Chapter 22

It's exactly five forty-five when Jemma Simmons wakes up for the day. Her alarm is blaring some random song about not needing a boyfriend while she hears Andrew groaning and mumbling that he can hear it from the living room. It's too early in the morning for him, the agent likes to be up by seven at least so they can arrive by eight thirty most of the time.

Jemma yells for her ex-boyfriend to go back to sleep and then finds herself running on the treadmill trying to keep in as much shape as Andrew does. She knows he's been throwing himself at working out in the local gym nearby.

When she is finished, she quickly claims the shower before Andrew gets a chance to take it. The biochemist takes nearly ten minutes before she gets out so she can decide what she wants to wear for work. But before looking she sees that Andrew is up and moving. He's still wearing his pajamas he changed into after Jemma went to bed the night before. Andrew's allegiance with the San Diego Padres was pretty strong, but seeing him wearing a San Francisco Giants shirt made Jemma smile. She knew he would follow his favorite player no matter what.

The agent was currently making himself some coffee while working on boiling some water to make Jemma's tea. It was something he perfected on making shortly after they had met. Fitz couldn't seem to figure it out exactly himself.

When he looks up to see Jemma, Andrew smiles at her before she takes back off into the bedroom. He removes his coffee cup from the machine and then sets it on the counter before removing the pot of water for the tea.

Drew then finds himself checking the time realizing he's a bit behind before running to the bathroom for a shower.

###

It's eight when both of them are walking out of the apartment to resume their Hydra identities. They are walking hand in hand towards the donut place just in case they are seen by anyone. Acting as a married couple has been tough on both of them. Although it's been tougher on Andrew knowing that he isn't wearing the wedding ring that Skye had gotten him when they were married. His ring was hidden within some of his belongings at the apartment. The agent even felt different after leaving his father's dog tags with his wife. But knowing that she had them could tell her that he was safe.

Both agents end up with a donut each and are both finished by the time they reach Hydra's building. They wait a few minutes just to talk and catch up before going in together.

"How has Mr. Bakshi been?" Jemma finally asks unsure if she really should ask.

"He's interesting I guess. He only really needs me when he leaves the building for whatever business he takes care of." Andrew answers.

"Does that mean you're moving in the ranks?"

"Maybe, not sure exactly. What about you?"

"Still in the lab. Quite unsure of some of the samples I'm working on though."

Eventually they both go into the building to be greeted by the receptionist and guard named Theo. He's almost as chipper in the morning as Jemma is.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Parker." Theo says checking Jemma's purse.

It's how the two agents had introduced themselves when they first met him a few days ago. Although Jemma was still referred to as Doctor Simmons up in the lab she worked in. It seemed to be the only way to keep their cover going just in case.

"Good morning, Theo." Andrew says as Theo finishes up.

Theo gives him a salute and before they know it, both agents find themselves getting in the elevator to go up to the floor they need.

"I am certainly not used to being called by your name." Jemma tells Andrew.

"I wouldn't get too used to it, Skye is still using it."

That quiets the biochemist for a bit. Sometimes Andrew still had to remind himself that Skye is back at the base waiting for him to come home.

When the elevator opens at the floor, both of them split up in their respected directions. Simmons towards the labs and Parker to the locker room so he could change into his body gear.

22AOS22

The sound of gun fire surrounds the entire firing range located down in the lower parts of the playground. Skye has already taken plenty of shots to the target before she runs out of bullets in the magazine. The whole time she was shooting, she kept thinking of Andrew and how Ward had almost killed him if he wasn't wearing the vest he had put on before they left.

When she sees May walking up towards her, Skye removes her ear plugs and places them on the counter.

"I imagined they were all Ward. My chance to stop him from shooting Drew again."

"Imagine they were targets instead. I know you and Drew had to face Ward like that but you can't get cocky. It's all about control."

"Control. Yes I understand."

"No matter the situation, you have to control your mind in the situation."

May takes a quick look at Skye's heart monitor. Somehow even with imagining taking down Ward, the hacker still managed to keep her heart rate in a steady rate.

Then once it's looked over, May reaches over and grabs a larger gun. A sniper rifle to be exact. Skye looked over at her wide eye.

"You can't be serious."

"It's a sniper rifle, Skye. I want you to get used to using it."

Before they can get anything done with the rifle, they see Mack and Hunter walking towards them. Hunter pushing a cart of random items.

"Pardon me. I just have a quick question." Hunter says trying to be careful not to get hurt by either of them.

Skye looks over to see May glaring at the mercenary waiting for the question to be asked.

"Mack and I have a little wager. You went to the academy correct?"

"You didn't." May tells him before walking off after seeing Coulson.

Hunter puts his hands up in defense and then looks over at Skye who rolls her eyes a bit.

"So did you?"

Skye shakes her head. "Go to the academy? Yeah not at all."

"No? Coulson said you were a field agent with a badge and everything."

"I had one before S.H.I.E.L.D. went kaboom after like a day. My husband although did go the academy. He got in shortly after his aunt pulled a few strings."

Hunter looked at her a little disappointed realizing that Mack was still winning after she mentioned Drew.

"Who's his aunt?" Hunter asked.

"Maria Hill."

It was Mack's turn to look surprised.

"You're joking. Isn't she like around our age?" Mack asked.

"Only about six years older. She's his mom's younger sister."

It's all Skye tells them before she walks to leave the two figuring out what had just happened.

22AOS22

Jemma finds herself walking home after work alone. She hadn't see Andrew all day but that normally happened. It only made sense for them not to see each other since they were both in different parts of the building.

The biochemist knew her ex would be home later then what she was going to be. He always went to the gym after work. It seemed to be his release point.

When she got upstairs, she opened the door to find a still dark apartment. Jemma hung her bag on the hook. It wasn't until she heard a noise come from the kitchen that she pulled out her gun from her purse.

"Andrew?" She questioned the man before flicking on the light.

Even though she knew that couldn't have been the case, she said his name anyway. If it was him, he would have turned on the light. Jemma was a bit shocked to find out it was some one else standing in the kitchen looking through the fridge.

Phil Coulson

"Did you think I wouldn't find out? Sriracha? Beer? That's all? What kind of diet is that?" The director asked.

Jemma just smiled as she put her gun away and walked towards him.

"I have tea?" Jemma questions. "Dead drops shouldn't have fast food in them. No wonder Andrew is constantly going to the gym."

"We'll revisit that protocol. Where is your other half?"

"The gym as far as I know. He left before I did."

"I picked up some groceries. We've got... steak ... grass-fed ... fingerling potatoes, kale ... organic. It's basic, but I do good basic." Coulson told her. "Will Andrew eat this stuff?"

"He eats anything, sir."

"Isn't he allergic to something?"

"Strawberries. There was this one time at the academy when he accidentally ate a cake with it in it." Jemma answered. "Poor boy grabbed one with the wrong label."

###

It's about forty five later when Andrew comes home. He's still in his gym clothes, his whole body covered with sweat. The agent opens the door and sets down his bag before calling out to Jemma.

"Jemma, I'm home now!" He yells.

"In the kitchen, Andrew." He gets answered.

The agent walks into the kitchen after kicking off shoes only to get a surprise in front of him.

"Director Coulson, what are you doing here?" He asks.

"Agent Parker, it's nice to see you again." Coulson gets up and comes over to shake his hand. "Why don't we go talk on the balcony real quick."

Andrew followed the director to the balcony and shut the door behind them once they were both outside.

Coulson stood near the balcony railing and looked out into the distance. The sun was setting and it gave a pinkish color to the sky.

"It's a nice view." Coulson tells Andrew.

"Yes it is, sir."

Coulson turns towards Andrew and puts a hand on his shoulder. It only sits there for a few seconds.

"I just want to thank you for going on this mission. I know it's tough on both you and Skye right now."

Andrew nods his head. The agent really missed his wife and he really couldn't wait to get back.

"How is she?"

"Skye?" Coulson asks. "She's doing fine. I can tell she really misses you. Skye was wearing one of your shirts one day a few weeks ago."

That puts a smile on the agent's face. He could only imagine which shirt she was wearing.

"Padres, Jake Peavy. I think it's blue?"

"That would be the one." Coulson tells him before pulling out a paper from his pocket. "She gave me a list of things for you. I told her I would give them to you the next time I came."

The director hands him the paper before heading back in to the apartment. All of a sudden Andrew is alone holding a note from the girl he missed, his wife.

Drew,

There's so much I want to tell you but first I want to tell you how much I miss you. It's been almost three months since you walked out that door of the base. A lot has happened around here since then. We have a few more agents here helping which is a big plus.

Fitz is doing okay, he's made friends with a new agent named Mack. Although sometimes when I check up on him, he sometimes is talking to himself. I've heard your name come out of his mouth a few times. I think he just misses you. You're his brother Drew, even if you are not by blood.

We have another agent on base, Lance Hunter. He told me that you two met in London. That you're the one that got him to come to S.H.I.E.L.D, which is quite interesting. Hunter is sometimes annoying but he is helping us.

Coulson and May are fine too. They won't tell me exactly where you are other then that you've been safe. May claims she's known your location for a few weeks though. She wasn't in the loop at the beginning I guess. And you know how hard it is to get information out of her.

May is a good S.O. so far. She's been teaching all kinds of things I need to know as a field agent. You'd probably be a good S.O. too, when you get back. Although I'm not sure who you could be a S.O to.

Trip has been keeping me company every so often. He's been keeping my mind off of worrying about you. We've done a few pranks on the new scientists. They weren't too happy that they kept falling for it.

Finally I know it was you that put me back in the van last week. I can't believe you were there with me even if was for a few minutes. I was a bit surprised although when I found your dad's dog tags around my neck. I knew there had to be a reason knowing how smart you are. I'm still trying to figure it out to be honest.

Anyway I hope Coulson ends up giving this to you. I just miss you so much right now and writing this helped a little bit even if it will take awhile for me to get a response. I want you to know that I love you and I can't wait for you to come home.

Love,

your wife

Skye

Andrew folded the paper back up and walked back into the apartment. Coulson was already gone and Jemma was watching tv in the bedroom. The agent grabbed his laptop and began his search. He opened up the Internet and there he typed in;

Daniel Parker, Daniel Whitehall

He had only seen a few glimpses of Hydra's main boss and he was wondering why there was a resemblance or if it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He just hoped it wasn't who he thought it was.

There is chapter 22. Getting really close to my big idea. Let me know what you think by leaving a review and also if you have ideas let me know.