"Ward!" "Stop!" "You don't have to do this!" "Please, Ward!"
The duo's panicked screams echoed through the small escape pod as it creeped backwards, out of the plane. Their friend's betrayal was still overwhelming all of their thoughts, the pair ignoring the pod's slow reverse into mid-air.
"Ward! I can't believe you!" Fitz continued to scream, despair mixing with the pain in his voice. Ward was his friend, his teammate, his brother. Even if he had switched allegiances to Hydra, Fitz never dreamed that he would be capable of hurting his friends.
The pod shook, the weight starting to become uneven as it extended farther into the air. Fitz didn't notice, still pounding against the window and screaming at Ward's ever-shrinking face in the distance. "We're a family, Ward! How could-"
Simmons noticed it first, snapping herself out of panic and into reality. "Fitz! Fitz!"
Simmons' panicked shout cut him off, forcing him to turn around to face his partner. "We're about to fall, we have to strap in!" She yelled, grabbing his shoulders from behind and pulling him away from the window. "We have to strap -" Simmons repeated, shoving him into a booster seat, when the pod fell.
The pair was weightless for a moment before they slammed into the ceiling, the entire pod spiraling around them.
"Fitz!" Simmons screamed, reaching for him, eyes wide in terror. The engineer had one arm through the restraints of the seat when he was yanked away, and the sickening snap that echoed through the pod, combined with a sudden blinding pain, told him his arm had just been broken. But, he was still connected to the seat. Clenching his jaw through the excruciating pain, he extended his other arm out to Simmons, trying to pull her down to the seat next to him, but at that moment the gravity thrusters engaged and the pod's spinning came to a screeching halt.
"Simmons!" He yelled, watching hopelessly as his friend was flung to the other side of the pod, her head slamming into the wall with a loud thud. Her limp body slid down to the floor, leaving a small trail of blood on the wall.
"Simmons!" He screamed again, frantically untangling his useless arm from the restraints and rushing to her side. "Simmons!" Fitz kneeled next to his friend and felt for a pulse. He thought he detected one, but it could have just as easily been his own pulse, his adrenaline was so spiked. Hell, she may not even be alive anymore. But he wasn't willing to face that quite yet.
Quickly, he rose and ran to the window, forcing himself to push aside his fear and face reality. At the rate they were falling, the pod would hit the ocean in under 15 seconds. It would float once it got there, but the force of hitting the water would be deadly if they weren't properly strapped in.
"C'mon, Jemma," Fitz said, hooking his arms under hers and pulling her up. The weight of his friend's body pulling down on his broken arm made him scream, but he breathed through the pain and tears as he pulled her farther up and into the nearest padded chair lining the wall.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," he muttered, cursing himself when his fingers fluttered with pain and he fumbled buckling her seatbelt. "C'mon!" He yelled again in frustration, finally buckling Simmons' belt before sliding into the seat next to it and fitting his buckle in place just as the pod hit the water.
The force slammed his head against the back of the seat. In the half-second before he passed out, Fitz fleetingly thought how ironic it was that Simmons may have died from falling out of the Bus after all.
* * * * *
Fitz awoke with a start, a rush of pain and heartbreak and fear hitting him all at once. "Simmons!" He breathed immediately, his eyes flying open as he recalled the events leading to his knockout. He twisted in his seat to see the woman in question pressed tightly against the back of her seat, held close by her restraints. She still appeared unconscious, her head lolling to the side.
"Shite," Fitz muttered, reaching down to unbuckle his restraints before a lightning of pain shot through his arm, reminding him of his injury. "Dammit!" He cursed again, holding back tears as he carefully slipped his injured arm free. "Simmons?" He asked, shifting close to her and reaching out with his good arm, gently checking for a pulse, praying he would find it this time. He held his breath, squeezing his eyes shut. There! There it was. Faint, but there.
"Oh, thank God," he whispered, leaning forward and pressing his forehand to hers. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," he whispered, tilting up to kiss her forehead. He was sure the image of being stuck at the bottom of the ocean floor with Simmons' dead body would haunt his nightmares for years.
Fitz carefully ran his good hand along her hairline, along the back of her head and neck, then delicately skimmed her collar bone and arms and winced at what he found. While strapping her in may have saved her life, his inspection showed that the tight restraints may have caused some damage themselves.
The scientist unlocked his partner's restraints and then, as carefully as he could with only one good arm, slid her to the floor and arranged her in such a way that wouldn't put any additional strain on her ribcage and neck, as those were the areas that caused him the most concern.
His task completed, Fitz rocked back on his heels and grimly smiled down at the sleeping woman, reaching out to brush the hair that had fallen across Simmons' face. They had survived. They had survived the worst, and come out on the other side. Together.
Satisfied that Simmons was as okay as she could be given their situation, he relaxed slightly, finally allowing other observations to flood his consciousness.
His ears were popping. Why were his ears popping? And why was it so dark? Was it night already? How long had he been out? It had been early afternoon when they fell, surely it hadn't been that long since...
Fitz's blood ran cold when he looked at the small window. It was dark and blue. Too dark and blue to be bobbing peacefully on the ocean's surface. He stood and rushed to the window, pressing his face as hard against the glass as he could to look out. They were underwater and sinking even deeper, if the bubbles passing by the window were any indication.
His popping ears suddenly made sense. He could just see the shine from the water's surface if he looked up, so he quickly estimated how far down they were - maybe 3 to 4 meters? He counted how far they seemed to drop in ten seconds, then did the math in his head, quickly calculating the rate at which they were sinking.
"Oh, no." He muttered, running towards the wall with the blinking transmission equipment. "No, no, no, no…" He kept muttering, good hand flying over every single piece of equipment he saw. Finding nothing that could help him operate the pod, he quickly searched the whole room. "No, no, no, NO, NO!" He shouted, praying that he would find some sort of control panel. Nothing.
"NO!" He shouted again, slamming his good arm against the wall in frustration. He ran back to the window and starting banging furiously against the glass. They were still close enough to the surface to swim up. "No!" He screamed louder, hitting the glass so hard he feared his hand might break, but he didn't care.
This was not happening to them. He was NOT going to let this happen to Simmons. Wait. Simmons. Why wasn't she waking up? He was making a ton of noise. He looked back and down onto the unconscious girl. She should have woken up by now, with all the noise he was making. She must have hit her head harder than he thought.
"Dammit!" Fitz yelled again, hitting his hand on the window one final time before sliding down the wall and collapsing on the floor. They were in a pod that was sinking to the bottom of the ocean, and he couldn't do anything except watch it happen. One of their closest friends had betrayed them and tried to kill them, and Simmons was potentially seriously hurt. It was too much. Fitz gazed at Simmons. What would she do? He was always so self-involved, focusing only on science solutions for their problems, and relying on the two of them to use their brains to solve any problem. But Simmons...
Fitz stood, eyes growing wide. Simmons loved being part of a larger team. She cared for their friends and she relied on them to care for her. She was always the first to ask for help, whereas he was always looking inward, failing to find the solution, and getting frustrated with his own insufficiencies. So he could ask for help!
He quickly ran back to the control panel, examining every instrument carefully. There. A transmitter. A way to signal the team. Gleefully, Fitz flicked it on and started yelling into the microphone. "Mayday, mayday!" When he was met with nothing in return, not even static, he frowned. "Mayd-" he started again, then stopped short when he saw the frayed wires sticking out of the back of the box.
Fitz didn't even need to inspect it for that long to know that the condition of the transmitter made it a non-viable option. "Dammit," he muttered. "Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!" He yelled, punching the wall and cursing again when he yanked his hand back in pain. In his panic, he had forgotten about his arm injury.
Who designed this cursed pod? Quenching the instinctual urge to sketch some improvements, Fitz forced himself to focus. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears slipping out as he made himself to breathe deeply and avoid a panic attack. He had only had two or three in his entire life, and each time Simmons had been by his side, holding his hand as he got through it. Right now Simmons wasn't available, so he had to take care of himself. He had to take care of her.
Opening his eyes, Fitz stared at Simmons' still form, tears continuing to trail down his cheeks. He had to take care of himself so that he could be the hero she needed. Ward wasn't here to swoop in and save the day. At that errant thought, Fitz's mind suddenly went blank and he had the stray idea that this must be what it feels like to be one of his devices when it short circuits.
The fact that Ward – hero man Ward, whom Simmons had spent countless hours with, being rescued by, relying on for protection, and sacrificing her time and brilliance and love to in the name of friendship - had betrayed them and done such an ugly, terrible thing made Fitz see red with rage.
Not only were Ward's actions now going to result in their death, but he could have killed Simmons anytime he wanted to over the last year. And Fitz would probably have never been the wiser. The waves of pure hatred that rolled over him were so strong they forced Fitz to slide down and collapse next to Jemma on the floor. He stared at his partner, lightly running his hand over her neck and skull again, double-checking the severity of her injuries. He felt her pulse and tucked a stray hair behind her ear.
Ward wasn't an option. He couldn't rely on any special agents to save the day this time. He had to be the hero for Jemma. Looking at her peaceful face, Fitz let himself mourn for what could have been just for a moment more. He loved her. She was the most important thing in his life. He was so angry, SO angry at Ward for stealing her away from him. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, lightly, then stood up and wiped the tears off his face, resolute. His priority was Simmons. He didn't think there was a way out of this that didn't end in certain death, but if there was a way out, he knew could figure it out together. Like they always did.
So all he could do right now is try to stop sucking up all the oxygen in the room, try to figure a way out of this, and just wait for her to wake up. Because between the two of them, they'd know what to do. And once they figured it out, he would do whatever, whatever it took to get Simmons out alive.
Fitz's left arm started shaking with the pain and the latent rage toward Ward still pulsing through his veins, and he knew it was time to address his injury. He scanned the room and found a small medical pack and got to work setting his arm. He was glad Simmons wasn't awake to see him screaming in pain during the process.
That unpleasant task done, he got to work fiddling with the defribulator he had found tucked with the supplies, just passing the time as he waited for Simmons to wake up.
