A/N: blacklacesslytherin asked: "I love your AUs! Do you think you could do something where Biospecialist was HYDRA but then went rogue?"
Sneaking into the hospital is so easy that it doesn't really deserve the term. There's no one on guard, no obvious security presence, and the room—when they reach it—is deserted, aside from the person they're there to see.
Really, all they have to do is walk in.
"Sloppy," Jemma says, disapproving, as she snags the chart from the end of the bed. "And they've left him without any visitors, as well—that's just unkind."
"He's in a coma, Jem," Grant reminds her lightly. "He doesn't know the difference."
"Actually, there's some debate about that," she tells him, even as she flips through the chart. "And even putting that aside, they could at the very least leave someone to explain things to him when he wakes."
It's been two weeks; at this point, Grant seriously doubts that anyone is expecting Fitz to wake from his coma. Still, he knows better than to say so to Jemma.
"They're being hunted," he reminds her instead. "Between HYDRA, that Talbot guy, and—well—us…" He shrugs. "They're low on resources and manpower and they think Fitz is safe where he is. I'm sure they'll be here the second he shows signs of waking."
"Security through obscurity," Jemma tsks, but she looks mollified. "As though a false name could hide him from me."
"I doubt you're the one they're hiding him from," he says. It looks like they're gonna be here for a while, so he drops into one of the visitor's chairs, propping his legs on the end of Fitz's bed. "They probably don't think you're a threat to him."
"They're right about that, at least," she sighs, and chews on her lip as she scans his chart. "This doesn't look good, darling."
"How bad is it?"
"He was brutally beaten and took several blows to the head," she says. "They can't conclusively judge how bad the damage was until he wakes, but as it is—the scans have not been encouraging." She looks near tears. "It's not a question of whether he has brain damage, just how severe it is."
Well, fuck.
"I'm sorry, Jem," he says sincerely. He knows what Fitz means to her—has always known, even if he hasn't always been as understanding about it as he is these days—and the fact that they ended up on opposite sides after the HYDRA shake-up didn't change anything. "What do you wanna do about it?"
That they'll be taking revenge against HYDRA for this goes without saying. They both made it very clear, at the beginning, that Fitz was off-limits. Their orders were ignored, so—like Fitz's brain damage—it's just a matter of how severe their retaliation will be.
Jemma returns the chart to its place and perches on the edge of Fitz's bed, reaching out to smooth a hand along his cheek. It takes serious effort for Grant to remain in place instead of getting up and pulling her into his arms—he hates to see her so sad—but he manages.
"Look what they've done to you," she says quietly to Fitz. He's in pretty terrible shape; even aside from the respirator and the various other machines he's connected to, he's covered in bruises and bandages. Not to mention the fact that half of his head's been shaved.
Even Grant is angry just looking at him; this must be killing Jemma.
"Jemma?" he prompts gently.
When she turns away from Fitz to look at him, her eyes are glossy with unshed tears, but her face is set.
"We're going to burn HYDRA to the ground," she says, slowly and deliberately. "And we are going to destroy every member of it so thoroughly that their great-great grandchildren will flinch to hear our names."
He smiles. He does love it when she gets vicious. "With pleasure."