"Agent May and I will be travelling to the SHEILD base to co-ordinate with the people taking Ebony off of our hands," Coulson addressed the group the next morning. "We won't be gone long but there's paperwork to do. As for the rest of you, stay here, do what you want. Consider this an unofficial rest day." Skye whooped and skipped, yes she was skipping, towards her bunk.
"I've got some test to do," Jemma announced "I need the light microscopy set, Leo."
"I'll dig it out for you," Leo told her "Just give me a sec, Jem, I won't be long."
"I'll meet you in the lab," she said cheerfully as she wandered off muttering about chemical composition and light microscopes that weren't there when she needed them.
"I think that she sometimes forgets that I need space in that place as well," Leo said fondly "I've got some routine maintenance to run. It's going to cause a bang and a clatter but it'll keep things running smoothly, I hope."
"I can probably amuse myself, somehow," Grant said lightly "I'll only get in your way in a lab," he added "There's some things I can get sorted to make sure that we're completely combat ready for when it's needed again."
"Swing by the lab when you're done?" Leo asked "We can get coffee or something." He grinned and was halfway out the room when Grant caught up. At the touch on his shoulder he glanced back and saw that the older man was reaching for him. He expected to be pressed against the wall but was surprised when Grant put his own back to it and tugged Leo in against his body. Making sure he wasn't trapped, the engineer realised with a surge of affection.
"Is this Ok?" the agent asked. His gaze drifted down to his mouth and Leo felt a wash of heat when he understood what it meant. Grant wanted to kiss him.
"It's good," he breathed and tilted his head up, wanting but not sure how far to press it. The other man leant down and brushed their lips together and it was perfect. Undemanding, sweet, gentle. Everything Leo needed. He let his arms move the way they wanted to and gripped at strong shoulders.
"Fitz, come on!" Jemma's voice floating through the jet had them pulling apart and he sank down from where he'd gone on tiptoe.
"I'll see you later," he smiled as he pulled away "Jemma needs her microscope and it's technically my fault that she can't get to it. I might have buried it a bit under some work I was doing."
"I'll see you," Grant called after him as he walked away and he couldn't help the smile he knew was spreading over his face. It took one look and Jemma was grinning at him.
"Did I interrupt something?" she asked innocently. Or it would be innocent if she wasn't leering at him. "You know you can tell me anything," she pressed "Anything at all, Leo."
"Your microscope madam," he pulled the case clear for her "I would like to point out that it was hardly hidden."
"I didn't want to screw up your stuff," she shrugged. "It was easier to let you sort it."
"Sure," he snorted but let it go as they went back to working on their respective projects. It was some time later when Jemma spoke again.
"Leo," she asked "Where are the plates that I requisitioned for the ten thousand times magnification?"
"Store cupboard two, I think," he told her and heard the door open and close as she left. He didn't really register her coming back in but a noise behind him had him twisting in his stool. "Did you find them he asked?" but before he could say anything more a flash of pain rang through his skull and he was falling through darkness.
Pain was what woke him. It radiated out in splinters from a point just above his right ear, leaving him groggy and confused.
"Jemma?" he asked; his vision wobbling and dark at the edges.
"Not Jemma," the voice was silk smooth and sickening and familiar, far too familiar. "Did you really think I would just go away, Leo? After the effort I put in for you?" His hands were tied in front of him, resting on the smooth translucent surface of the workbench. The zip ties were tight enough that they were cutting into his writs painfully. As his brain cleared slightly he was carefully to make his head droop. Ebony was arrogant- he'd easily believe that he'd done all he needed to subdue the younger man. "Do you hurt?" Ebony yanked at his hair until they were eye to eye. Leo kept his gaze unfocused, let his eyes slip away. In his peripheral vision he could see Jemma lying outside the lab doors. He didn't know if she was dead or alive and his stomach was a ball of churning ice just thinking about what Ebony might have done to her. He didn't have to fake the wave of nausea when he was pushed forward over the bench and Ebony pulled at his clothes. He struggled and was punished with heavy blows to his lower back that had him gasping in pain.
"Activate," he gasped "Activate." He was never going to be strong in the way Ward was, or even Ebony but he wasn't the defenseless boy he'd been once. And Ebony had hurt one of his own. There were cool hands on his skin, and he tried to ignore how they squeezed and pinched at his flesh. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of metal and he fought back the triumph. He didn't want Ebony to see what was coming. As the first of the sensor drones flew into his eye line he allowed himself a feral grin.
