My bra? The entitled little arse. Although at this point, she just wanted to be done with the whole business.
"She will do no such thing." Fitz was clearly affronted, squinching his cheeks up in indignation and seeming to forget that he was dressed like glittery rock star royalty. He began to stomp towards the boys, a little unevenly, before Simmons stopped him with a gentle hand on his elbow.
"Fitz," she shrugged, speaking quietly. "If it helps us retrieve our tech, I could show them the strap or something. They'd see as much from any clothing catalog."
"No way! We wanna see the whole bra!" Cody was speaking for both of them, his younger brother looking mostly confused.
"Simmons, I'm not gonna let some little pervert talk y' into anythin' just because I screwed up and lost the component." His eyes were still fierce, lit up from inside with annoyance. "And that chav's probably got his camera ready, waitin' to make you the Internet's next big 'wardrobe malfunction'."
"Your boyfriend's an asswipe," Cody cut in. "You should be with a real man. Baby, if you were my girl, I would treat you so right-"
Simmons barely had time to cringe before Trey piped up happily, "Oh, he's not her boyfriend. They're just friends. You should get her number, Cody!"
Cody seemed to twitch, his mouth stretching into a gross leer. "Hahahaha, oh, man, she made you dress like that and you're not even getting any? That is so whipped!" He accentuated the opinion with a whiplash noise and movement.
"Hey- hey, okay, now-" Fitz studiously avoided looking at Simmons, shifting his weight and raising his palms in protest.
"You're so far in the friendzone you should be the mayor!" Cody was delighted, reveling in the way his taunts made the Scot turn red.
"Oh, mother of all things- there is no such thing as a 'friend zone'..." Fitz punctuated with air quotes, "it's a ridiculous concept. Do y' really think the only reason to be friends-"
"Oh man, listen to you. Careful, Ke$ha, don't get too worked up! You might chip a nail!"
Fitz had barreled on talking, pretending not to hear the teenager's words. He'd crossed his arms, though, incensed and a tad off-kilter. "-too young to understand this now, but for your sake I hope-"
Cody bobbed his head, puckering his face in false sympathy. "Aww, did I hit a nerve? You gonna cry? Watch out, you'll smudge your makeup!"
Simmons couldn't sit there and watch this anymore. It was useless to try to argue or reason with someone like Cody; the pillock was a dog with a bone. Screwing up her courage before she could re-think her plan, Jemma grabbed the wide lapels of Fitz's jacket and pulled his face down to hers, kissing him hard. The moment was aggressively brief, a few seconds at most, but those few seconds were enough for Simmons to realize she'd made a mistake. I'm going to be thinking about this forever. Fitz was obscuring her senses - without moving a muscle he'd overwhelmed her with the smell of his skin, the scruff on his chin scratching lightly against her mouth, the taste of his sweat buzzing with the faint tang of salt. The night was merely warm, but Jemma was rippling heat, perspiration trickling down her neck in a fervent plea for Fitz's lips to run goosebumps over her instead. She had to get out from under the tide before she was swallowed whole.
Simmons dragged her self-discipline out from a musty attic corner of her brain, and forced herself to push away. Fitz was carbonite, eyes wired wide, mouth hanging like an unfinished limerick, and she felt the thrill of pride shoot through her chest at the way he was staring, flabbergasted and slightly in awe.
She turned to Cody with a smirk. "I'll smudge his makeup."
From the corner of her eye she could see Fitz, still gaping, mouth flapping heavy and slow, like an unlatched storm shutter. She stalked over to Cody and held out her hand. "You've had your fun. But we really must be going now."
Fitz found his voice. "Right you are, Simmons. I'd wager it's past these little ones' bedtime, anyway."
"Hey!" Cody clearly did not appreciate being called little. "You better- aah!" Suddenly his hand jerked and he threw the power core onto the floor, grabbing his younger brother and pulling them both behind a standing mirror.
A low hum had invaded the space, and it took Simmons a second to realize that it was emanating from the device, now rattling on the floor, frantically spitting out haphazard aquamarine sparks into the surrounding air. The humming spiraled louder, reverberating through her ears and cheeks and nostrils, and she looked around desperately for something with which to pick it up from the floor, even as she rushed over to the kids. She snatched Cody's arm to check him over.
"What happened? Are you all right?"
"Yeah… it just started buzzing and freaked me out… felt like a bug in my hand. What is that thing?"
"That's not important right now." A harsh spearmint light was rolling off the now-incandescent power core, and in the newly brightened room Simmons was relieved to see only intact skin, no burn marks or other damage. She addressed the boys.
"You two, go into your father's office and close the door. Does he have a desk?" They nodded mutely, their faces milk. "Good. Hide under it." She grabbed them by the shoulder, turned them bodily in the correct direction, and pushed them forward.
Now for the real problem. "Fitz?" The question wobbled a bit in her throat.
"I see it." Fitz was crouched by the device, mere feet away, fingers drumming against his knees. "I don't know how long we've got-"
"- before it blows?" She wasn't sure if there would be a blast, or how big, but the alien material inside the core was unpredictable.
"- or it'll melt down, we've never tested the limits this far before. Either way, the tech'll be worthless." Fitz wasn't shouting, wasn't panicked. His brow was grooved in absolute concentration as he toyed with their dilemma, biting his lip. In a different situation, one not fraught with the potential for bodily harm, she might have enjoyed watching him. "If I can get a good look, I might be able to shut it down… but I can't do anything while it's shakin' like that. I need-"
"-an oven mitt would be nice." Simmons had already searched every nearby surface, scouring her vision over the furniture to see what she could find. Table runner? Too thin. She considered getting a comforter off one of the beds, but they were on the other side of the warehouse. And thanks to the hilarious antics she and Fitz had suffered on the stairs, all available sofa cushions were scattered far and wide, up and down the steps.
Simmons was angry. She was worried. She was gobsmacked at how a couple of children had managed to evade them for most of the night. We shouldn't even have been in this situation. To make matters worse, she was sweaty and tired and the lump of latex chafing against her back wasn't exactly- Wait a minute. Pulling the bundle out from her belt, she unfurled the mask, leaving the teddy bear inside, and ran to press it over the power source. The old toy was just beaten-down and flattened enough that she could envelop the pulsating cylinder easily, and the rubber added an extra layer of precaution against a shock. Almost instantaneously, the rancid, sour reek of the singed plush reached her nose.
"Arrgh, that's horrible-" Fitz cut off as a dry heave contorted his face like a yogi. His cheeks bulged, forehead popping, and a gag undulated through his torso. "Okay. It's fine, just-" he gasped, "hold it steady, Simmons."
He was fighting off his natural squeamishness, the effort evident in his posture. Through that, Fitz trusted her to control the vibration, to keep the power core still so he could assess their next move, and as in most of their partnership, that trust was well placed. He squinted into the blinding glow, his mouth shaping lightning thoughts to himself as he puzzled out what to do. The next time Fitz spoke, seconds later, his nerves seemed to sprout in his voice, thorny roots growing from an old potato. "It's too unstable." His quiet fear infected her with spikes and shards. "Jemma, I can't turn it off."
Dun-dun-DUUNNN...
Well, this is the penultimate chapter! And hey, they finally got their battery back! So that's good, I guess, even if it's probably going to explode them and take off their faces. Also, let me apologize for the "science" in this chapter and the next. Usually my husband helps me out with that part, but this time not so much.
Hey, do y'all remember that story where I used to tease a kiss that never happened? And now I throw a surprise kiss in there just for giggles! To be fair, I haven't watched ep 3, but I'm guessing that we *may* be wanting something cute to read after, so... kissy kissy smoochy time! Hope it helps.
Final chapter up on Thursday or Friday!