"That's cute," Skye commented, pointing to the blue-spotted white bowtie around Jemma's neck.
"It went with the dress," she chirped, skipping a bit at the thought of being out all dressed up. Her regular clothes were wonderful but she liked the wavy, breezy feel of the dark blue dress. And it was always fun wearing her special bowtie. She wondered if Leo would be wearing his matching one before she remembered Sally didn't have a Leo.
She did have a cousin Mark who she wasn't speaking with ever again since he'd sold all her paintings to buy a new tennis racket. Sally's amazing art had been priceless and shame on him for not valuing her talents.
"I had a painting of my cat wearing it before he-who-shall-not-be-named did the dastardly-deed-we-do-not-speak-of Zoe," she let her know loudly.
"Voldomort did what?" Skye questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"That's must-not-be-named, silly Zoe," she corrected. "I'm talking about that thief who sold the best years of my life for a dumb racket!" She raged, channeling her inner Sally. "I poured my soul into those paintings, I left behind friends, potential lovers, time spent in the sunshine to fill the world with beautiful artwork and what does he do? He goes and sells it to- to those ruffians who'll probably hide them away in their mold-ridden basements and never appreciate them. Oh Zoe it's a disaster!"
"Are you going to be like this the whole trip?" Skye giggled.
Someone was out of character, Zoe surely wouldn't belittle her roommate's loss. "Sk-Zoe, you are absolutely right," she agreed, saving them from suspicion. "I should be enjoying myself, I've spent too many years ignoring the wonderful world around me. This trip is my rebirth!"
"Uh...Sally...," Skye said, tapping her shoulder. "People are staring."
Perfect, now she'd definetely be known as the grieving artist. No one would ever guess she was actually a secret agent.
"Let them stare Zoe," she declared taking Skye's arm and heading to the arcade. "We are going to have fun."
/-/-/
They passed May and Leo at the arcade and Jemma struggled to pretend she didn't know them. It was a large room at least, she was optimistic they'd be able to avoid them if they had to.
Skye smiled at May. "Nice dress," she told her, with the air of talking to someone she didn't know and May smiled back.
"You too," she told her breezily.
Jemma smiled as well and glanced at Leo who was indeed wearing his matching bowtie, blue with white spots. He looked nice all dressed up in a good shirt and pants, she wondered if she could pay him a compliment as nonchalantly as Skye had done for May. It couldn't be so hard.
"Why hello there strange person I have never met before," she began and he smiled at her warmly. Was Skye shaking her head slightly? Why was her face like that? Oh! You couldn't call people strange, they could take it the wrong way. "Not that there is anything strange about you... Ummm not that you're boring or ordinary or anything... Unless you want to be ordinary then... I mean how would I know your life's ambition? We have never met before now, complete strangers... Ordinary strangers... Ummm..."
"Sally we should go get in line for DDR before it it gets too long," Skye interjected, widening her eyes at her.
"No one is playing Sk-Zoe...," she protested, confused. "There is no line."
"Well then we better get going," Skye exclaimed, grabbing her arm and Jemma realized she was attempting to rescue her from her train wreck attempt at being smooth.
"It was nice meeting you," May said formerly, waving goodbye.
"And you have wonderful taste in bowties," Leo added, perhaps a little too fondly and earned a disapproving frown from May as Jemma was lead away.
/-/-/
"What?" Leo demanded as May frowned disapprovingly at him. She and Skye had started it and anyone could comment on anyone's bowtie. He'd wanted to comment on a lot of other things, tell her she looked beautiful and that he had overhead her superb back story, but he had held back the comments and spoken like a stranger. An ordinary stranger, poor Jemma... she really wasn't very good at lying on the spot. "I didn't say anything suspicious."
"It's all in your face though," she told him. "Choice of words isn't the only part of keeping a cover. You need to be able to control your expressions. Try this." She put on a poker face.
He mimicked it best he could but she raised an eyebrow.
"Now it just looks like I offended you," she criticized flatly.
He softened it a bit, allowing his eyes to widen.
'Keep your mind blank,' he thought. 'No emotions.'
"That's... Better." She informed him. "I guess."
"What's wrong with it?" He wondered, struggling to remain neutral.
"You look spaced out," she admitted.
He sighed, she made it look so easy.
"Keep working at it," she encouraged, patting his shoulder. "I'm going to see if I can get in a poker game if you don't mind. I'd offer for you to join but..."
"I'm too young," he finished. "You know I still would have been believable as your stepson a few years older." He complained.
She shrugged. "Coulson and I wanted to attract the least attention possible and we had faith you could pull off nineteen."
That was kind of them, having so much confidence in his undercover abilities. He wouldn't let them down.
"See you soon Maggie," he waved.
"Meet you in about an hour Franky," she waved back.
Leo perused the large room of games, finding his gaze drifted over to DDR at the wonderful sound of Jemma's laughter. It looked as if she and Skye were having fun.
"Hey, that's creepy you know, ogling those girls like that," a boy, probably around fifteen or sixteen, warned.
"I'm not...," he protested. "I just... they're laughing really loudly, that's all."
"Uh huh," the boy did not seem to believe him. "Shuffle along creeper." He shooed him with his hands.
"Hey!" He objected even though he suspected he probably had seemed like a creep staring at them like that. Who was this kid? Warden of the game room?
"Milo, what are you doing?" a girl, perhaps a few years older, demanded crossly. "I'm sorry about that," she apologized. "Whatever my brother said to offend you don't take it personally he's just grumpy because he has to miss his stupid bowling tournament."
"We're moving to Hawaii Madeline," he grumbled. "I'm going to be missing a lot more than that. Not that Dad cares, he just stuck us on this dumb boat so he wouldn't have to deal with us while he-"
"Oh my God and now you're complaining about the cruise?" She hissed in frustration.
"Yes I'm complaining about missing six days of school," he countered. "How am supposed to catch up when the new school won't even send me work?"
"How are we related?" She cried but Leo hadn't heard the answer because he had snuck away from the fighting siblings.
He found a machine which played Pac-man and chomped his way to the fourth highest score. When it asked for his name he put in Niobium because he was thinking of Jemma.
Niobium and Tantalum were two elements with similar properties which were found together so often and were so difficult to separate that they had once been thought to be one element, Colombium. He and Jemma's closeness in their final year at the academy had earned them the nickname Columbium from their chemistry professor. Two elements which could be mistaken for one.
He moved onto to other games but came back to Pac-man eventually. When he wrote in his score under the name Niobium again he noticed someone had named themselves Tantalum with a smiley face next it. That person had taken his fourth place score and now he was in fifth.
He looked around and saw Jemma watching him while Skye played skeet ball. She winked and turned back to their friend.
Leo couldn't keep the grin from spreading across his face as he went back to the game, determined to beat her score.
'We'll see who the master of Pac-man is,' he thought, ecstatic at being able to play against Jemma without breaking his cover.
He managed to land himself a third place score and typed in Niobium with a sideways heart next to it before hopping away to play something else.
Ten minutes later he returned and checked the high scores to find Tantalum (with a heart) had bumped him down once again.
They continued for the rest of the hour until they were battling for first place, each managing to knock down the other on their turn.
'Nice try Jemma,' he thought smugly as he came in first again. 'But I still beat you!'
"Ready to go see the movie?" May inquired behind him and he jumped. "You sure you can handle horror?" She smiled.
"Yes!" He declared. "You surprised me sneaking up on me like that, that's all."
"OK," she said, not at all sounding in agreement of his statement.
"I'll just type in my name," he mumbled, a bit sorry the game was over but looking forward to the movie with his friend.
Niobium heart Ta was in first place when he trailed behind May to the theater.
/-/-/
"I thought you'd seen that one before," May teased as they reached their room.
"It was still scary!" He defended as he fished out his pajamas. "Not everyone has the perfect poker face."
"That's sweet, you thought that was a poker face," she smiled and he rolled his eyes at her.
"I'm gonna go change in the bathroom," he let her know, clothes and toothbrush a bundle in his arms.
"Knock before you come in!" she called after him as he left.
In the hall he passed Milo and Madeline again (the pair sounded almost like a children's book) who were arguing heatedly.
"I can't believe you lost the key loser," Madeline was ranting. "How do you not know where it is?"
"I told you I put it in my pocket but now it's gone!" He shot back.
"Did you check your sock?" She demanded.
"Why would I-," he began, reaching into it. "Oh, hey, it's here."
"You are such an idiot!" she exclaimed, snatching it. "I saw you put it on there five minutes ago."
"I don't remember that..." He mumbled, bewildered.
"Of course you don't," she sighed, herding him into the room. "Milo, sometimes-"
The door slammed.
Leo really hoped some sleep would lighten those two up. Or that he'd be able to avoid their grouchiness for the next five days.
/-/-/
Jemma was awake, still anxious about sleeping in a small space on the ocean (and about the organ man, it had been the organs she expected...unfortunately), when she heard the sound of familiar footsteps in the hall.
Silently, she slid down from her bunk and carefully opened the door to view Leo's back as he climbed the stairs at the end of the hallway.
Even without seeing his face she knew something was wrong by the way his shoulders sagged and his hand shook when he gripped the railing.
So she grabbed her shoes and left to follow him, shutting the door quietly behind her.
She found him on the deck, looking out over the water. It was chilly and she shivered in her thin pajama shirt. She should have brought her sweater.
For a minute she just watched him, standing small and seeming almost defeated as he watched the waves, while she debated attracting his attention. It would be a complete break from character to go to him now but as she heard him exhale a shaky, miserable breath her concern with keeping her cover fadded.
"Leo?" She called softly, gliding towards him.
He turned around and she could see clearly in his expression that something was wrong.
"Hey," he whispered, putting forth no attempt to pretend he didn't recognize her as she settled beside him.
"What happened?" She asked gently, keeping a few inches between them in case someone was watching.
His attention moved back to the water before he answered.
"I had a nightmare," he told her and the tone of his voice let her know this was something worse than the dream where you forget your pants at home.
"About the box?" She guessed because she had been expecting this to happen eventually.
He nodded and his eyes moistened.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She offered and he shrugged.
She waited, shivering again as a cool breeze blew their hair.
"You'll catch your death out here just wearing a shirt," he fretted, coming back a bit to his old self as he removed his own sweater and handed it to her.
"What about you?" She worried, hesitating.
"I think I have a thicker shirt than you do," he insisted even though his T-shirt looked about as thin as her pajama top. "I'm fine," he assured her, seeing she was unconvinced and waving it in front of her. "I needed to cool off anyway, get some air."
She wasn't sure if he was being honest or stubborn but she gave up her argument, took it and pulled it on over her head. If she saw goosebumps on his skin she'd hand it back.
He returned to being withdrawn and neither of them spoke for a while as they listened to the sound of the water and gazed out into the darkness.
"We were falling," he began suddenly and she turned towards him. "We were falling out of the airplane in the box and we were so scared, I'm pretty sure we were screaming.
"We did scream," she whispered, "until-"
"Until you hit your head," he finished sadly and she nodded. "It made such an awful sound and I was afraid..." He swallowed and paused before continuing.
"And I broke my arm, I heard the crunch and it must have hurt when it really happened but it didn't in the dream, it just felt wrong and terrible. And then I woke up and I forgot for a minute where I was and I searched for the walkie talkie but-"
"But it wasn't there," she ended his sentence. All those nights she'd woken up shaking from her own nightmares he'd been able to come to her, he'd been a short call away and now the one night he needed her he'd been unable to reach her. It seemed so unfair.
"You came anyway though," he said, managing a smile.
"Because I heard your stomping," she teased, relieved.
He almost looked offended. "I don't stomp."
"Well then your quiet ninja footsteps must have alerted me," she kidded.
"That's some hearing you have," he chuckled, warming her up and chasing away her own horrible memories. How badly she wanted to cross the distance between them and hold him but she forced herself to remain where she was.
He sighed and his face fell again into unhappiness.
"There's something else isn't there?" She pressed lightly.
His lip trembled and a few tears leaked down his cheeks.
"Before we fell," he said quietly. "I saw Ward. We were pleading with him, begging him not to, but he did it anyway and I know that really happened."
She nodded and risked wiping the tears from his face. Who would be up at this hour anyhow? "That really did happen."
He let out a sob. "I thought he was our friend. I thought he cared about us but he still hurt us... hurt you and I... I knew it happened but it just didn't seem real until I saw it. How could he do that Jemma? How does someone you trust with your life turn around and try to kill you? I do-don't understand," he was truly sobbing now, shaking as tears streamed down his face. "It d-doesn't make any... b-bloody sense f-for the world t-..to w-work that way. I just d-don't understand... I don't understand." He repeated the phrase over and over like whimper and she felt her heart wrenching out of her chest at the pain in his voice.
Sally was gone, she was Jemma again and just then she didn't care who saw that she pulled him into her arms and held him as he cried.
"It's alright," she soothed, stroking his hair as he buried his face into her shoulder. "Shhh, it's OK. It's over. It's over and I promise I won't let anyone hurt you like that ever again. It's alright."
"I... W-wont l-let them... hurt... y-you e-either-r," he managed and she held him closer.
"I know," she murmured. "I know you won't. And the world isn't all bad," she informed brightly. "There's still you and me and our family and friends. And there's sunshine and robots,"
"And monkeys," he added, sounding maybe a bit more cheerful.
"And monkeys," she smiled, reminded of that small spark of what had almost been happiness as they waited beneath the ocean for the air to run out and discussed their place in the universe. There had been light even then because they'd still had each other. Like they still did now.
"And popcorn shrimp," she went on as he lifted his head and pressed his cheek against hers. "And balloons," she felt him smile, filling with joy as she thought of more ways to keep the grin on his face. "And big orange cats who like to cuddle and- Whales!" She exclaimed causing him to start as she pulled slightly away to peer over the side.
She'd heard the telltale sound of air rushing out of a blowhole.
"Leo it's a humpback!" She gasped. "See the white pectoral fins. Oh wow, they're almost glowing!"
It was so close to the boat and it was huge. Even at four stories up it seemed gigantic.
"They migrate from the north this time of year to calve in southern waters," she bubbled excitedly, hopping a bit in his arms. "They may even be traveling from California to Hawaii like us."
He beamed at her and hopped too before staring down at the gorgeous creature. Another one appeared beside it and they laughed delightedly as it sprayed misty water into the air with a pooffff.
"You think they're friends?" He asked her.
"Humpbacks are known to be friendly," she informed him excitedly. "They could be."
"They are," he decided. "And they're going on an adventure together."
She wasn't entirely sure the whales would think of migration as an adventure so much as the baleen equivalent of the yearly Christmas trip to Grandma's house. Still fun and full of surprises but nothing new.
Even so she caught herself with her eyes locked onto his face as he spoke and it lit up like dawn and she kissed him, swiftly because they were already breaking the rules as it was, before turning back to the whales.
"You make the world a better place Jemma," he said and she could hear his love for her in his voice, see it in his eyes when they glanced at each other once more.
"So do you Leo," she replied returning it in her words and her gaze.
As long as they still had each other, she knew she could see the good in even the worst of times. All she had to do was have him beside her.
/-/-/
Thanks for all the likes, reviews, follows and reads! You guys are great like whales are big.
I cannot make a sound to describe the blow if a blowhole. pofff was the closest I got.
Humpbacks migrate south for the winter (according to wiki) which would mean this story takes place mid-late fall. Blue Bumble Bees could have occurred in September.
Also according to wiki they are super friendly even to other species like dolphins and grey whales. They are also curious and have been known to approach boats which I do remember from whale watching in Halifax. Which reminds me, Happy Canada Day. Bonne Fête du Canada.
Simmons' rant was inspired, of course, by T.R.A.C.K.S.
The Fringe reference is the names Milo and Madeline. They are siblings from the third season episode The Plateau. Milo is mentally challenged and his sister Madeline signs him up for a drug trial to try to help him. The drugs make him super smart but also somehow uncaring and he starts killing people with elaborate traps to accomplish his goals. Poor Madeline just wants her brother back to the way he was.
Tantalum and Niobium are real elements.