A/N: This chapter contains a few (minor) spoilers from "Avengers", but I imagine that if you're watching AOS you've probably seen Avengers or at least are familiar with what happens in it.
This chapter got a bit away from me and I obsessed over the details probably way too much, which is why it took me a bit longer to write. I must say though, I love, love, LOVE reading your wonderful feedback! Please keep leaving it, it's so nice to read and I appreciate it very much! So, thank you!
THE TEST
Jemma and Leo had been so quickly whisked from their first year at the Academy and into SciOps that they never experienced the pressure, anxiety and nervousness of examinations at S.H.I.E.L.D.
And, by extension, they'd never been given the opportunity to prepare for their exams together.
While Leo prefers to limit his books and drafting sketches to his desk, Jemma wholly takes over the apartment. Every available surface is covered with opened textbooks and spiral notebooks filled to capacity. Notations litter the floor and a white board with chemical formulas written in coloured marker sits propped against their television. Leo thinks it looks like the Bio-Chem reference section of the library exploded all over their apartment. When he finds Jemma's calculations on gamma radial waves resting in the dish rack, he calls for a temporary moratorium on studying.
"This is getting ridiculous," he cries out with laughter in his voice, tossing her notebook onto the kitchen counter. "We shouldn't be caring this much about passing these exams."
She doesn't look up from the sofa, her head bent over another notebook, pencil furiously scratching across the paper. "Fitz, I can't purposefully fail. It's not in my DNA. If I do fail, it will be organic."
"I swear you love studying more than life itself," he jokes, moving closer to her. "What are you working on anyway?"
"I'm trying to figure out a way to reverse the effects of the radioactive breakdown in beta particles. If I can do that then-"
"Why would you need to do that?" He interrupts, hands at the small of his back.
Jemma stops writing and looks up, eyes narrowing at Leo. "I'm trying to prepare for the field assessments next week."
"By doing calculations?"
"What if they want us to develop an antiserum for a radioactive spider bite? Or to counter the effects of gamma radiation? You'll thank me for my calculations then."
"It's a field assessment, Simmons! One would think they'd want you to react to situations that would occur in the field." He picks up a copy of Stealth Technology from a pile of books and flips it open, turning it toward Jemma. His finger taps against the page, pointing to an entry. "You should be studying the susceptibility of infrared surveillance sensors. D'you know whether the spectrograph would survive in extreme temperatures and if-"
"-We'll see if you feel that way when you're clinging to walls and crying about webs coming out of your-"
"-I would love to cling to a wall," he retorts dreamily. "I wouldn't have to use the bloody ladder in the lab to reach those shelves."
"Dr. Simmons?"
"Oh of course," she says drolly, ignoring the sudden third voice in the conversation. "Is this about your height again? Dr. Streiten said you were slightly below average. He didn't say you were short!"
"Leopold Fitz?"
"When a person says 'below average' what they're saying is 'short'. 173 centimeters is not short! It's average in the U.K.!"
"I'm from S.H.I.E.L.D, we're here-"
"It's not average for a field agent, Fitz! He told you that. I don't know why you insist on going on and on-"
"- I haven't been going on and on! You brought the height thing up! I was just saying that the average-"
"On about the average again! If I had half a mind I'd-"
"FitzSimmons!" The voice roars, echoing off of the walls of the apartment. The two scientists turn, stunned into silence by the sudden appearance of a man in a grey suit standing in their living room flanked by two large men in black.
Jemma's mouth drops. "You're-"
"I'm Agent Coulson with S.H.I.E.L.D." The man gives a half smile and tucks his hand into his pants' pocket, producing an identification badge. "Your door was unlocked so I just let myself in. You really should lock it. You never know who could come in."
"You were the one that convinced me to join SciOps," Leo says, shock evident in his voice, finger half pointing toward the man before him. He turns to Jemma dumbfounded and asks, "The man in the grey suit was Agent Coulson?"
"You're meant to be dead!" She adds, motioning toward the men with her pencil. "The Battle for New York and all that."
Coulson sighs, shaking his head. "Well, it's a long story. One that we don't have time for. These two men are here to help me escort you to your field assessments."
"Sir?" Jemma says, sliding her notebook from her lap to the cushion next to her. "I don't understand. We were scheduled for field assessments next week."
"Consider this a surprise test of your readiness." Coulson looks around the apartment and the mess that litters it. "You have five minutes to gather the items you'll need."
...
Mag pouch, trifold tablet and Grumpy DWARF. Leo groans inwardly as he mentally runs through the list of items he'd grabbed in his haste. Upon reflection, he suspects he should've taken Happy or Sleepy, but Coulson was calling for him and he'd panicked.
Jemma hadn't fared any better. She'd managed to grab the first aid kit from the kitchen and a set of beta test strips. When Coulson had ordered them back to the living room, they were both sheepish and woefully unprepared for whatever they might be facing.
"A mag pouch?" Jemma whispers across the backseat of the SUV. "Of all the things, Fitz!"
He narrows his eyes at her. "As if your test strips are any better. What'cha planning on doing? Measure the beta particles in the testing facility? At least I can hide with the mag pouch."
"Hide from what?" She snaps back with a chuckle. "The S.H.I.E.L.D evaluators?"
"Are you two always like this?" Coulson asks from the front passenger seat.
"Like what?" Jemma asks innocently, looking between the senior agent and Leo. He shrugs, likewise stumped. Continuing to look forward, Coulson shakes his head and says nothing.
When the vehicle is ushered through the black security gates of the S.H.I.E.L.D training facility, Jemma feels the lump in her throat grow. She reaches for Leo's hand, seeking reassurance. He offers her an encouraging smile, but her nerves only multiply in size.
The SUV eventually comes to a stop in front of the imposing entryway. Both backdoors open and two different agents dressed in black lean in from either side. "Dr. Simmons," says one, his eyes shielded by black aviators. "You're to come with me."
"Mr. Fitz," the second says. "You're with me."
The two scientists look at each other and Leo gives a slight nod as if to say, This is it before Jemma finally releases his hand.
"Good luck," she mutters, her eyes wide, anxiety evident within them.
"And to you," he replies. "It'll be fine, I'm sure," he adds with an equally nervous smile as he exits the car.
...
Leo's body shifts on the exam table, searching for a more comfortable seated position. He thinks the room smells of cleaning solvents and it burns his nose. He's about to ask if all the rooms at the training facility are the same, when the nurse hands him two large yellow pills. He frowns, confused. "What's this for?"
"It's a deliriant," she replies. "It'll facilitate the reality you'll experience when you enter the chamber. The evaluators want to properly test how you would react in the field."
He takes the glass of water she offers and swallows the pills. "But if you're telling me this now, won't I remember?"
"You won't remember," she says with certainty, a faint smile on her lips. "To you, everything will be real. This conversation that we're having right now? It will be distant memory. Something you maybe dreamed of once. When you enter the chamber, you will experience the simulation as though it is happening to you in that moment. We're looking to test your preparedness; how you would react in a particular situation." She points an ophthalmoscope toward him, blinding his left eye momentarily. "It's a previously initiated classified op. They want to see if you can successfully change its outcome."
He nods as she moves on to his right eye. "Well then," Leo says. "I guess there's nothing to be afraid of. It's not like anyone can die from it if it's just a simulation, right?" The nurse's nose scrunches slightly, but it's enough that Leo notices. "I can't die in it, can I?"
She moves to wrap a blood pressure cuff around his arm. "I'm sure you'll be fine," she says, unconvincingly. "It's been many years since an agent died in the field assessment simulation. Now relax, I need to take a proper blood pressure reading before the pills kick in."
…
Jemma stumbles slightly over her own feet as she's led quickly down a narrow hallway. A large hand clasps at her shoulder, steadying her. She's feeling a little light headed and wonders if it's a side effect.
A side effect of what? She wonders absently.
"We'll need you to figure out a way to contain the Tesseract," commands the man as he tugs at his bulletproof vest. "According to our man inside, it's behaving on its own. Started up about an hour ago. We need you to find a way to turn it off. Or, if you can, stop it." He practically pushes her down the hall, increasing her pace. Her fingernails nick nervously at the zipper of her bag, heavy with a first aid kit and beta strips.
"I'm sorry?!" She says as the man uses his identification badge to unsecure a door marked with a radiation hazard symbol. "Did you say Tesseract?"
"Yes, ma'am." He holds the door open for her, motioning her through.
"But it's alien!" She cries, ignoring his comments. "I'm a biochemist. As in trained in earthly biology and chemistry. I couldn't possibly know how to-" His strong arm pushes her through the entrance, interrupting her protests.
"You'll figure it out, I'm sure." The echo of his words are cut off by the slamming of the door and Jemma finds herself suddenly alone. The room dark, she's barely able to make out the silhouette of her own hands as she holds them up.
"Can someone turn a light on in here?" She calls out, her voice shaky. As though answering her request, the room suddenly illuminates, a bluish hue filling the space. A strong gust of wind pushes her ponytail against the side of her face and she can feel the force of it hit her body.
With the lights on, she's more able to take in the largeness of the room. A series of mobile computer stations encircle a glowing cubed box that sits in the center of the room. Near to her, a printer spits out a series of papers in quick succession. As the stack on the tray becomes too full, the papers fall to the floor and are immediately swept up by the wind which carries them to the back of the room. Jemma moves to take a closer look at the print outs but a sudden crack startles her to the core. Her hand clutches at her chest as she wills her heart calm. The glowing cubed box has come alive; bolts of lightning reach upward, striking the ceiling in a terrifying storm of electricity.
"The Tesseract," she says aloud, amazement in her voice.
"Simmons! It is you!" A voice calls out over the rush of wind and cracking of electrical discharge. She turns and finds Leo kneeling next to a computer station, his trifold tablet in hand. He motions her over. "I need your help with this."
"Fitz! They brought you here too?" As she moves closer to him, her perspective of the room changes. A blast of blue light hits her more directly and she has to shield her eyes as she bends down next to Leo. "What's happening?" She asks, pushing at the loose strands of hair that fly against her face.
"It's some kind of energy surge, the electrons seem to be Chitauri in origin."
"Chitauri? Not Asgardian? Or of Earth?"
He raises his voice over the increasing volume of the electrostatic discharge and motions toward the cube. "It's definitely not of this world."
"Let me test the transference," she yells in return, opening her bag. "This way we can be sure that it is indeed Chitauri."
He nods, pointing. "I've sent Grumpy to get a closer look. So far the energy surge is giving off low levels of gamma radiation."
"Indicative of what?"
His fingers move quickly across his tablet. "I'm not sure. The way that it's behaving... it's all rather spontaneous and unpredictable."
Jemma holds up a test strip into the waves of blue light emanating from the Tesseract. The strip heats up in seconds, burning her finger tips. She curses through the slight pain and taps the strip against her knee to balance the findings. "Definitely Chitauri," she confirms at last, showing the strip to Leo. "Do you think its properties are converging?"
He nods. "I've been monitoring the containment unit and it's becoming more unstable."
"Oh dear!"
"Look! What the bloody hell is it doing now?!" Jemma follows his line of sight toward the cube. It sparks, the container spinning out of control, quicker by the second.
"What's happening?" She calls out, her hair blowing more fiercely across her face.
"I think the Tesseract has become a portal!" He stands, his hand shielding his face from the light and wind.
"The Tesseract?" Jemma rises to join him. "But the Tesseract is a weapon. S.H.I.E.L.D has contained its hyper-radial waves for years. How can it now suddenly become a portal?"
Before Leo can respond, a sudden blast of heat knocks them both backward; computers crash to the floor and papers fly upward as if caught in a vortex.
Leo helps her to her feet. The wind has become more violent than before and she can barely keep herself upright. "What was that?"
"Grumpy!" He yells in reply, eyes on his tablet.
"Grumpy?"
"There was an energy surge from the Tesseract." Leo's fingers slide across the screen. "Here," he says, handing her the tablet. "Monitor the levels. I need to get Grumpy."
Jemma takes the trifold from Leo and watches as the lines spike erratically. He makes a run toward the Tesseract, the winds pushing against him. She can see him struggle to get closer to the drone which lays lifeless on the ground below the current of wind.
The tablet in her hands beeps with urgency, indicating an impending charge. "Hurry," she calls, her fingers tapping on the face of the tablet. "The centripetal acceleration is increasing at an exponential rate. The Tesseract is about to reach its peak levels. It could implode at any minute. Fitz! Be careful!"
He picks up Grumpy from the ground and turns toward Jemma, a large grin on his face. "I've got it! And it's not completely toasted, either!"
Suddenly the Tesseract sparks again, spinning further out of control. Blue light and strikes of lightning hit virtually every corner of the room. Jemma ducks behind one of the fallen computer stations as Leo covers his head, hunching his body over, his back to the Tesseract.
The dust and debris of the room blind her and when she's finally able to see again, the Tesseract has grown in size, a beam of blue light streaks across the room from its center.
"Fitz!" She screams, horror in her voice. For, from within the blue streak of light she sees a man enter the room costumed in black and green, his hand clutching a crescent staff. Jemma instantly recognizes the golden blade: it is the infamous Chitauri scepter from the Battle of New York.
"LEO!" Her voice carries thickly across the room and Leo looks up with surprise. His eyes wide, he turns toward the Tesseract just as Jemma cries out a second time. "Watch out!"
In front of him stands the villainous Loki Laufeyson who breathes heavily, his spectre glowing bright in his hand. Before Leo can react, the alien god raises the blade, bringing it down mercilessly into his chest. Jemma screams, her body frozen in place as the horror unfolds before her.
Leo gasps, his body shuddering as the scepter is pulled from him and he collapses, knees first, to the ground.
With the scepter sharp in his hand, Loki continues forward toward Jemma. She's digging into her bag for something, anything to stop him when the dark haired alien suddenly declares as if to no one in particular: "I am Loki of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose," before disappearing right before her eyes.
Jemma has no time to register what has happened as her vision tunnels and she races toward her friend. Breathless, she kneels beside him calling his name as she blindly pulls at the first aid kit within her bag.
"Can you hear me?" Jemma asks as her hand runs the length of his face, desperate for signs of life. He blinks at her in response, his mouth gasping for air. "Stay with me," she cries as she notices that his skin is becoming more muddied by the second. She wills herself calm as she unravels the gauze and presses it hard against his wound. The white cloth turns instantly crimson, an obvious sign of a severed artery. Her hands bloodied, she grabs for more gauze to stem the bleeding.
Leo's lips move, his voice a faint whisper. She leans closer, holding her own breath so that she can hear him more clearly. "Stop… the Tesseract…"
She shakes her head, tears freely streaking her face. "No. I won't leave you."
His hand reaches toward hers, weakly pushing them away from his chest.
"Critical." Leo's words come gargled and she knows that medically he must have mere minutes left. "Save… you." His finger points toward her.
"No!" She insists, shaking her head. "I won't. I won't leave you, Fitz. I won't. I have to try and help you. Just hold on." She screams out, begging for assistance. She knows that beyond the entry doors there must be someone that can help them.
When the sea of light above their heads stirs anew like the waves of an ocean in a storm, Jemma realizes that help will never come. The vortex spreads wide and quick, like a hurricane; it's mouth swallowing everything before it.
The cement floor begins to heave under the pressure and she feels her legs pull from under her. The ground beneath her quakes. She holds fast to Leo, the weight of his body countering the draw of the wind. As the electrical begins to fail, she feels her body being pulled toward a chasm that has opened at the room's center. She clings to his chest in desperation, her hands slick with blood.
…
When Jemma awakens she is hysterical; she breathes in gulps of air, begging for answers. Tears stain her face and she thrashes, grabbing at anything and anyone within a three foot radius. Two orderlies pin her to the bed as a third secures her, ties holding at each wrist.
"Where is he?" She growls. "Where the bloody hell is he?"
"I need you to be calm, Dr. Simmons. Please, you need to relax."
The doctors that surround her answer none of her questions. They flash lights into her eyes and clip monitor pads to her chest.
She screams again, pulling at the restraints. Salty tears slip into her mouth. "Where is he? Tell me, is he okay?"
"Dr. Simmons, you need to calm down." She pulls at the restraints, a part of her knowing that it's futile. Jemma feels a pinch against her upper arm and looks toward the source. A nurse steps back cautiously, a needle raised in his hand. Before Jemma can register what has happened, she feels a warmth from her arm emanate throughout her body. She falls back against the bed, her head slack to the pillow.
"Let her rest," a voice says. "We'll debrief her tomorrow."
...To be continued...
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