Aida stepped into the room, eyes wide when she saw Jemma standing there with Fitz...Her Fitz. ''I shot you! How are you still alive?'' Aida exclaimed, and Jemma pointed the pistol at her.
''Next time, make sure I'm really dead before leaving me to die.'' Jemma replied with a serious look, her finger was lingering a few centimeters above the trigger.
''I will.'' Aida smirked, reached for the handle and excited the room as soon as Jemma fired the gun.
''Give me that.'' Fitz said, pulling at the pistol, he could not see Jemma getting shot again. He wanted to protect her, after all, she had saved him many times. Without waiting for Jemma to answer, Fitz took the pistol out of her hands. They both knew that he wasn't any better at shooting, but they went with it.
''They're in here!'' Aida yelled before a couple of more steps joined her behind the door.
''What do we do?'' Fitz asked, aiming the gun at the door.
''Get down!'' Jemma yelled, pushing herself and Fitz to the ground when she heard someone's rifle reloading behind the wooden door. Bullets came spraying towards them, all missing.
''Jemma, use the window.'' Fitz said, and fired from his pistol, leaving more holes in the white door. She nodded, sprinting towards it and propping it open. She looked down at the cement tiles below her, they were two floors above the ground.
''Fitz,'' Aida's voice came from the other side, ''If you want Jemma to live, I suggest you come on out. I won't hurt you, and won't hurt her.'' She said, and her voice sounded promising. Fitz turned to Jemma, and she was already half way out of the window and climbing onto the roof as they simply could not just jump out. ''I promise you, Fitz. I'll let her live. That is the only way Simmons is going to get out alive.''
''Fitz, don't listen to her!'' Jemma exclaimed, stopping when she saw Fitz's considerate look. He wanted to keep her safe, but she wasn't going to let him, even if it cost her life. ''She's lying, she'd never let me live.'' Jemma said, and Fitz was thinking the same thing.
''Go.'' He whispered, coming towards her. They needed to get onto the roof before the door was brought down.
''I'm giving you ten seconds to make your mind up.'' Aida said, slowly growing out of patience with them. If Fitz wasn't going to be with her... She was going to kill them both...painfully and slowly.
''Come on.'' Fitz whispered quietly, encouraging Jemma to climb up quicker. By the time Aida got to three, Fitz was already up on the roof.
''We can't jump down, that'd be instant paralysis or a few broken bones if we're lucky.'' Jemma said, swallowing hard at the gnarly outcomes.
''Okay, Leopald.'' Aida said loudly, her voice sounding from inside the room. ''You made your choice, and let me tell you that it was a bad one.'' Her voice venomous and threatening. She was going to kill them if they didn't get out... ''Outside, now! They're on the roof.'' Fitz and Simmons heard her say before loads of pairs of footsteps marched out of the room.
''Jemma...'' Fitz said, grabbing her attention, she turned to him with a hopeless look, and this was the first time she had lost all hope. Jemma always used to be the hope... but now, with no way out, she thought it was finished. They both did.
''Yes?'' Jemma asked softly, tears filling her eyes.
''I love you.'' Fitz said, placing his hand on hers before letting their fingers wrap around each other.
''Oh, Fitz.'' Jemma cried, using his shoulder as a place to cry on. The guards have surrounded the house, every single gun was aimed at them, and Aida had a smile jumping on her proud face.
''I didn't want it to be this way.'' Aida said, though the grin still remained, ''I wanted you all to stay in the framework and live. That didn't work out, so I'm ending it.''
Fitz grasped Jemma's hand even tighter, maybe this was the way they had to go... together. Fitz and Simmons shut their eyes at the same time, Jemma's face still planted on his shoulder.
''One last thing Aida.'' Fitz said, standing up slowly onto the roof.
''What is it? Changed your mind?'' She questioned with a smirk, though they both knew it was too late.
Fitz shook his head, disappointing her again, ''No. Never.'' He said, truthfully. ''But there's one thing that'd I'd like to do before I go.'' And before she had the chance to ask of what it was, Fitz pulled out the pistol that he had from under his jacket and shot without any hesitation. A deep red colored hole began forming on Aida's head as her body fell onto the concrete tiles with a thud.
Fitz had killed her. Half of the guards yelled whilst others took the shot. Their bullets recoiled suddenly, all coming back towards them, but empty.
''What the hell?'' He whispered, feeling something in front of him.
Jemma laughed with the widest smile ever, she put her hand forward, feeling the hard metal against her skin. It was the quinjet under the cloak mode, hiding itself from under everyone's view. The mode was disabled, and the shape of the quinjet appeared, exactly where Jemma's hand was touching it.
''Get in!'' Daisy yelled with a wide smile, happy to see them both alive and well. Fitz and Simmons climbed in before the quinejt was lifted into the air and disappeared from the view of the guards.
Daisy wrapped the couple in a warm hug, Fitz was still shaken up, and Jemma couldn't be more happy to get out of there.
''I killer her.'' He managed to get the words out in above a whisper.
Daisy saw it. He pulled the trigger. Saving them all.
''You saved us all, Fitz.'' Jemma said, wrapping her hand around his.
His shaken up look soon changed into a happier one, he didn't kill a person. He killed a monster and a robot. Fitz smiled, knowing that he protected the people he loved and cared about. He met the rest of the team, a smile lingered on his face and he couldn't be more happy to see that they were all there.
Mack too.
''I promised him something.'' Fitz whispered to Jemma, watching Mack in the corner. He was in deep thought, knowing that soon, he'd have to leave his daughter behind and return to where he belonged. ''I promised that I would get Hope back. That I would take her into the real world.''
''Is it possible?'' Daisy asked, feeling sorrow for her close friend.
Fitz shook his head, ''No, Hope is a program, a code. I can't transfer a computer code into a real world and a real body. She only exists here...'' He said, and it hurt him to say those words. Hurt him to leave Mack without any hope of some sort.
''Did you tell him?'' Jemma questioned, and Fitz shook his head once more.
''I can't.'' He admitted, even bringing that subject up was hard enough for him. Daisy sighed, eyeing Mack carefully, she felt that he knew it was coming. Just then, Mack looked at them, his eyes filled with hot tears that have not yet spilled.
''I don't think I can go back.'' Mack said, loudly enough for everyone to hear in the room and turn to him.
''Mack-'' Daisy stood up but was suddenly cut off by him.
Mack was shaking his head, ''I can't leave Hope here. I can't let her go, I'm sorry.'' He said apologetically, he knew that Elena was waiting for him on the other side, but he couldn't go back. Not after he had gotten his daughter back.
Coulson and Mace had already remembered everything they needed to, so Coulson stepped in, ''Mack, you do know she isn't real?'' He tried to ask gently, but he could only ask the question with pity and sadness.
Mack nodded, slowly walking towards the exit of the quinjet, ''She's real enough for me.'' He replied and spoke up before taking his last step out of the quinjet, ''Please don't come after me. I'm staying here, and my mind is all made up.'' His firm voice said, and then, he was gone.
Fitz smacked his fist down onto the box that he sat on before placing his hands on his head, ''It's all my fault.'' He said, ''I couldn't bring her back.''
Ward wanted to comfort him, but he didn't know what to say, he barely knew the guy, but somehow, he felt like he knew him for years. ''If we stay in here for too long, we die.'' May reminded them, they all knew it was time to leave.
''But Mack!'' Daisy exclaimed, almost breaking down because no matter how hard they all tried to bring everyone back, they still lost one.
''Go back.'' Ward said, giving them all a serious look, ''I can't be brought back too. I have time to convince Mack to go with you guys, but you don't.'' He spoke the truth, only utter truth.
''Ward...'' Daisy said in a low tone, she was out of words. Ward saw that and approached her slowly with a smile that told her it was time to say goodbye.
''It's okay.'' He said and gave her a single nod, ''For all of the bad thing's I've done in the real world, let me do this too. Let me bring him back for you since you don't have anymore time. Then, shut this world down.'' Ward explained with a hard swallow.
Daisy shook her head as everyone watched the interaction between them without saying a word, ''That'd mean killing you.'' She said, knowing that she could not do that.
''But I couldn't live with the memory of you and not having you here with me.'' Ward breathed out, staring at her even lips, ''I couldn't live with that. Missing you would kill me.'' He said and before he could, Daisy leaned in to kiss him softly before pulling away.
''Thank you.'' She said and did not need to say anything more since Ward knew everything she would say.
''Now go.'' He said with a final smile, before Daisy nodded and rejoined her team in the middle of the quinjet.
''How do we wake up?'' May questioned, turning to Jemma.
''Think of your last memory before you got plugged in, then your surroundings. Think of as many things as you can to break the code and corrupt it. Then, once you've done it, you should be up.'' She explained, May closed her eyes first, thinking of every memory she could recall.
Her body began fading slowly before completely disappearing into nothing. ''She's up.'' Jemma said, confirming that it had worked, ''You're next, sir.'' She said to Coulson and he did the same, before his body was gone too. Mace went, then Fitz, and finally Jemma.
Daisy was the last one. She looked at Ward, though she was unable to utter another word.
''I know everything you'd say, Daisy.'' He said with a smile, that again was a goodbye.
Daisy nodded before closing her eyes. A bunch of memories started invading her vision and she slowly began seeing her hands disappear into nothing. Just then, she had realized that this was the last time she would ever see the Ward she had always loved and wanted.
''I love you!'' She yelled, though it only came out as a whisper before her body vanished.
''I love you too, Daisy.'' Ward said in the empty jet.
The story is almost finished, probably two more chapters yet, though I'm not entirely sure on that.
Thank you for all the nice feedback throughout this story, it truly means a lot to me to have all of you guys, you're all really supportive readers and I cannot be more grateful for it.
I might begin to write stories for season 1 of agents of SHIELD after this one, but who knows ;)
Thank you all!