May held her legendary stone cold expression as she pushed off the counter and strode toward Fitz.
"You remember me. That's a good sign." she said calmly.
She grabbed an Icer from her holster and leveled it at Fitz.
"Now here's the million-dollar question: Friend or Foe?" she asked.
Fitz looked her in the eyes.
"Friend, May. I'm still your friend." he said slowly.
May nodded and pointed the gun at Simmons.
"What about you, Simmons? You still like me?" she asked.
Jemma struggled for a moment, going back and forth in her head. After a few moments, she shrugged hopelessly.
"I'm not sure." she said finally.
May pulled the trigger and Simmons fell limp on the couch. Fitz looked at May in shock.
"What the hell?" he questioned as he went to Simmons' side.
May holstered her weapon again and went back into the kitchen.
"Relax, Fitz. It's just a precaution. If some sort of Hypnosis technique is at play here, Hydra might be able to flip a switch and turn Simmons into a fighter. I don't want to have to fight her. It wouldn't be pleasant for anyone." she said as she went to the fridge and grabbed two bottles of water.
Fitz gently laid Simmons down on the couch and put a pillow under her head.
"Delicacy isn't really your strong suit, is it?" he mumbled.
May came over and handed Fitz one of the bottles.
"Mind filling me in?" she asked bluntly.
Fitz sighed and nodded, indicating to a chair.
"Might want to get comfortable." he suggested.
May sat down and Fitz detailed what had happened to him and Simmons since the skirmish with Hydra. May took it in, nodding periodically. After Fitz was done, May processed her thoughts for a minute.
"You said there was a machine?"
Fitz nodded.
"Yeah. But it looked more like a restraint than anything. There was a screen in front of her and she had ear buds in so I assume it a combination of audio and visual suggestion." he explained.
May nodded and thought for a minute.
"Do you think you could reverse engineer it?" she asked.
Fitz shrugged and shook his head.
"Maybe, but I'd need specs and a lot of help from Simmons." he replied.
"How do we go about getting specs?"
"Well, there are two quick but dangerous ways and one safe but very slow way." Fitz started.
"What are the quick ways?" May pressed.
"Well, if we get Skye to the lab's main computer so she can hack it we might be able to find the original designs. Or, if I had the Dwarfs, we could try to find the actual machine so I could scan it and compound the data to create a 3d rendering." he continued.
May nodded.
"And the long way?"
Fitz took a deep breath and sighed.
"Simmons and I continue to work at Hydra until I can gain their trust and gain access to the blueprints." he said grimly.
"I take it you're not overly fond of that idea?" May guessed
Fitz shook his head.
"Not that the job's hard. I've actually enjoyed working there so far. And they set us up in this great apartment. But I can't keep it up, knowing what they've done." he explained.
May nodded in understanding. She sighed and stood up.
"Skye's standing by. Let's give option 1 a try." she suggested.
Fitz nodded, a little smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.
"That sounds good." he agreed.
Skye would be a welcome face after all that had happened. Maybe she would even be able to help jog Simmons' real memories. It was worth a shot anyway. Fitz crouched down beside Jemma's unconscious form and stroked her hair gently.
"We're going to get you back yet, Jemma. I promise." he whispered.
It took a few minutes for Skye to get to the apartment. By the time she arrived, the effect of the dendrotoxin in Simmons was wearing off. She opened her eyes to see Skye smiling at her.
"Well, clearly May's missed you." she teased.
Simmons jumped a little and, involuntarily, moved back from Skye. The hacker frowned and moved back a bit herself.
"Right, sorry, didn't mean to startle you." she said apologetically.
Simmons gave a sad smile.
"I'm sorry, Skye." she whispered, looking away.
Skye fought against the tears that stung her eyes and shook her head.
"No, it's fine." she said as she moved to sit in one of the chairs.
"You're not yourself, I get it."
Fitz watched the exchanged. Poor Skye. She was only trying to help. But Simmons was so damaged. Fitz went over and sat down beside Jemma. She sat up and sidled close to him, grasping for his hand. Fitz took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. He smiled at her gently.
"She's here to help, Jemma. I promise you." he whispered comfortingly.
Jemma gave a small smile and nodded before resting her head on his shoulder. Fitz sighed and turned his attention to Skye.
"So, did May explain what you're looking for?" he asked.
Skye nodded and got her laptop out of her bag.
"Yeah some sort of hypnosis machine?" she checked.
Fitz nodded.
"Something that uses auditory and visual cues to stimulate certain areas of the brain and put other areas asleep." he clarified.
Skye started clicking and typing on her computer, her face determined and focused.
"Let me see if I can access that information from here, that'd be safest. But, it this is anything like what we dealt with in Cybertech, we may need to do most of the heavy lifting at the lab." she explained as she typed.
Fitz nodded and looked at May.
"If we end up having to go to the lab, can you have someone bring Simmons back to the Playground?" he asked.
Jemma looked at Fitz in shock and grabbed his arm desperately.
"No, I'm not going to leave you, Fitz." she said in a panic.
Fitz looked at her pleadingly.
"Jemma, it's not safe for you there. If Hydra catches us, they'll take you from me again and…God, Jemma, don't make me go through that again. Please." he begged.
"And what if they catch you? And take you from me, Fitz?" she insisted.
Fitz looked at Simmons for a long moment, considering everything in his head. He looked at Skye and then May.
"It's your call, Fitz. I'll watch your back one way or another." May promised.
Fitz looked back at Jemma. He sighed and nodded.
"Okay, but you're staying right by me the whole time, you understand?"
She nodded vigorously and squeezed his hand tightly.
"It shouldn't take me too long once we get there. Five minutes tops." Skye added.
May gave Fitz her Icer.
"If Simmons stops trusting you, you're going to need this." she said seriously.
Fitz nodded and took it. He gave Jemma's hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Thank you. But it won't come to that." he replied.
May nodded and dug into a bag that Skye had brought with her. She holstered two guns on her hips and one Icer on her thigh, just in case. She tossed a gun to Skye before zipping the bag back up and slung it over her shoulder.
"We should get going. The sooner we can get this intel, the sooner Fitz can start working on a way to get Simmons back to normal." she said before heading for the door.
Skye closed her laptop and put it in her bag. She shouldered the bag and stood up, smiling at Fitz-Simmons.
"See, I told you May missed you." she joked before following her S.O. out the door.
Fitz stood up and held his hand out to Simmons.
"Come on. It's time we went home." he said softly.
Simmons hesitated. She looked around the apartment wistfully. As far as she was concerned, this was their home. Leaving meant living with strangers and enemies, in her mind. But they weren't strangers or enemies. Deep down, buried under everything Hydra had put into her head, she knew she could trust them. She looked at Fitz. With a small smile, she grabbed his hand and allowed him to pull her into a tender kiss.
"I'm still not giving up on you, Jemma." he whispered against her lips.
With that, he entwined his fingers in hers and led her out of the apartment for the last time. No turning back. Fitz was going to get his Jemma back, no matter the cost.
~*#*~
Fitz-Simmons, May, Skye, and Hunter hovered over the Hydra lab in the quinjet. Hunter was going to stay close-by to pick up the team in fifteen minutes. They had that long to get in, find the mainframe, hack it, and get out. Skye was certain they could get it done. Hunter brought the jet in close to the roof and the team bailed out before he pulled up and disappeared into the night. May led the way with Skye in back and Fitz-Simmons sandwiched in-between the two field agents. They went in through the rooftop fire escape and made their way to the third floor.
"That's where the main lab is." Fitz whispered.
May nodded and led the team down the stairs, slowly, checking every doorway and corner. When they made it to the third floor doorway, May had them all stand back. She opened the door and went in slowly. She checked every nook, every cranny, and every hidden corner meticulously. When she was sure it was clear, she waved the rest of the team in. They quickly made their way to the main computer room. The door was electronically sealed, but Skye was able to crack the code in a matter of seconds. Once they were in, she plugged in her laptop and went straight to work.
"You'll recognize this thing when you see it?" she asked Fitz.
Fitz nodded and watched over the hacker's shoulder. Simmons kept herself pressed close behind him, clinging to his arm for security. May watched out the door, her gun raised and ready in case of any surprises. Skye fingers typed furiously and images started popping up on the screen. Fitz scanned each one quickly. Though he would have loved to see and study all of them, he searched out the one he had seen the day he and Jemma were captured. Getting Jemma back to normal was him main mission right now. Anything else came second in his mind. Finally, he pointed at the screen.
"There! That's it!" he exclaimed quietly.
Skye nodded and quickly worked on copying all the information related to the device onto her computer.
"Hurry it up, Skye." May said over her shoulder.
Skye typed and clicked for a few more seconds then sighed in relief. The file was downloading but she decided to use this opportunity to damage Hydra as well. She planted a virus. A very sneaky, slow moving virus that, if it did what she programmed it to do, would cripple any computer that interacted with this one. By the time Hydra caught it, the organization might be crippled beyond repair. That was for Jemma. And, also, a little bit for herself. Once the blueprints had downloaded and Skye had successfully planted her little bug, she closed her laptop.
"Done!" she said triumphantly.
May nodded and signaled for her to get moving. Once Skye and Fitz-Simmons were out, she closed the door and followed the group to the stairs. They had done it. Fitz now had everything he needed to make a device to unearth Jemma's real memories and destroy all the trash Hydra had planted. The group reached the top of the stairs and went out onto the roof to hide and wait for Hunter. He would be coming for them any second.
"You should be congratulated, Agents. That was an impressive feat."
The group looked at the stairwell. A single man stood in the doorway. Hector. He looked at Fitz angrily.
"I thought you were an ally, Fitz. I though for sure that Simmons would keep you here as long as we needed you." he growled.
Fitz shook his head.
"Hector, you don't understand. Hydra is evil! I've seen it first hand. It doesn't matter any good that they do, at the end of the day they're out to take over the world." Fitz retorted.
May had her gun leveled at Hector's head.
"This guys a friend of yours, Fitz?" she asked.
Fitz nodded.
"He doesn't know what Hydra's really all about. He's not a true believer or whatever, Hydra just got him out of prison." Fitz explained.
Hew turned to Hector and looked at him pleadingly.
"We can help you, Hector. S.H.I.E.L.D would love to have you on it's side. You can fight for the good guys instead of kidnappers and murderers. Just, give it a chance." he reasoned.
But Hector ignored Fitz. He looked at Jemma.
"Dr. Simmons, take a deep breath. Calm your mind. You know what is best." he said calmly.
Confused, Fitz looked at Jemma. She looked a little zoned out. Her eyes were focused on Hector. Fitz grabbed her arm gently.
"Jemma, what's wrong?" he asked, worriedly.
"You know what is best, Jemma. What is best is to comply. Compliance will be rewarded." Hunter continued.
Simmons blinked and nodded.
"I am happy to comply." she said stiffly.
Hector smiled.
"Get away from Agent Fitz, Jemma. He is not your friend. I am your friend. Come to me." he ordered.
Jemma nodded and tore away from Fitz before steadily making her way over to Hector. Fitz went after her, grabbing her hand.
"Jemma, no, stop! He's controlling you, you have to fight it!" Fitz begged.
Simmons yanked her hand away from him and continued toward Hector.
"I told you before, Fitz: she can't hear you. We own her!" Hector laughed.
Fitz ground his teeth and grabbed Simmons again.
"Stop it, Jemma! You're stronger than this, I know you are!" he insisted.
He pulled her into a rough, passionate kiss, hoping the action would reach deep into her heart and soul and make her realize what was going on. Instead, her hand came hard and fast across his cheek. Fitz drew back, shocked, as Jemma went to stand beside Hector. The Hydra Agent smiled and shook his head.
"I told you it's powerful. She's not even your friend anymore. She hates you." he said with a dark chuckled.
Hector put his arm around Simmons' waist and pulled her close. He smiled at her wickedly.
"Come here, you sexy brainiac." he purred before kissing Simmons.
Fitz watched in distress as the love of his life threw herself at the other man with passion and vigor. He didn't even hear as Hunter brought the quinjet down. He just felt May's hand around his wrist as she dragged him to the plane. He didn't register being pulled into the jet. He didn't hear Skye screaming at May for leaving Simmons behind. His whole body went numb. He broke down sobbing quietly. He felt Skye's arms around him and felt her own hot, angry tears land on his shoulder. After a few minutes, he sucked in a breath and looked up at no one in particular.
"I'm not giving up." he whispered fiercely.
He gently broke out of Skye's embrace and stood up.
"Do you hear me, Jemma Simmons?! I am not giving up on you!" he vowed.
~*#*~
Oh, writing that last bit killed me! X_X But, I have it all worked out so do not fret Fitz-Simmons fans! Thank you so much for sticking with it! I will try to post at least one more chapter on Christmas Eve and then finish the whole thing by New Years! Please review, follow, and favorite! Thank you again for reading!