swiveled his chair around. He leaned on his elbow with that one finger tapping at the side of his eyebrow, like he always does when he is thinking about one thing but listening to something else.

I took a big breath because I was starting to think this wasn't a very good idea anymore. Coulson put his arms on my shoulders and squeezed a tiny little squeeze. I looked up at May and she just did one of those almost nods that you almost don't notice unless you know May. So I swallowed and looked back at Fitz and Simmons who were just looking back at me.

I told them their idea about treating me like an adult and leaving me all alone was really STUPID! I told them it really made me mad and that it made me think my mom and dad didn't want me anymore. I even said mom and dad without even thinking about it. I told them they should have thought about that and they were too smart to be so stupid. I said it all really fast and then took a big breath cuz I figured they would argue about all the theories and reasons and how it should have worked. But they didn't. Jemma just stood there with her mouth opened a little like she wanted to say something but figured it wouldn't make a difference. Fitz kept tapping his finger, but now he was looking at the floor not at me or Jemma.

I tilted my head back to look up at Coulson. He smiled a little then nodded toward them kinda telling me to keep going til I felt better about it. I told them it was dumb to treat me like an adult even though I was one because I was stuck being a kid and I really needed my parents. I told them again it made me real mad then I said I forgave them cuz that's was families do. They do dumb things and they get mad and they yell and say sorry and forgive each other. I told them I forgive them because they're my family and even though I was real mad and their idea was real stupid, I still loved them.

Jemma was biting her lip and I could see one tear leaking over her cheek. She just put her arms out and I ran right to her and hugged her so tight I felt the air go out of her. She hugged me too and said she was sorry and it was a rather stupid idea. Then she nodded at Fitz cuz he was still staring at the floor. I hug tackled him and the chair tipped a little before he made it straight. I could see his cheeks were so red. I told him it was okay because I was just different again. He laughed a little and hugged me tighter. Then I told him I was different but not different and he said that made perfect sense. I figured since we were so close I could ask him about his secret project. He helped me stand up straight and told me it was definitely classified. I reminded him that I was the same level as him. He just laughed and stood up then said but he was much bigger. I tried pouting but it didn't work. He said when I needed to know he would definitely raise my clearance level.

Jemma said they were really sorry and asked if there was something they could do to make it up to me. I thought for a minute then asked May if she saved the Wakatta. She just smiled but I thought Simmons looked pretty green. She actually backed up against the counter and Fitz said he thought that might be going a bit too far. I couldn't help it…I just burst out laughing at them. I was kidding. They laughed too, we all did.

I think we're all okay now.

NIGHT 89

I asked Fitz and Simmons if they wanted to join our nighttime picnic. They said maybe next time. I think they just wanted us to have a little family alone time. May and Coulson got called to ops right after I talked to Fitz-Simmons so I go to spend some time in the lab. Fitz told me the bug I planted in Hale's place was still sending info, so I guess those dolts didn't find it yet. Either that or they wanted us to have that intel. You never knew for sure with HYDRA so he said they were careful about what they believed. He also said they got some real scratchy video feed from the bug and he was trying to clear it up so they could view it. I didn't get to see it because he said Mack and Coulson would have to okay that…and probably May. It seems that mom's outrank directors when it comes to stuff like that. I mean, come on, what could there be that I haven't already seen. Geez, talk about overprotective…hmmm, but I guess she's always kinda been that way.

I started to wonder how Fitz-Simmons knew about the Wakatta. I never told anyone but I guess they knew something was up…I mean they're spies too. I also wondered about May's funny smile. Seriously, did she rescue that thing? I was out of it when we got out of the Playground and I don't remember much about it but the way the place was falling apart I don't think she would have risked it. Then I thought about Davis…damn Davis…maybe he threw it in the Zephyr before the whole mess started. But how would he know? No, the damn thing was buried under a million pounds of rubble. It had to be.

So when we were packing for our picnic on the catwalk I kinda asked May if the Nai Nai's ass blaster was a casualty. Well, I sure didn't say it that way or I wouldn't like the answer. She kept right on packing and smiled that same funny smile. I asked her again and said did she really go all the way down to the Tack Room to rescue it? Was it that important? She kept smiling and tapped me on the nose but didn't say one word. So now I just have to know… Geez, maybe old Nai Nai's got a whole slew of them and all May has to do is send a request like some crazy Amazon order. What if she's got them kid sized? Nah, not even my Tiger-granny is that authoritarian (how's that for a big word and spelled correctly cuz I looked it up). But, we don't get mail or deliveries here or at any base except from inner agencies and through agents. Grand-mama is definitely the supreme leader of some UGA and probably has her own network of…of…some kind of agent-elves in a Wakatta workshop chugging out the damn things so May is never without. She could sneak it in this base and the only one that would know would be May and she'd never tell…until she needed the damn thing.

I don't know why my head was all crazy over the damn thing. It had to be gone and my grandmother was happily…if she ever got happy…retired on her farm in Pennsylvania. At least that's what she wanted people to believe but I don't think anyone ever gets out of this life all the way…well at least until they are all the way out of this life. I watched May pack our goodies and she still had that same kinda 'I know something you don't' smile all the while. I asked her if Nai Nai had a kid sized Wakatta that maybe she didn't tell me about and she said no. I think she saw me breathe a relieved breath cuz she almost laughed. So I pushed it a little and said Nai Nai didn't need it til she was a rebel teenager? May did laugh then, just a little smiley laugh and shook her head. She stopped what she was doing and sat on the kitchen chair. She looked right at me and said Nai Nai did not stand for any disrespectful behavior and that was just about any thing less that perfection. She didn't need the Wakatta because she had a very firm hand and when that wasn't enough there was a certain black onyx hairbrush that made a long lasting impression. I swallowed hard cuz I never thought May would do anything wrong anyway. Then she smiled again and said she was lucky enough to spend most of the time with her Baba who was much more understanding. Then she pulled me closer to her and whispered real soft like nobody else should hear. She told me I didn't have to worry about the Wakatta because if there ever came a time when it was needed again…and she hoped that was never. I just nodded cuz so did I. But if she ever did need it again, she'd know exactly how to make one. I just swallowed again and nodded. I did not need any more explanation.

May smiled, then tapped my nose and kissed my forehead and told me not to worry about things that haven't and probably won't happen. She said worry is wasted energy and we would take care of whatever when it happened and right now we needed to get moving. She kissed me again and I noticed it didn't make me feel weird anymore…embarrassed like. It was just a mom thing and I kinda felt glad she got to be a mom cuz even though she didn't think so, she was pretty good at it. She grabbed a sack and I grabbed one and we moved out to meet Coulson at the base of the Lighthouse.

Everything looked different here, away from the city and all the stuff that goes on there. There's a different kind of quiet that isn't full of electric buzzing and traffic and people just moving around. Here is full of crickets chirping and the wind making the trees move and brush against each other. The waves too, you can hear them crashing against the rocks. You can just see the little lights across the water at River's End. There's not a lot, just some little specks and as it gets later almost all of them go out. The best thing is the sky. It is full of so many stars. I never thought you could see so many. I never thought the lights of the city blocked them out so much but here there were zillions. It kinda looked like a big black blanket with thousands of pin holes. Sometimes it didn't seem real. Even the light that swung around the lighthouse…yeah it really did work to warn the ships about the reef and the rocks didn't block them out as much.

Coulson was waiting for us and it was already dark but we climbed all the way up and just stood there for a minute looking up and all around at the marvel of this place. From up here we could see the whole town across the lake. There must have been a celebration there because there were fireworks. It was so weird to see them so little and so far away that the bangs and booms were just little pops that came a couple seconds after the sparkles sprinkled in the sky below us. Yeah, fireworks below us, we had to look down to see them. And with both my parents…my real parents…with me I could stand close to the rail and watch the whole show. It was great and something we didn't even know would happen.

Coulson brought blankets cuz it was cooler so high up. We sat on them and munched on cheese and crackers and some grapes. Fitz even gave us this little Bunsen burner he rigged up and we used it to roast marshmallows and made S'mores. We even had hot chocolate in one of those old fashioned kind of thermoses. Then we all snuggled together and wrapped the blankets around us and looked at the stars. Coulson said if I managed to stay up until after midnight I might see a meteor shower. He said they were common this time of year. I said I didn't know he was an astrology nerd, just a history nerd. May said they were kinda the same and we all laughed. Then we just sat and watched the stars and the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper and a whole lot we didn't know the names for. Coulson pointed to a wave in the sky that was starting to turn green. I sat up and saw the pink fans stretching up to the white streams. The colors just waved around each other like a crooked nighttime rainbow. He said it was the Aurora Borealis and we were just lucky enough to be up here when we could see it. It didn't come all the time. All I could say was wow and we just sat back and watched it dance around in the sky.

We just sat there, cuddled under the blanket and I kept trying to hide my yawns. It would be great to see a meteor shower but I didn't sleep much last night and it was getting harder and harder to keep my eyes opened. I think I drifted off a couple times because I could hear them talking over me but it just sounded like a soft rumble. It was kinda like the sound of the car when you travel for a long time, it just puts you to sleep. When Coulson helped me to stand up I told him I wasn't sleeping but he just smiled. He lifted me up and I put my head on his shoulder. Next thing I knew May was tucking the blankets around me and kissing my forehead. Somehow I was in pajamas and had Ling-a-ling in my arms.

It was the best night I had in as long as I could remember…and no nightmares either.

MEANWHILE – FITZ/SIMMONS LAB: 2150 HOURS

"That cannot be possible," Jemma shook her head. "You must have rearranged the pixels somehow. Play it again."

Fitz blew a puffy breath out of both cheeks and ran a hand through his hair. "I have not made any errors or rearranged a thing and we have watched the bloody thing seven times, Jemma."

He shook his head and clicked a few keys on the keyboard before him. A blip later a fuzzy black and white feed played interrupted by zig-zagging lines across the screen. It crackled a bit before it reset and the picture became clear. Fitz hit another key freezing the action then two more and advanced the video frame by frame. Jemma stood behind him watching as the pictures slowly scrolled by with each tap of the keys. As the film advanced to a specific point she could not help the gasp that escaped her. She stood back with one hand covering her mouth.

Fitz let out a breath over his lip. "I think it's time we showed this to Mack. The Director will be none too pleased." He slipped the thumb from its port and clenched in his fist before turning and walking toward the exit. Jemma hesitated a moment, still hoping it was not true then turned and followed.

xx

Mack leaned forward and stared at the image frozen on the screen. "You're sure this is the real thing?"

"Bloody hell!" Fitz threw his arms in the air. "Does no one believe I bloody well know what I'm doing?"

Standing back, Mack shook off a smile. "Take it easy, Turbo. We know you're the best at what you do." He shook his head. "It's just…just…this is just too much. Coulson is going to…"

"What about May?" Jemma interrupted, still staring at the image on the screen.

No one felt qualified to answer…no one wanted to imagine May's reaction. Coulson would not take it well but he would pull it together and they'd figure out some way around it. But, May? She would go ballistic.

"Maybe it would be better to wait until the morning." Yoyo added. She leaned closer to the screen and squinted at the image.

"That may not be the wisest choice." Jemma fretted. "I think they would both be more upset knowing we didn't let them know immediately."

"I don't think a few hours will make much difference. There isn't much any of use can do at this point. We don't even know if Hale's people have this or if it's just more intel from Daisy's little implant. I don't think we need to go all catastrophe until we have more information." Mack reasoned.

"And who wants to climb to the top of that tower to bring them down?" Yoyo asked, knowing she'd get the honor since she could do it faster than anyone else. "I thought we agreed to let them have some family time." She reminded them.

"Mack and Yoyo are right." Fitz agreed then turned to Jemma before she could object. "Look, all we have is this very grainy image and it could be just that…more intel that Hale's goons haven't even seen. We could be going all off on something that isn't even an issue."

Mack reached over Fitz and turned off the screen. He took the thumb drive and nodded to the younger man. "We keep this between us." Jemma opened her mouth to protest but he stopped her, holding up one hand. "Just until we know more. Right now all we have is a picture. We don't need to make more of it. Fitz will keep an eye on the intel still coming in and if anything points toward trouble…well, we'll handle it then." With a small flick he passed the small item back to Fitz. "Keep this safe until then."

Fitz gave a quick nod as he dropped the small drive into his shirt pocket. Jemma shook her head. "I'm afraid this is not going to end well for any of us. If we aren't telling them now, we definitely need to make them aware in the morning."

"Jemma," Fitz smiled. "We are not trying to keep this from them, just giving it a little time. It could be nothing. It could blow over and all of this would be for nothing. Why upset them all when there is no need?"

Dropping her shoulders and raising a brow, Jemma glared at her partner. "Do you recall May's reaction the last time we had a stupid idea?" She waited a moment as he merely shrugged. "Well I do, I vividly recall every word, Fitz and it was not pleasant." She let out a frustrated huff. "Beside that we don't know what kind of danger this may pose for…"

"Enough," Mack commanded. "The decision's been made. It isn't up for discussion." At Jemma's reaction he added, "or argument."

Jemma let out a huff, but agreed to agree…for now.