Its always easy for Jemma to tell if she's dreaming. No body's hands look right and she can never stay on her feet, often tumbling over while trying to pull on a sweater. As frustrating as that is at the time, she rarely remembers her dreams anyway so it never makes a difference. She hoped not to dream at all as she lay down on the white bed in the medical ward, Fitz just a few feet away from her. After what they'd just been through, neither felt particularly chatty and wanted to sleep as soon as possible. It was a comfortable silence they had; as much as they talked over each other, they could understand one another just as well without words. She could practically feel his worry and concern for her and himself as she pulled the blankets up to her chin, and curled into a tight ball.
Fitz was still sitting on top of his bed, hugging his knees to his chest, thinking hard about something or another.
"Try to sleep Jemma, I'll turn off the light soon." She nodded, and though he wasn't looking at her, she knew Fitz saw. She was on her side facing him, tucking her head into her chest and squeezing her eyes shut. She knew sleep would come soon, as she'd never had trouble sleeping, but worried about what she'd see. Her stress dreams always involved her teeth falling out or zombies, and neither of those were what she needed after a day like they'd had.
After leaving the lab, they had gone to the medical ward to undergo even more invasive tests. Now that the immediate danger had passed they could start trying to figure what effect, if any, the blue dust would cause. They had gone on for hours before they had been released to go to bed. Skye had been with them for a while before the medical staff got irritated and told her to get a medical degree or get out. She had left, grumbling to Ward about wanting to go hit things.
Jemma wished that hitting something could just make her problems go away. The last time she had been this scared was when she'd put herself in the hospital as a child attempting to regrow her damaged skin. At least then she knew that something was wrong, instead of having to be on edge with no idea if anything was going to happen or not. She stole a glance up at Leo as her eyes started getting heavy. He was still sitting up on his bed, only slightly less tense than before.
"Don't fall asleep like that or you'll hate yourself in the morning." She whispered to him, closing her eyes. She was asleep before she knew if he took her advice.
Emotionally drained from her day, blackness fell almost immediately. Dreams flickered in and out of existence, never fully congealing or disrupting her. Then the lab formed around her in her mind, taking on the soft fuzzy quality that so many dreams have.
She was standing there with Fitz, just as they had been that morning. Somethings stood out clearly, like the pink argyle of her sweater and the open toolbox on the counter; while others faded into a blur.
The dream continued around her, with her speaking involuntarily and moving through motions without knowing why. It continued exactly as her morning had up until the moment Fitz's computer started blinking. At that moment Fitz pushed her under the lab table, shielding her with his own body. The blue cloud erupted and filled the room, covering them both. She couldn't see anything in the room through the fog, but then suddenly it was back to normal. They were taking their notes and speaking softly like nothing had happened. The alien lump sat innocently on their lab table as it had before. This time, when Doc's alarm started flashing, Fitz suddenly picked up the device and threw it across the room. It burst as it flew, trailing blue smoke behind it before thunking into the wall. The blue cloud spread, covering both of them as they tried to run to the other side of the lab.
And they were back. Simmons dream replayed that moment over and over again, each time Fitz reacting differently and each time enveloping them in the alien dust. The hazy quality of her dream remained and she never questioned why this was happening, but she would store this dream in her memory for far longer than it takes to wake up.
Fitz slammed a box over the device, but the blue cloud leaked out from under it none the less. He threw water and various other chemicals at it, but they did nothing to stop the eruption. Even when he just grabbed Simmons and ran as soon as the first alarm showed up they were still enveloped in the cloud. Simmons didn't fully understand this dream, as it seemed so clearly though out, yet she had so little control in it. Fitz grabbed a microscope and smashed the device before they even started testing it and the blue cloud puffed out of the broken cracks; then her dream faded to black.
Jemma was known for sleeping like the dead, at least compared to Fitz who would sometimes get so wrapped up in his thoughts that he forgot he wasn't actually sleeping. That being said she was having such a weird sleep that when she woke up she wouldn't be able to tell if she felt rested or not. Her dreams kept revolving around Fitz and the device and the strange blue cloud that had shown up to ruin her day. At one point Jemma felt like she was waking up before she rolled over and the darkness enveloped her once again.
She and Fitz were frantically running from the blue cloud, stripping clothes as they went. In her dream she wasn't as efficient as in real life, and was still reeling from trying to get her sweater over her head while running. Her and Fitz hit the side of the pod, still trying to shimmy out of their clothes. Fitz was tugging at his belt while she pulled off her shoes and stripped off her pants far easier than they had come off in real life. She pounded her hand on the button to open the decontamination pod's doors and saw Fitz was still trying to undo the buttons on his shirt. Grabbing the front of it, Jemma pulled, ripping the fabric open and tearing several buttons off on the way. He shrugged it off and jumped into the pod with her; door snapping behind him. Despite the usually sluggish nature of Jemma's dreams, they moved quickly, scrubbing themselves as they had before.
"Here, let me help." Fitz's voice was clear and she could almost feel his hands washing out her hair as he had earlier that day. She straightened up, flipping her hair back as she did so. His hands scrubbed her back, careful around her scarred shoulder. But unlike before, dream Leo slowed down, his movements no longer jerky and hectic. Simmons never heard the soap fall from his hands, but his fingers were gently pulling her bra strap down her shoulder; the knuckles on his other hand trailing down her spine.
She'd had dreams like this before, even about Leo; but never ones so vivid. When she woke up she would attribute it to the close resemblance to her days activities, but it would stick in her mind for far longer than any other dream had the right to.
Lips pressed down on her shoulder where her strap had once been, and Leo's curly hair tickled her cheek. One of his hands rested on her hip and he carefully pulled her up against his body. Jemma didn't resist. In her dream the pod was smaller than it had been in real life and she reached out and put a hand against the wall for stability. The hot water was still rushing all around them, but all she could feel was Leo's body pressed against her back and his lips kissing the spot where her neck met her shoulder. His teeth flashed out and he nipped the spot; a move that she loved in the real world. Of course Fitz in her dreams would know all about that kind of thing. He nipped again, working up to her ear. When he bit gently on her earlobe she let out a small whimper. Unbeknownst to her, her sleeping form made the same noise.
Her dream self pushed against Leo's body, letting him draw her in even closer. The fingers on one of his hands curled into her hip while the other traveled up the sides of her ribs. His touch was solid as he slid that hand up to rest on her sternum, his thumb resting between her breasts in a way that made her heart rate quicken.
"Jemma" he whispered in her ear, and suddenly she was facing him, lips latched onto his. Her hands were on both sides of his face, fingertips pushed into his soaking wet curls. Fitz and Jemma had kissed before, but never seriously. It had always been during drinking games in the boiler room or once as a prank on their friend; but never had they kissed like this. Jemma backed up until she hit the wall, Fitz following until he was fully pressed against her again. He braced his arms on the wall against her head as she kissed him for all she was worth. One of her legs wrapped around his hip, pulling him even closer to her.
"Oh Leo, this should be real" her dream self breathed into his mouth. His hand wrapped around her thigh but he pulled back, suddenly looking confused.
"Isn't it?" He asked. And the dream dissolved as Simmon's eyes opened. She was back in the med bay, and it was still dark. The clock on the wall read 4:47 am.
"Ugghhhh" she softly groaned, rubbing her eyes sleepily and rolling over. Her sex dreams were always weird, but that one had been especially so. She'd had more control over herself than usual; and hearing Fitz ask that question right before she woke up made her feel confused and off. Resolved to fall back asleep and return to more normal dreams she rolled over and looked at Fitz. He'd taken her advice and not fallen asleep sitting up, but he didn't look particularly comfortable. His face was pink and his brow was furrowed, facing her as he lay half rolled off his back. Simmons hoped his dreams were more peaceful than hers as she snuggled back into her pillow to catch a few more hours before the dreaded next day.
Nonetheless morning came the way it always did, leaving Fitz and Simmons to rub the sleep out of their eyes as Coulson came in to look over their tests.
"Rise and shine my blueberries; I have good news." Coulson's usual light tone was only acceptable due to the mugs of tea and coffee he presented to the sleep rumpled pair. Leo looked down at his hands to see them still streaked with blue. He could only assume that his face and hair held the same fate.
"And what's this news?" Jemma was always far too perky in the morning for Fitz's taste, who liked a good long time to become sociable after waking up. Of course she had already managed to smooth her hair and was sitting up straight on the edge of her bed, waiting for Coulson's answer.
"During the night there was no strange activity or developments of almost any kind. There were some strange readings for a bit, but they match to the REM patterns of particularly intense dreams. If you two experienced that then I'd say we can check you out today." He had his arms folded across his chest and was rocking forward on his toes they way he did when he was nervous or excited. It was written on his face how clearly Coulson wanted them to be okay.
"Oh yes, I did have some rather vivid dreams last night. They must have been triggered by the days events because they all revolved around yesterday morning in some way or another. How about you Fitz?" Jemma tried to direct focus from herself before anyone wanted to know where she'd been during the night. For some reason Fitz turned rather pink and ducked his head into his coffee before muttering "Yup, crazy dreams, super acute." Of course whenever he was tired his accent got even thicker and Simmons had to translate his mumblings to Coulson.
"In that case I think you two can be released back into the wild. We'll have to tag you of course so you don't get shot by poachers." Simmons dropped her head, before raising it again with a smile.
"Of course sir, we'll happily be chipped and tagged. It'll make it all the easier to track our vitals and record any potential symptoms" Simmons was without a doubt too cheerful in the mornings, Fitz decided. He was trying hard not to be cranky this morning, but was finding it increasingly difficult. He'd spent half the night up worrying about what he'd done wrong to cause the device to explode, and then once he'd fallen asleep it was an understatement to call his dreams vivid. He knew that he couldn't control his dreams, it was just a random assortment of information his brain tried to read all at once; but he'd be lying if he said it hadn't been a really good dream. Waking up to find himself in a sterile room had been a tad disappointing.
The show must go on, however; and Fitz wasn't about to let one neurological fluke keep him from learning everything he could about that cursed device. Today they were going to take much stronger precautions but their work had to continue as normal. It was no longer just an attempt to figure out what the mechanism was; now they had to find out how it reacted to human biology. It was like racing against the clock if the clock was the metaphorical Father Time's device.
Fitz sighed and scrubbed his hands through his hair; Coulson had continued talking to Simmons but the words had gone right over his head. With a curt nod Coulson turned and left the room, already starting a conversation with May who was in the room outside.
"Well, no time like the present, eh Fitz?" Jemma was smiling down at him brightly, if not slightly manicly. Fitz ignored her and opted to slump to the side, face first into his pillow. He could vaguely hear her gathering up her belongings before he was forcibly rolled over.
"C'mon you slug. Theres no time for your nonsense." Simmons was using her serious mom voice now. That meant Fitz either had to cave or prepare to put up a fight. He chose the former and swung his legs over the side of his cot.
"Alright Jemma I'm up, but theres always time for nonsense." That got a smile out of her, which was enough to give Fitz the energy to start another long day.
"We need to contact the Hub, should this go south they need to know."
"We are not telling anyone about this unless we have reason to believe it will get worse. They'll be locked up like lab rats on the off chance that anything might happen. We need them here and working on the device and a potential cure."
"And what if it is worse. What if there was some sort of alien disease in there and now we're all infected just by breathing the same air as them. I'd rather the Hub know and have precautions set up; because, need I remind you, that we have no idea what was in there. I'd like to be prepared by the time we find out."
This argument had been going back and forth for the better part of 20 minutes now. Coulson had insisted that they turn the Bus into a moving quarantine for Fitz and Simmons despite May's protests.
"And the last time one of ours followed protocol to the T in a situation like this, she flung herself from the plane. That same girl is at risk again and you want to wrap her up in red tape before she can find out if she's even in danger?!" Coulson was always protective of his scientists, and in this situation he felt particularly responsible. Seeing Simmons fall from the bay doors to try to protect her team still came back to him occasionally. He'd be damned if one of his team had to face disaster like that if he had a way to prevent it. With the Chitauri virus they'd wasted so much time before Simmons started showing symptoms and it had almost been too late for her. That would not happen again.
"Sir, I understand your concern but I-"
"No May. Unless we have concrete reason to get them involved, the rest of SHIELD stays in the dark. Thats an order." May stared up at Coulson, one eyebrow just barely cocked. She gritted her teeth together and nodded ever so slightly. She hated when Coulson got like this. They'd both trained for so long to trust in the system, and yet whenever one of his team was in trouble Coulson was chomping at the bit to throw the rule book out the window.
"Thank you May, I do need you on my side for this. Now if you'll excuse me." Coulson's tone softened and he put an hand on May's shoulder briefly before moving past her. She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes, moving towards the front of the plane. If this alien cloud didn't kill her, vexation would.