My goodness, time flies when you're recovering from surgery. Hard to believe season 2 is about to make this story AU, tomorrow! I still have about two chapters in mind, so they will arrive at some point. I hope this story has helped bridge the hiatus a bit. Enjoy chapter 9!
A blanket around her shoulders. A cup of tea pressed into her hands. A tissue box on the side table. Slowly, Sharon's state of shock began to lessen.
"Oh my God, I slapped Director Coulson," was the first thing she could say.
"Yes, yes you did," Triplett answered.
"Why did I do that?" Her hand was red and still stinging. His face must hurt like hell.
Triplett took a sip of his own tea. "You're the therapist, Sharon, you tell me."
"I don't go around slapping people! That's not at all like me. I must have gone mad." She sipped her own tea reflexively.
"I think 'mad' is a good choice of words, there. You got angry, lost your temper. Don't worry about it, Coulson expected this."
It took longer than it should have to connect the dots. "He's been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent a long time, hasn't he?"
Trip smiled, "If you can call thirty years a long time."
"So Leo isn't the first agent he's seen get hurt." Sharon suddenly realized her hands were shaking. She gripped the teacup more tightly to steady herself. "I'm not the first mother he's had to ask about living wills."
"He hasn't mentioned any specific incidents, but he definitely knows his way around a hospital room. Before you got here he was peppering Jemma with medical questions, moving heaven and earth to find specialists. He must've stood his fair share of vigils," Trip said, "And, I know you may have a hard time remembering this right now, but he definitely cares about Fitz. He threatened the agent responsible for this with some very creative forms of punishment."
Sharon took a long swallow of tea while she absorbed that information. If I ever get my hands on the son of a bitch who did this, those won't be threats . . . Coulson was just doing his job, asking. I should understand that better than anyone. "I'll apologize to the director, when I've collected myself. None of this is his fault. And I didn't mean to slap him. It's just . . . well, Leo is the only family I have left. I can't bear to let him go if there's even a tiny bit of hope."
Trip laid a hand on her arm. "I can't imagine my mother would respond any differently if it were me in that room, and I'm not even her favorite son!"
There was, Sharon reflected, a lot to be said for having someone who could make you smile during the worst week of your life.
For the next hour, Triplett kept Sharon distracted with anecdotes, jokes, and cups of tea while he fixed lunch. Several times Sharon tried to apologize for keeping him from his work, eventually forcing him to admit that Coulson had ordered him to look out for her today.
Over grilled cheese sandwiches, he finally asked the question he'd been pondering since Sharon arrived at the Playground. "Sharon, I know you said Fitz—I mean Leo—is your only family. But does he have anyone else we should call? Maybe someone from his father's side . . .?"
It was bound to be asked eventually. "No, there's really no one. He was close to my parents when they were alive, but they both passed away years ago. I'm an only child. And as for his father, well, Leo met him once." Another bite of the sandwich. "It didn't go well."
She looked up and discovered Triplett was suddenly very interested in the pattern of crumbs on his plate. That brought a smile to her face. First I'm crying, then I'm shouting, now I'm hysterically amused by everything. She thought back to all the families she'd counseled through vigils, remembering how eventually they became desperate to laugh. I'm right on schedule, really. "You can ask, you know, if you're curious," she said, "I'm not shy."
Was that a blush accompanying that nervous smile? Goodness, S.H.I.E.L.D. should teach its agents more control. "I don't want to pry, if it's not my business," Triplett explained.
Sharon shrugged. "Leo is twenty-seven years old. I've been fielding the same question for three decades. I'm not bitter about anything." And I have had plenty of recitations of the same answer.
"I went to university in America. I had a brief fling with a master's candidate, a TA for one of my chemistry classes. No grand love story. He very vehemently did not want a baby, but I wanted to keep it, so we split up. I moved back home to my parents so they could help with Leo while I finished my degree. My ex never asked for custody and I never asked for money. We just went our separate ways.
"Then about ten years ago, when Leo had made a name for himself as a child prodigy and was already working on a master's degree, we got an email out of the blue. He'd tracked us down through Leo's university. He was coming to Scotland for some conference or other and wanted to meet his son. Leo was a bit curious about his long-lost father, so we all went out for supper together. In the middle of a very awkward introduction, he said 'If I'd known you were going to be a whiz kid, I would've stayed in your life.'"
Triplett's eyes widened. "He really said it exactly like that?"
Sharon smiled wider and nodded. "He really did! I've been wondering ever since what I ever saw in him!"
"So what did you do?"
"I didn't do anything. Before I could say a word, Leo let him have it. Called him a 'shameless deadbeat' and a 'cad' and a variety of other colorful things. Told him off for 'taking advantage of a younger woman' and 'refusing responsibilities' before finishing off with 'you might've saved yourself a trip to Scotland because neither of us will have anything to do with you after all this time.' Then he jumped up and stormed out of the restaurant."
Triplett actually laughed. "So what happened then? Did you follow him?"
Sharon shook her head. "Not right away. I took the opportunity to clarify a few things. He as much as admitted that he was only interested in meeting Leo because he wanted to take some credit for such an exceptional child. I told him that he should've taken some modicum of responsibility if he wanted any credit. 'You didn't take advantage of me eighteen years ago,' I said, 'but you have tried to take advantage of my son tonight. You had better not trouble us again unless you've come to apologize.'
She shrugged. "We haven't heard from him since, so I guess he's still thinking it over!"
Triplett started to laugh again. "It sounds like you sure told him!" Then he suddenly sobered, remembering how this conversation had begun. "All right, so we won't call him. Is there anyone else Leo would want to see?"
"No," Sharon said, "Besides Jemma, he doesn't have many close friends."
"Is that what they are?" Triplett didn't bother to hide his curiosity. "Close friends?"
Right, we never got back to that topic. "Sometimes, I'm not entirely sure myself," she said, "and I don't want to talk out of turn."
"Oh," was all he said, but his disappointment was obvious. "Sorry for asking, but I'm pretty confused and Jemma just won't talk about it at all. Anytime I try to ask her what she and Fitz were, she either snaps 'best friends' or scolds me for using the past tense. But she's stopped flirting with me since the incident. I think something must have happened in that pod." Pause. "Other than the obvious 'nearly drowning' part."
After all he's done, he deserves some hope. "Well, since you're such a nice man and I can tell you've got more than a sporting interest in the answer, I'll let you know if I find out."
That got a smile. "Thank you, Sharon."