Jemma was pacing up and down the common room, waiting for Coulson to call her into his office. It had been a few hours since the line had gone dead in her hands. She had reported it immediately, of course, and just as immediately been kicked out of Coulson's office. "I'll update you when we know something."
She had probably worn a path into the floor by now, but she couldn't seem to sit still. Or stand still.
"Jemma? Hunter?" May was standing at the top of the stairs. "Coulson would like to talk to you." Hunter leapt off the couch, bounding up the stairs. Jemma followed him more slowly.
The map of the region where Fitz and Bobbi had gone was displayed on the back wall of the office. There was a greyed out dot where they had gone dark.
"Jemma, Hunter." Coulson was sitting at his desk.
"That's not a good sign." Hunter muttered into Jemma's ear.
Jemma tightened up. "Yes, sir?"
"As you both know, we lost contact with the team a few hours ago. In the hours since, we've been scanning every channel we can find, waiting for them to make contact. They haven't yet, but you shouldn't worry. Bobbi is one of our most competent agents, and it is part of protocol to stay off the grid. We should hear from them within an hour."
"Shouldn't worry?" Hunter burst out. "My wife is out there, and you're telling me that you can't find a single trace of her? Bloody hell, I'm going to be worried all right." Turning on his heel, he stormed out of the office, slamming the door.
Jemma watched him go, and then turned back to Coulson. "Sir? What- what happened? Do we even know that?"
"There was a squad car sent to that area to investigate an explosion at an abandoned factory." Coulson tapped on his desk, and a dash cam video of a burning building was projected. "Local firefighters still haven't been able to extinguish it entirely."
"But why would they have been there? Why would they have called us from the location of their mission? That doesn't make sense." Jemma said.
"Their mission actually took place a few miles from the factory. The factory was their rendezvous point." Coulson said, "We'll keep tracking this, and I'll update you when we have more news. Feel free to pass this on to Hunter."
"Sir?" Jemma said, stopping at the door. "What do you think is going on?"
Coulson sighed. "I don't know, Simmons. I don't know. I'll let you know."
"Ahem." Hunter was standing in the doorway, his arms awkwardly draped with the cheap strings of tinsel that they sold in drugstores. "Do you mind helping me with this? I'm not much for decorations."
"What?" Jemma said, looking up. There was definitely a worn down strip on the floor from her pacing. "Tinsel?"
"I want to decorate the common room, for Bobbi, you know. She likes Christmas, and it'll make her happy when she comes back." Hunter said, "Because they are coming back. You know that, right? Right, Jemma? You know that they are coming back."
"Coulson has officially listed them as missing in action." Jemma said, her chin quivering. Her face ached from the effort of trying not to cry.
The tinsel fell to the floor with a soft swish. Hunter's strong arms encircled the scientist, squeezing her tightly. "They're coming back, Jemma. We've just got to believe in them, all right?"
"All right." Jemma said, quickly brushing her cheeks with her hands. "Now, let's decorate for Christmas, shall we?"
"Look at the time, Jemma. It's 12:04 AM on Christmas Eve. It's already Christmas." Hunter said. "Jingle bells."
"Bobbi said that she'd have Fitz home for Christmas." Jemma said quietly.
"Then she has 47 hours and 56 minutes to fulfill that promise." Hunter said. "Christmas is a two day event, mate."
"But Christmas Eve is so special." Jemma said. "It's when we light candles, and sing carols, and drink tea, and open stockings."
"That's a fair point." Hunter said, "But if Bobbi said that she would have Fitz home for Christmas, he'll be home. We just have to be patient."
