Jemma's 5:30 alarm resounded jarringly throughout the apartment, rudely interrupting her musing. 'Devising the speech will have to wait,' she thought, because she remembered excitedly that it was Friday, and thus the day Fitz would normally join her to watch the sunrise! Her misgivings quickly forgotten, she whirled around her bed to throw on her usual uniform- much more functional than her wardrobe used to be, consisting mainly of cotton t-shirts, official shield hoodies, and relaxed jeans because a lot of fabrics irritated her skin nowadays- and hurried to the kitchen to brew the both of them some tea.

She waited patiently by their usual window, the one just outside the lab with the best view of the horizon, unobstructed by either the landscape or by city buildings. She set Fitz' tea on the sill, sipping her own and clearing her mind of all the problems and stresses. She focused on how she could just see the faintest glow beginning to mitigate the night's overbearing shadow. She allowed the anticipation to build inside her; this was one of the few events of late that made her unabashedly hopeful. She could momentarily forget that this experience was stolen from Will, that she and Fitz were still on unstable ground, and that there was evil taking place somewhere that needed to be stopped. Because it was simply beautiful to watch the light chase away the darkness and see all the living things embraced by its warmth. Of course, Jemma could recount in detail the way the sun, the moon, and the earth interacted with each other to make this ritual happen perfectly naturally, but somehow that knowledge did not make watching it happen seem any less impressive.

It was only when the sun was about half visible above the horizon and Fitz' tea was getting cold that she began to believe he wasn't coming today. She told herself that he missed his alarm - not an unlikely event especially if he'd been kept late at the lab last night fixing the various systems that kept the base in working order. As it was he was frequently late, she would hear him padding up groggily behind her, bleary eyed but diligently present. Still, the voice in the back of her mind whom she assigned to study Fitz' behavior subtly added this instance to the column of things that weren't making sense.

Once the sun cleared the horizon Jemma gave a small shake of her head to bring her back to the reality that another day had begun, and she had work to do. She turned away from the window with some effort and brought Fitz' untouched tea back to the break room before heading to the lab, which she confirmed was ready to reopen this morning.

Once inside the lab, she started tapping the first techs she saw to help her bring the storage lockers back from the kitchen. She did not expect to see Fitz, concentrating on his work as if nothing were abnormal. Anger flashed through Jemma at that very sight, although she told herself it was not rational to be angry at this, since they'd never actually discussed their appointments or made plans to so every week. Officially, Fitz had no obligation to be there. Still, she found it hard not to give him a cross word instead of a greeting.

"Good morning Fitz. Didn't expect to you see you here." Jemma knew that, despite her attempt to reason with herself, her tone would have revealed her irritation to anyone that knew her, let alone Fitz. But it was more controlled than the sass she was inclined to give him at least.

"Really? Why's that?"

His apparent ignorance did not serve to allay her annoyance. She tried desperately to seem nonchalant nevertheless, shuffling some of the beakers that had been disordered in the frenzy of yesterday while she talked. "I assumed you overslept since I normally see you at the sunrise on Fridays."

Fitz slapped his forehead. "Ach! I totally forgot it was Friday! Sorry, Jem. Please forgive me?"

"It's alright. It's not like you have to be there." She allowed. Her heart fluttered when she decided to speak the next sentence aloud. "I just like it… when you're there."

"I do too." He replied casually.

His excuse wasn't quite enough to remove it from her reasons for suspicion but she could let it go for now. "I've got to go bring the storage freezers back from the kitchen. And I expect the lab will be quite a mess from all the bumbling fire fighters tromping around in there, so I'll have to clean that up I'm sure." Jemma groaned to herself, imagining the probable state of things. "But after that will you be ready to start our experiments for the day?"

"Yeah. I think I figured out what we need to get it done, so I'll bring the stuff over when you're ready."

Jemma gave a quick nod and then resumed her task. As she suspected, she found the labs to be disheveled and quickly set to reorganizing them. Even with help, it was a big job. Desks and computers had been moved to get at the outlets, much equipment strewn haphazardly to make a thorough inspection. Furthermore, some of the vials and beakers had been broken in the chaos so an inventory had to be taken. As a result, Jemma was not able to begin that which held her true interest – experimenting with the ISO-8 – until after lunch.

As soon as the last vial was squared away Jemma found Fitz. "Sorry it took so long! Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" Fitz quickly but carefully closed down his workspace and covered his project – Jemma didn't get a good look, but it appeared to be an automatic subcutaneous infuser of some sort – and showed her to a familiar looking device.

"Fitz! This is a voltage tester. It doesn't produce brain waves. How is this going to help us?"

Fitz rolled his eyes. "I know what it is Simmons. But I modified it, see?" He directed her attention to a box attached to it that was clearly not part of the original design. "Now it can create electrical fields as well. Better yet, we can control the frequency, and create pulses if we need to."

Jemma never failed to be impressed with his ideas. "That's amazing! You were able to get that done last night?"

"Yes! Yes, I definitely did do all of that last night. Not as hard as it looks." Fitz seemed suddenly uneasy, which made Jemma squint.

"Fitz, are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, of course. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know… you just… haven't seemed yourself."

"No, yeah, really Simmons I'm fine. Maybe a little tired lately." He defended, gathering up the modified voltage tester and a couple small metal plates that were evidently associated with his plan. He didn't look how he did when he was tired.

"Well maybe you should go home early today. Get some rest." She offered, still doubtful.

"Nah, I don't think that's necessary. I'll be okay. Come on, we better get started on this."

Jemma relented and followed him to her work station, where she got out the ISO-8 fragments she'd separated and apportioned. While he set up the device she spread the samples into petri dishes with care.

Once everything was ready and the area was cleared of hazards, Jemma asked Fitz, "Are you going to tell me how it works?"

He obliged her. "This sends an electrical current to these two plates." He motioned to the metallic plates he'd set up with about a six inch space between them. They were attached to Fitz' apparatus via thin wires. "I can use this dial to change the frequency, and this button to turn it off and on, creating pulses. We just have to place the petri dish between them," -he took one of the dishes she'd prepared and did so as he explained it- "Annnnnddd... you'll probably want to step back for this part."

Jemma complied and Fitz pressed the device's power switch. If she was expecting something as dramatic as sparks and flickering lights she would have been disappointed, but she knew Fitz' handiwork better than that. What she did get was even better. While there was little indication that the machine was doing anything at all, except for a small light on the device itself to indicate it was working, the effect on the sample of ISO-8 was instant and extraordinary. She drew closer to the dish in awe, having to remind herself not to reach out and pick it up, because the solid rock she had prepared had suddenly turned into a puddle, completely liquefied, at least to the naked eye. "Turn it off!" She called to Fitz, anxious to get a better look at it.

To Jemma's dismay the rock re-solidified as soon as he did. She still snatched it off the table and examined it closely. She observed that while it had been in small shards when she put it in the dish it now formed a single chunk. "Are we able to set that up near the microscope?" She inquired of Fitz excitedly about his device. "We'll need to observe what is happening on a molecular level to fully understand this. And we'll need to test several different frequencies, and pulse patterns as you mentioned. We should probably keep a chart to record what we test-" She knew she was talking a mile a minute, but she didn't care.

"Sure, I'll go set this up by the microscope." Fitz responded, clearly flustered by her whirlwind of words. Jemma made a mental note of this as well, since he usually had no problem keeping up with her. But she had no time to be concerned with that now.

Jemma set to work making up an organized chart to record their findings, as well as setting up a recording device for evidence. They reconvened at the microscope a few minutes later and went about testing different frequencies methodically. There were a few things they discovered:

She was right when she noted that the liquefaction appeared to be thorough, the crystalline structure of the element completely dissipated in a way similar to how ice changes to water. It changed back into the solid state in the same way water does too, with the exception that it happened much faster than it normally does to water.

The ISO-8 responded the most to frequencies in the .5-1 hertz range. Any higher than that and they would just rattle.

The material seemed to be some sort of conductor for those frequencies, matching them and then amplifying them within itself.

"It may be concluded from these findings that although this compound appears to be mineral-like, that description is not complete. While it is presumably inorganic and certainly crystalline in structure, its behavior has more in common with metals or organic molecules such as water. Further study is required to properly define ISO-8 as a compound." Jemma summarized for the benefit of their recording.

Fitz frowned at it. "But we still don't know the point of putting it there. We got it to do something, but it still doesn't change anything."

Jemma agreed and thought back to the other possible keys they'd identified: the blood and the terragen. It gave her an idea.

"Fitz, now that it is responding to a stimulus, perhaps we should try exposing it to the terragen and Inhuman DNA again. Perhaps in its liquid state it will have an additional reaction to those factors."

"Perfect! Let's try it!"

Jemma brought out the blood and terragen samples. First, they placed a dish with the ISO-8 on the microscope within the field of the machine and turned it on to the frequency with the best reaction just as they had been doing in their previous tests. They observed that just as in their previous experiments, the ISO-8 liquefied and began harmonizing with field Fitz' device generated. Then Jemma carefully dropped in a solution of terragen particles. It mingled easily with the liquefied ISO-8, but with little discernable change. Until, that is, Fitz modified voltage detector suddenly detected a frequency different from that which he was generating.

Fitz was alarmed at this development, bopping, shaking, and examining the apparatus, convinced it had gone out of order. "Sorry about this… I may need to make a few tweaks…" He said and shut it off. But Jemma wasn't so sure.

"Turn it on again."

"But Jemma, it's not working-"

"Please, Fitz?"

Fitz did as she commanded, turning it on and watching the same ritual happen again. She insisted he keep it on, and she ran to find Mack because if anyone on the base knew where she could find a back-up voltage detector, it was going to be Mack. He provided her what she needed quickly, responding to her insistence that it was urgent with only mild confusion. She ran back to the lab and turned the device on as she approached. Just as she suspected, the new detector confirmed that the reading on Fitz' detector was correct, the frequency of the field was higher than the one Fitz had set his device to. It was also much stronger than it should have been.

"Well then there's got to be something wrong with the generator. The setting got messed up or something…" Fitz insisted, shutting off the device once again.

"There's an easy way to test that." Jemma replied, and removed the now solidified ISO-8/terragen combination from the microscope and the generator. "Okay, turn it on again."

She took the reading again and found that Fitz' invention was operating perfectly. "Do you know what this means, Fitz?" She asked excitedly.

"What?"

"When liquefied ISO-8 comes in contact with terragen particles it is able to convert and amplify electric fields. Assuming that the brain wave irregularities we saw in Joey are consistent in newly transformed Inhumans, exposure would activate the ISO-8 and create a potentially more stable frequency. And since the human brain likes to harmonize with its surroundings…" She looked at Fitz expectantly, waiting for him to get where she was going.

But he didn't. "So what?"

Jemma moaned at his slowness. "It means that it's possible that this was used to stabilize the erratic brain waves using brainwave entrainment, possibly helping them to enhance their control and stimulate healing in response to the change!"

"So this could actually be what we're looking for then." Fitz stopped to let that realization sink in. "We need to find out what effect this has as quickly as possible." He concluded.

"I agree, Fitz, but how? I'm at a loss- there really isn't anything comparable to the human or inhuman brain in this way."

"Well... we do have three inhumans already in-house."

Jemma stared at him in shock at what he was suggesting. "Fitz! How could you say that? For all we know, this frequency is designed to make them more violent or unstable. And you want to expose our friends to it with insufficient information and no trials?"

"Discovery requires experimentation, yeah?"

"No! Discovery is never worth risking the safety of anyone. I may have been reckless in the past but I know it painfully now! And the fact that you could even suggest it… well… you're not the Fitz I know!" It was an unexpected outburst, even to her, but for once she was not ashamed of it. With all she –they- had been through, the idea SHOULD be offensive.

Fitz got the point and hung his head, ashamed. "You're right. I don't know what got into me."

"Maybe you should just go. Meanwhile I'll see if I can glean anything by exposing their blood to it. Since that won't hurt anyone." Jemma said bitingly.

Fitz protested, "But Jem-"

"Go, I said!" She might have been being harsh, but she couldn't look at him just now. She turned her back and busied herself cleaning up their mess until he decided to obey, gathering up his gadget wordlessly and storming out.

She tried very hard to concentrate on doing what she said she was going to, but it proved difficult. She tried time and again but wasn't seeing hardly any results from Daisy, Joey, and Lincoln's blood samples. Worse, her conversation with Fitz kept playing over in her head. Perhaps she was too harsh. She allowed herself to examine whether he had a point or not, but kept coming up with the same answer: It would be unethical to expose anyone to the ISO-8 before they could firmly say what it would do.

She needed to know if she was the only one that noticed that Fitz wasn't acting like himself. She wasn't sure how to approach someone about it out of the blue though. But then something caught the corner of her eye: the spare voltage tester, sitting abandoned on the table still. She impulsively grabbed it up and strode out of the lab and back to the person who gave it to her in the first place, and incidentally the person besides herself most likely to know if Fitz was having a problem. She found Mack in the director's office.

"Director! Thank you for letting me borrow this earlier, it was an emergency. Fitz and I were in the middle of an experiment and we found ourselves needing to cross check the one Fitz tampered with-"

She stopped when she saw Mack was gently holding up his hand. "Really, it's no problem. Nice to have an excuse to dig through the old tools again. But you know once you start talking biochem to me you may as well be speaking Martian."

Jemma scoffed. "Don't be silly! There is still no evidence of alien life forms on Mars at this time, and even if there were, there would be no way either of us would know what the Martian dialect even sounded like, let alone if there were multiple languages as there is on earth… Oh. You were being facetious."

Mack just shook his head. "Well, thanks for returning this."

"Sure thing!" Jemma chuckled just a bit too cheerily and she kept it going by talking just a bit too fast. "So! Mack! You and Fitz are close, right? I mean of course you are you worked together and you're obviously friends so I guess I just want to know if you've noticed anything off about him lately because I feel like I have but then there's a lot going on between us and we don't always talk like we should but I still get worried for him and you just talked to him the other day so I was hoping you could maybe tell me if there's anything going on with him-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down Go-Go!" Mack's eyes were wide with alarm, trying to separate out and piece together all the words she'd just thrown at him. "What's wrong?"

Jemma took a deep breath and forced herself to slow down. "I'm not sure exactly. It just doesn't seem like Fitz is acting like himself. It's a lot of little things that are hard to explain, not just one big thing. And I just wanted to know if you'd noticed the same thing or if you might know why he's acting strange."

Mack thought for a minute. "You know, I can't say I have noticed anything different about Turbo. But then, we're together a lot less now. I wouldn't be surprised, though. You two have been through a lot lately. But if you like, I can talk to him, see if there's something else going on."

Jemma nodded. "I would appreciate it." She didn't feel like it was just the way he was coping.. Something had changed. She hoped Mack would be able to sort it out. Jemma wished Mack goodbye and went back to her work station, her mind not eased very much at all.