3 Weeks Earlier
"What were you in for?" Dave asked Donnie as he watched him assemble the device which would stop the train dead in its tracks. "Why did they lock you up in the Sandbox?"
They were at a cheap, dirty motel in a town called Westfield, waiting for their first mission. His first mission, Dave and Kenzi had robbed places before. It was their first mission as team though.
He was making a device to help them rob a train. He'd thought he'd sworn off a life of crime after almost destroying a city with an ice machine which created a colossal a super-storm, but promises were broken all the time.
His father had promised him he'd write when he was at the academy, Seth had promised it'd always be them against the world, agent Adams had promised that, if he was good, he'd get to go back to the academy.
No one kept their promises, so why should he?
"My friend and I created a machine that could have killed hundreds of people and almost sold it to someone who probably would have used it to kill more," he informed him robotically, insuring the anchor was properly secured to the clamp, this was going to need to stop a train after all.
Dave laughed. "You really are more of a tinkerer than freezer aren't you?" he mused.
"Yeah," Donnie answered quietly, unsure if he should laugh along or if he was being made fun of.
"Not much of a talker either," Kenzi sneered from the other bed which she sat reading on, and this time he knew she was making fun of him.
"Shut up Kelvin, the kid's new, he's probably shy," Dave defended and Donnie smiled gratefully at him.
"Besides I got my powers after," he offered up the explanation now that he no longer felt that Dave was laughing at him.
"What?" Dave asked, tilting his head, puzzled.
"The- the machine, it... it gave me my powers," he stumbled to clarify.
Dave was right, he was shy. He didn't want to mess this up when at least one of them seemed to be warming up to him.
"Some genius, can't even string a few words together," Kenzi taunted and Donnie turned red, feeling his insides squirm unpleasantly.
"Why do you have to be such a bully?" Dave demanded, once again coming to Donnie's defence. "Did you get picked on when you were a kid? Is that it?"
"Did you?" she shot back breezily, seemingly unperturbed by his question. "Is that why you're such a hero, sticking up for people who don't have the guts to stick up for themselves?"
"You just wish someone had stuck up for you," he countered irritably. "Don't take it out on Donnie just because no one-"
"Shut up," she snapped, finally angry. "I'm going to take a walk, I can't take you two anymore."
She left in a huff and Donnie awkwardly kept his eyes fixed on his work. He hadn't meant to start trouble.
"Sorry," he mumbled, when she was gone.
"Hey, it wasn't you," Dave assured him. "Don't worry about Kenzi, she's more bark than bite... mostly. No, she bites too but it's nothing personal I think she just hates everyone because her folks thought she was crazy for years."
"Oh," Donnie answered, not knowing what to say to that. Was he suppose to say something? "Thanks for sticking up for me," he tried and received a friendly grin for his efforts. "What do your parents think about your powers?" he inquired, before realizing that was far too personal a question and pinking up again.
Dave chuckled, a little bitterly this time. "They dumped me with Shield as soon as I could spin," he told him. "Which was actually quite a few years after I could walk," he joked but Donnie, again, wasn't sure if he was meant to be laughing so he twitched his mouth in a quick half smile instead. "I don't think they knew what to do with me," Dave explained. "I've been told I caused a lot of property damage and I sort of remember that I ran over my sister. She was OK... eventually... and it was an accident, but I think that was what made their decision."
"I'm sorry," Donnie whispered.
Poor Dave, he was such a nice guy too. Well apart from being a criminal, but who was he to judge?
"What about your parents?" Dave asked him, handing him a bag of chips which he accepted. "Are they wondering where you are?"
"No," Donnie shook his head, "probably not."
The truth was they probably were, but he didn't want to face them, didn't want them to see what he'd become, they were already ashamed of him. What would they think of him becoming a train robber? Maybe their next mission would be to rob a bank and he'd become a cliche bad guy.
/-/-/
"They're becoming more dangerous," May commented as she knelt down to examine the body of Ivan Maroon beside Jemma.
"Mackenzi is becoming more dangerous," Leo corrected, steering Happy around the bank, and received a look of pity from Jemma and one of disappointment from May. "Neither of the other two have even hurt anyone." he pressed, not managing to change their expressions.
"They were part of this robbery, this is on them too," May informed him firmly, rising to go talk to one of the tellers and Leo wondered if maybe she'd seen a different video.
Once May was out of earshot, he wandered over to stand beside Jemma confused that she hadn't backed him up about the other two.
"You agree with her don't you?" he guessed quietly, staring down at her as she worked.
He'd thought she was on his side, maybe not completely concurrent with him, but she had seen the recording of the robbery, she knew Donnie had tried to do something, that this wasn't 'on him'.
"She isn't saying that we need to eliminate them," Jemma pointed out, glancing up at him with that same almost infuriating look of pity she'd given him a few seconds ago. "Fitz you must understand that we can't just let them go. You told me you understood that, remember?"
"I didn't think she was saying that we needed to eliminate them," he replied tartly, turning away because she was making him feel like a child who didn't understand why he had to eat his vegetables, like he was being naive, but he wasn't.
Why was no one on his side in this? It was as if he was the only person in this whole damn world who cared that Donnie didn't want to do this. How did that mean he deserved Jemma's pity? If anything she deserved his because, poor Jemma, couldn't seem to see the difference between Donnie and Mackenzie.
He wondered, if he had gone down a different path, had a different life, there could have been a time when she wouldn't have been able to distinguish him from Mackenzie. He had been alone once, lost and desperate for somewhere to belong and maybe he would have joined up with the wrong crowd, gotten in over his head, maybe been a misguided super hero with self-created mechanical parts named Steel Fist. Who knew?
He could have been Donnie, if his life had gone a different way, and it hurt to think that Jemma wouldn't have been able to understand him.
/-/-/
Why was he looking at her like that? Like she was betraying him by agreeing with May. She wasn't saying she didn't care what happened to Donnie and Dave, she did, it was just that she also cared what happened to everyone else.
He knew that right? She and May weren't robots 'target acquired, threat eliminated' as Skye had once said (about May, not her). She wanted to fix this for everyone but there was no way to deny that the boys had played a part in the death of this man or that they could be involved in the death of someone else in the future.
She tried to think of something to say to him, to explain what she was feeling, but before she could he'd already moved on with Happy. It was a personal matter anyway, she decided, better to be resolved later, in private.
"So," Skye whispered, taking Leo's place beside her when he had left, "did you find anything."
Why was she so quiet? Was she getting a cold?
"I'll need to do an autopsy to be sure but I'm almost positive this man overheated," Jemma updated her. "He has a heat rash, see those bumps," she pointed at a red, bumpy patch on the man's face. "And he's drenched in sweat. That and knowing that Mackenzie's power is-"
"I meant about my powers," Skye clarified, barely audible. She looked around nervously before fixing round, pleading eyes on Jemma.
"Oh, right... yes..." Jemma replied before glancing around as Skye had done and lowering her voice. "I haven't had a chance to test the sample I took yet," she admitted a little guiltily.
Skye was probably anxious about what was happening to her, afraid, and it wasn't fair for her to have to wait so long for results, but they had a mission and it would be difficult for Jemma to work on it without being noticed by Leo or the others. Besides they'd been on their toes since she'd taken the sample and on top of that Jemma had barely seen the inside of the lab.
"That's OK," Skye assured her, though she her gaze fell and she let out a tiny sigh.
"No it isn't," Jemma replied, frowning at herself. "It isn't fair for you to have to wait so long for results when you must be at your wits end with worry- not that it's likely you have anything to worry about," she put in quickly, not wanting to frighten her. "but I haven't had the time to-"
"It's fine, really," Skye smiled reassuringly. "I'm probably going through 084 puberty or something normal for weird like that," she kidded. "nothing to be at my 'wits end' about."
Jemma chuckled with her but she still felt as if she was letting her down. To make things worse, there was a remaining sting in her gut from the way Leo had looked at her, like she was some sort of cold android, and she wasn't sure how to make him understand she only wanted what was best for everyone.
That second problem wasn't a problem, she decided. Leo always understood, would never think something like that about her. He was upset by this whole situation with Donnie, that was all.
Still she felt a frozen lump of stress in her chest which leaked icy water all across her body.
She had the mission to concentrate on, she had Skye to worry about, new rules to try to remember and now she was concerned for Leo too.
He wasn't just upset, he was becoming irrational, he was empathizing too much with Donnie, seeing himself in him and making this personal when he needed to be focused and she was worried he was going to make a mistake or worse, put himself in danger because of it.
"Fitz is taking this one pretty hard," Skye commented, following her gaze to where Leo was packing up the D.W.A.R.F.s. "I haven't seen him in denial like this since... well since Ward," she finished, her sorrow easy to hear at the mention of their former friend.
Jemma shook her head. "He needs to snap out of it," she declared, almost angrily.
"I get it though," Skye said quietly. "You want to trust people, believe they're good and maybe you even let yourself care about them but then..." she trailed off and Jemma knew she wasn't thinking of Donnie.
She placed a hand on her friends shoulder comfortingly and Skye forced a smile onto her face.
"Are you bringing him back to the Bus?" she asked, jerking her head towards Mr. Maroon.
"Yes," she replied, changing her tone as she attempted to loosen the knot in her stomach and focus on her current task.
Skye put on gloves and helped her lift the body onto the stretcher so it could be carried back, first the front part, then the legs.
"What is that?" Skye asked, pointing to a square plastic card which had been hidden beneath it.
"It's a credit card," she realized, picking it up. "But the name... Daniel Green? That isn't his name..."
"Maybe someone dropped it," Skye guessed.
"Right where Mr. Maroon fell?" Jemma asked skeptically. "No one was standing near him except for..."
"Except for Donnie and Mackenzi," Skye finished and Jemma smiled because they may have found their first lead.
/-/-/
Legs was looming over them like an angry giant and Kenzi had just killed a man by touching him for doing nothing more than running towards her. He hadn't even been armed.
Donnie's life was crashing off the tracks, he was in over his head and couldn't see a way out. He could see a way to stop them though, or at least set about the events that would.
He'd changed his mind, these people weren't any better than Shield, if anything they were worse.
Which was why, when no one was watching him, he swiftly removed the credit card from his pocket and tucked it under the man's body.
/-/-/
"They're sending in armed agents," Leo fretted, dancing around her, not put off as he usually was while she dissected the body.
The credit card was under a stolen identity. Mr. Green lived on the other side of the country and had been home when they'd contacted him, however they had tracked the card's usage to a nearby motel which he'd said he'd never even heard of. Coulson was putting together a squad of agents to take them in but they wanted to wait for the evening when David, Donnie and Mackenzie were likely to return. In a few hours they would move out.
"I know," she told him, gazing up at the x-ray on the screen. This man's insides had been baked like casserole. "They're dangerous, the agents need to protect themselves."
"Maybe I could go and talk to them," he decided. "They could give me a vest or something and send me in-"
"Are you mad?" Jemma gasped turning her attention away from her work because a jolt of panic had bolted down her spine. That was an awful idea, he could get himself killed trying that. "It's too dangerous even if Coulson would let you which I am sure-"
"But they could kill them-" Leo pointed out anxiously.
"They aren't innocent bystanders Leo," she interrupted impatiently. She needed to get this nonsense of approaching a murderous group of super-humans out of his head before he did something stupid. "This man is dead-"
"Because of MacKenzie," he said stubbornly and she let out a groan of aggravation because the last thing she need right now was for him to go into stubborn, denial mode. "Donnie and Dave didn't do anything."
"They didn't stop her," she countered.
"They didn't have time," he threw back, obviously frustrated with her.
Why was he so intent on defending them? They had made their own choices and it had led to the deaths of three people already. If he tried to talk to them that number could jump to four and that would be unacceptable. Couldn't he simply trust the other agents to do their job? They weren't going to be running in shooting first.
"Maybe they're being forced into this," he suggested unhappily. "Maybe-"
"Leo when will we you just grow up!" she hissed exasperatedly because this conversation was becoming all too familiar and he was scaring her. "You're living in a world of sunshine and rainbows-"
"Oh, yeah, that's exactly what it's like, good job Jemma-," he snapped back, reacting to her tone.
"There are bad people in the world," she asserted slowly, putting great force into her words in hopes that the message might finally sink in. "Sometimes people simply aren't going to be your friend and they aren't going to do the right thing and you're just going to have to deal with-."
"What by attacking them?" he demanded furiously. "Is that what you'd do? He's not evil he's-"
"This isn't a fairytale Fitz, it isn't only about good and evil," she argued."They're hurting people and-"
"I can stop them!" He insisted.
"No you cannot!" she shouted. "Do you really think you can walk up to them, ask nicely and they'll stop? You are such a child!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air.
"I'm not- I'm not a child," he muttered, looking away.
She scoffed at him. "Immature then," she offered. "Juvenile, callow, naive, do you need more?"
"No I think I got it," he told her bitterly and she regretted her words because she knew they hit a sore spot. "You're far too grown up for someone like me aren't you? 'I'm Jemma Simmons and I'm so mature I always follow the rules and do everything according to procedure,'" he mimicked her in an unflattering voice. "'Oh no, my mistake, I'm not mature, I'm a heartless robot."
"Don't you dare," she glared at him, stung by his accusation. "I'm not... I have a heart-"
"I meant the metaphori-" he interrupted angrily.
"I know what you meant," she retorted sharply. "And if that's what you really think of me then why do you like me so much?"
"I don't know," he spat back and her anger transformed instantly into a sharp pain that cracked across her chest and made her eyes burn, which she turned away from him to hide.
"It's like having an argument with a toddler," she mumbled as she returned to work, her voice low to mask the fact that she'd started to tear up.
'He didn't mean that,' she assured herself but the lump in her stomach remained.
Leo had apparently decided he'd had enough of this conversation.
"Where are you going?" she demanded as he slid open the door but he didn't reply. "Fine," she yelled after him, she was done with this too. "Do whatever you want, I don't care."
Let him go mope pointlessly somewhere else, she wasn't going to get in his way. He wasn't her responsibility, examining this poor man's corpse was.
She didn't look to see him leave but his fading footsteps told her he was gone. Only when she couldn't hear them clapping outside did she let out a tiny sob and allow the tears to flow out of her like water from a burst dam.
/-/-/
"Where are you going?" he heard Jemma ask harshly.
'Where do you think?' he thought, rage stopping him from hearing the catch in her voice.
She thought he was living in a fairytale? That he was naive and immature?
He knew what was happening, he knew those kids were dangerous and that they had to be stopped but he also knew that they were probably scared and feeling alone and maybe even attacked.
He wasn't going to stand back and let them be injured or killed, he couldn't. They deserved a chance, at least, all they needed was someone to give it to them.
What was so crazy about that someone being him?
It only occurred to him after he had left the Bus and was driving to the location on the printout he had stolen, that the last thing he had said to her before going on this hazardous mission was that he thought she as a heartless robot.
That almost made him turn around, because if she was right... if they wouldn't listen and he really did get himself killed... she couldn't think...
No, he'd be fine and when he got back he'd tell her he loved her and that she had a heart the size of the universe, because she did, and it was breathtakingly beautiful.
If he returned now the others wouldn't allow him to leave again and he needed to do this.
Even so, the memory of his cruel words to her brought tears to his eyes and he wished he'd thought to leave a note, telling her how sorry he was, before he'd left.
/-/-/
Jemma was finished examining the body and as she threw away her gloves she'd already decided she needed to go talk to Leo.
They had both said things they hadn't meant. She knew with complete certainty he hadn't believed what he'd said. He was just angry and probably hurt by what she had said right before.
She knew he didn't believe she was heartless. He loved her, she was certain because of the way he glowed when she walked in the room and because of the fondness in his voice when he teased her, or praised her or chuckled at her. One comment didn't negate all that.
It didn't make the comment OK either though, she still wanted an apology and maybe she should tell him she was sorry too because she knew how much it got under his skin to be called immature and she'd gone a little far comparing him to a toddler. That had been the hurt striking back against him, not her head or her heart.
She only hoped he was ready to talk, he had been so angry when he'd walked out, he hadn't even told her where he was going and she searched most of the Bus before heading to his room. He must be upset to have hidden in there, if he was crying he wouldn't have wanted anyone to see.
She knocked on the door to it now, expecting a reply when she called his name, but instead was met with silence.
"Leo," she said, knocking again gently. "I just want to talk, can you please come out?"
Silence. Was he even in there?
"I'll come in," she warned because the door wasn't locked. "You can't keep ignoring me, we need to talk about this. I'll come in, I swear, rules or no rules we need to discuss it."
He didn't reply but he didn't lock the door either.
She would break the rules, if she had too, it wasn't as if she was going in there to make out with him. She'd open that door and go into forbidden territory if that was what it took to get him to listen, but that wasn't exactly plan A.
"I'm sorry," she told him, her voice quavering slightly as she spoke. "Is that what you want? I know you're sorry too, I know you didn't mean what you said."
Was he listening, tuning her out or simply not there? She'd be really embarrassed if she was pouring her heart out to an empty room but where else would he have gone? She'd checked everywhere.
"You didn't mean what you said right?" she inquired anxiously. Of course he didn't. "Why are you being so ridiculous? Stop being ridiculous and talk to me." The final words came out almost as an order and she cursed herself because she knew being confrontational was not going to make him open up.
"What are you doing?" Trip asked, a cup of coffee in his hands as he passed her. "Are you talking to him from behind the door? You're taking this whole 'new rules' thing kinda seriously don't you think? I mean I'm sure you could open-" he stopped as he noticed her expression. "What's going on?" he asked softly and she wondered if her eyes were red and bright from crying earlier.
She wiped them reactively, trying to hide the leftovers of her tears, realizing too late she'd likely brought attention to them.
"He...we... he won't talk to me," she mumbled casting her eyes downwards.
"That's because he's not in there," Trip told her, smiling like he'd just solved her problem. "Don't be sad, he isn't ignoring you... maybe you should ease up on how closely you follow those rules Coulson gave you, you're allowed to open the door to check if he's inside. Especially if it's going to cause confusion and-"
"What do you mean he isn't in there?" she interrupted, what he had said sinking in slowly because it didn't make sense. "I've been searching for him all over, there's nowhere else he could be."
"He's not in there, I went in to grab some of his pretzels a few minutes ago," Trip insisted. "Don't worry, he said it was alright, he lets me go in his room because sometimes we trade snacks," he explained, misinterpreting the way her eyes grew large and her face froze. "Simmons why are you looking at me like that... did you put something in the pretzels? Awww man really Simmons? Again? What were they some sort of experiment? I was sure he said it was the pretzels I could take... or was it the Pringles? Is this going to be like that time with the milk? Simmons, seriously, you need to keep things you add stuff to in the lab."
"Oh no," she breathed, finally understanding what had happened.
"Are you kidding me?" Trip sighed. "Oh great...What was in the pretzels? Do I need to go get an antiserum or something?"
"What? No... there's nothing... you're fine," she assured him quickly and he let out a sigh of relief before his concern returned.
"What's going on then?" he wondered.
Jemma was beginning to think that maybe she was the naive one, believing Leo would stay on the Bus, that he'd go back to his room. That he wouldn't try to do anything stupid.
"He's gone," she said, shaking her head. "He's gone to try to talk to Donnie."
She met Trip's eyes and she saw by the way her own alarm was reflected in them that he understood.
Why had she thought their argument had talked him out of it? What part of 'you're immature and naive, don't go,' had been convincing? None of it, but she hadn't thought he'd actually go anywhere. She hadn't thought he'd be reckless enough to really strike out on his own to try asking a group of super-humans with a history of violence to please stop robbing people.
Clearly she'd underestimated him.
/-/-/
Thanks for all your likes, reads, reviews and follows! May no one ever underestimate your awesomeness :).
The "not exactly plan A" is a reference to Mal in the movie Serenity. Someone asks him if he is willing to die for his belief and he says "Yes... but it's not exactly plan A"
The Fringe reference is the messed with milk. In the third season episode The Firefly, Peter (once again eating things in the lab) drinks some milk which Walter has put something in and almost dies. I don't think this milk incident was so scary... probably just a tummy ache or something.
I think that was the longest I ever had Trip talk in a story, or at least it was the hardest for me to write because I really don't know his character as well as the others because he is new but not one episode new like Donnie (where I can get away with adding traits that aren't there). Feel free to tell me if he was a bit out of character.
Also the 'target aquired, threat eliminated' thing was said to Ward by Skye, not to Jemma but I figured maybe Jemma heard about or she said it to her too at one point.