12: HOMEOSTASIS
May was surprised when she heard a knock on the door of her room; most people wouldn't dare try and disturb her at the best of times. However, she recognised that knock so didn't hesitate in getting up and opening the door, even giving a rare smile as she did.
"Melinda." Andrew nodded with a warm grin.
"Andrew. Come on in." May said, walking back to her desk as Andrew followed, closing the door behind him.
"You and Coulson had a very long talk then?" May added, looking at her watch.
"Not particularly; I've been to talk to Agent Fitz as well." Andrew corrected.
"How's he doing?" May asked.
"Fitz or Coulson?"
"Both."
"You ever heard of 'Patient Confidentiality'?" Andrew smirked.
"Andrew, it's me." May said.
"Fitz is doing well, all things considered. He's just clearly frustrated by such rapid changes; he's a fan of thing staying the same and being in control. Time's the best healer in his case, especially with the amount of support he's getting from everyone. Especially Agent Simmons." Andrew revealed.
"You know how tight those two are. We're all helping him through it however we can. If it were me I'd have screamed the place down a dozen times by now." May stated.
"I know." Andrew smiled.
"…And Coulson?" May asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"Overwhelmed with guilt. It comes with his job but it's hitting him worse than I've ever seen. He's keeping a lot inside and shutting everyone out so he can't bring them down with him." Andrew said.
"I've always called him The Man Who Cares Too Much." May said.
"Again, time will tell how his case progresses. Catching this Inhuman should certainly improve his attitude. He's not in a good place Melinda. I'm worried. I'm worried about all of you; everything with this Rage monster and R.E.S.C.U.E. has you all shaken up." Andrew sighed.
"…I know. We do our best."
"I know you do. You're coping the best from what I can tell. But I guess that's just what you do, huh?" Andrew teased.
"I try my best. I'll look after them all, I promise. We'll all look after each other. We're a team, after all, no matter how hard Rage tries to tear us apart." May said collectively.
Andrew cautiously shuffled over to sit next to May on the edge of her bed, tentatively taking her hand in his.
"If you ever need me, you can still call me. You know that, right?" Andrew asked in a whisper.
"…I know."
"Even if it's just to hear my voice."
"…I know. Thank you, Andrew."
…
"Fitz! I need you. Not in a sexual way." Lance said as he walked into the lab and approached Fitz, who was sat in his chair at his newly lowered desk examining blueprints.
"What's up?" Fitz asked.
"My earpiece has stopped working; it just gets a crackling sound. Dunno what happened to it." Lance explained. Fitz sighed heavily.
"You dropped it in the bath again, didn't you?"
"…No."
"The circuit's fried; I'll get Simmons to manufacture you a new one." Fitz said.
"Simmons? I thought you were the engineering one?" Lance asked.
"Well, I am, but the machine that installs the circuit boards into the device itself was salvaged from HQ so it's a bit battered. It needs a good kick at the right time to work properly. As you can see, kicking isn't really my speciality right now." Fitz said, gesturing towards his legs.
"Mate, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up." Lance said.
"It's okay, I know you didn't. My legs are paralysed; no point in pretending they're not." Fitz said, forcing a smile.
…
Lance stumbled into the living area and sighed as he fell into a couch. Most of the team watched him in confusion.
"What is it now?" Bobbi asked.
"I dropped myself in it with Fitz. I didn't mean to but I did." Lance groaned.
"Poor guy." Joey sighed as he poured himself a coffee.
"He's putting on a brave face, but it's still killing him." Daisy said sadly. Lincoln wrapped his arms around her comfortingly and kissed the top of her head.
"It would kill him to know you're gossiping about him behind his back, too." Jemma stated as she walked into the room.
"Where the bloody hell did you come from?" Lance said, jumping up from the couch in fright.
"I had to talk to Mack about something." Jemma said.
"We just care about him, Jemma, that's all." Bobbi said.
"Then maybe you should tell that to Fitz himself; you know, the man who might actually need to hear that right now?" Jemma suggested.
"Good point." Lincoln muttered under his breath.
"Leo appreciates things being stable and the same; homeostasis, if you will. We just need to remind him of that. If we can make him feel stable and in control, he'll get through this just fine." Jemma said.
"Good idea, Simmons." Coulson said, appearing at the doorway and making Lance jump again.
"Jesus! Are you guys teleporting or something?" Lance muttered in shock.
"We don't have any leads as to the whereabouts of Maya and/or Rage right now, Simmons. If you want to focus on Fitz's rehabilitation right now, I won't object to it. The rest of us can keep busy searching for leads." Coulson said and Jemma smiled brightly.
"Thank you, sir."
With that, Jemma rushed out of the room.
"Now seriously, do you have silent shoe technology or something?" Lance questioned.
…
"Jemma?" Fitz asked, knocking on Jemma's room door a little while later. Quickly, the door slid open and a wonderful scent filled Fitz's nose.
"Come on in. Time for dinner!" Jemma smiled.
"I know that smell." Fitz grinned as he rolled further into the room and saw the unmistakable sight of food from Renly's Burgers, Jemma and Fitz's favourite burger place, spread out across Jemma's bed.
"I thought it'd been a while since we had Renly's for dinner. Our weekly tradition sort of faded recently after everything; it's about time to start it up again." Jemma smiled, handing a burger and chips to a salivating Fitz.
"How did you even get this? We're on a plane." Fitz asked as he tucked in right away.
"A lot of eye fluttering when we stopped for a refuel earlier." Jemma smirked happily.
"Ah, a power I have yet to master." Fitz commented and Jemma laughed.
"I'd forgotten how good this was." Jemma smiled in between bites.
"I know, I'm in love." Fitz agreed.
"Do you remember the first time we had Renly's?" Jemma asked.
"Of course I do. The first time we ever stayed up studying together at the Academy. There was a Renly's down the road." Fitz recalled happily.
"Their faces were a picture when you went back for another meal half an hour later." Jemma chuckled.
"I was a growing lad!" Fitz exclaimed.
"You're just a pig, admit it." Jemma teased.
"Maybe I am." Fitz smiled.
After they finished their meals, Fitz pulled himself onto Jemma's bed (with a bit of help) and the two were left lying next to each other with satisfied smiles on their faces after an amazing dinner.
"I'm stuffed." Jemma said.
"Me too." Fitz smiled.
Fitz turned his head to face Jemma and smiled at her, looking deep into her hazel eyes.
"Thanks for this."
"What?" Jemma asked.
"The food. I appreciate the normality of it." Fitz said.
"I thought you might. And it's my pleasure." Jemma said.
"You're the best person in the world, you know that?" Fitz asked.
"Second only to you." Jemma corrected with a smile, shuffling closer to Fitz and resting her head on his shoulder with her arms around his waist. After a short delay, he wrapped an arm around her and smiled gently.
Within ten minutes, they were both sound asleep.
…
Coulson was searching through news articles when he heard Daisy's voice in his earpiece.
"Coulson, come to the briefing room. I think I've got a lead, but you won't like it. I know I don't."
It didn't take long for Coulson to rush into the briefing room, where Daisy, Lincoln, May, Andrew, Mack, Lance, Bobbi and Joey were waiting for him.
"What have you got?" Coulson asked.
"Well, remember that file Maya had in R.E.S.C.U.E.'s database? The one labelled 'TYG'?" Daisy asked.
"Yeah, the one all about The Young Gods." Coulson recalled.
"That's the one. Well, I finished going through all the files and data in there and got into all the encrypted files." Daisy explained.
"And?" Coulson prompted. Daisy sighed.
"There's another member of The Young Gods, joined not long before their last known attack before Rage must have scared them off when it started killing them. If we can track him down, inevitably Rage must be going after him too. The files didn't have much on him, but I'm certain she has more than enough intel now." Daisy explained.
"How come?" Coulson asked.
"I think Maya wanted, or needed, to get close to S.H.I.E.L.D. and did a great job of hiding it. She could've extracted the information from you or Lance like she did before to get HQ's location when she had the chance to." Daisy said.
"But why would we have intel on a member of The Young Gods?" Coulson wondered. Daisy gulped.
"Because he was a former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Who?" Coulson asked.
Daisy very reluctantly placed a photo down on the table for everyone to see; the blood left their faces as they were greeted by the sight of an all too familiar face.
Grant Ward.