#i’m realizing now that we only saw that fitz daisy ward and jemma were in those bunks

[jamiedc-they-them]

The past that bled into the present (Platonic)

Agents of shield where reader it takes place in season 4 in the framework and the reader is like a senior in the highschool that coulson teaches at so when daisy goes to his class the reader comes in and is like “sir I had a question oh I didn’t realize you have company?” And then they bring them back?

You woke up in your bed, alone but not scared. If anything, it was alone and used to it; being hungry. You knew that if you had anyone with you, that would be a bad idea. Like, a fatal error on their part. Still, you had to go to school, HYDRA had forced you despite your conditions.

You knew better than to dwell on, “If only I’d done X,Y, or Z” thoughts; you knew that would only pull you down a hole you wouldn’t be able to crawl out of. You knew that Mr Coulson wouldn’t like if you did that either.

 There was one time when HYDRA came in looking for one of your other classmates, Coulson had no choice but to sell him out. As the agents left, one of their trouser legs were set on fire. They didn’t notice at first, but as soon as they did, they panicked.

You looked at the kid you had saved and nodded; they ran. You hadn’t seen them since then, but you hoped they had made it.

Coulson, however, pulled you aside after the lesson, “Saw what you did with the kid. It was kind of you, but you’re lucky no one else saw it was you.” He said in a gentle tone. You, however, tensed at his words.

“I don’t know what your –”

“I saw the flicker of fire in your hands, Y/N. You seem to have a good handle on it.” He praised, you let your guard down a slight bit at the praise.

“Yeah, well, I learnt what would happen if I didn’t the hard way.” He decided not to press for details, getting an idea of what had happened and as to why you were alone now.

“Well, try to be more covert about it next time. I can try and cover for you; but not everyone will.” He advised you.

“I know not everyone will.” OK, he didn’t mean for it to go that way.

“I can do what I can, but I’m afraid I can only do so much.” He told you in a dejected tone.

“It’s ok, Mr C. I appreciate it, but I don’t want you putting yourself on the line for me.” You told him in response. He was pained by the answer but knew he wouldn’t be able to change your mind. He only nodded.

 The man had some sympathy for you, a kid on the streets who had to come to school to learn about HYDRA; he was alone as well, so he kept an eye on you. Hell, he even offered you some soap both to actually clean yourself with and also to keep yourself from being indoctrinated for something? You used it for the latter purpose.

Still, it was nice of him to keep an eye out for you, even if you only did so at an arm’s length. Well, you tried anyway.

The man was becoming a figure to you, someone you could go to if need be. Part of you disliked that he was growing on you and becoming a trusted ally; but another part liked having that.

Still, that internal battle ceased as you entered his classroom, only to find another woman in there with him; she was younger than him. However, the strange thing was, a part of you seemed to feel some sort of response to the woman, like you knew her.

You just couldn’t put your finger on why or who she was.

“Y/N….” She said in shock, so that confirmed it.

“DO you know them?” Coulson asked as he pointed between you both; you weren’t sure as to why, but you only kept your eyes on the woman.

“I’ve seen them around is all, got HYDRA off of their tale.” The woman answered, but part of you told yourself that it was a cover up.

So, you kept your defence up.

“It’s ok, Y/N, she’s like you.” Mr Coulson assured you. The woman, however, widened her eyes at your similarities.

“What?” She asked, as if she didn’t know of your ability. Still, you held out your hand and a fireball appeared in it, “Holy shit.” She breathed out; her shock seemed genuine.

“Shocked that you haven’t find me yet?” You asked in a defensive manner, doubting her true intentions.

She seemed to shake herself out of her staring, “No….no, it’s just – uh.” She said, lost for words. Instead of finishing her sentence, she held out her hand to a glass of water; as she did, a high-pitched noise occurred before the water started to shake.

“Cool.” Coulson said in awe as he watched it. The woman turned back to you, urging you to approach; you did as she silently asked, seeing the water shake.

She looked to you with a soft look, “I’m not going to take you back to HYDRA. But you can’t stay here; I have friends that can take care of you.” She said.

“They capture people like me, and you’re not….I don’t know why, but I appreciate it. I guess –” The words felt foreign on your tongue, “I owe you.” You finally got them out.

“You don’t,” She assured you, “But, I could use your help, there are people who are looking for you both.” She said.

“Well, if I’m going to tag along, I’d need to know your name.” You decided on finally asking.

She smiled, “I’m Daisy.”

Just like that, you were off.

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Daisy opened the door to her apartment, to reveal a smaller woman on the other side, she gave you all a smile at your arrival.

“Hi.” She said softly, happy to see you all ok. Well, you were sure of the other two, not really yourself. That was ok, though, you were used to it.

“Oh, hi….It’s me again, Phil Coulson. I called HYDRA on you. My bad.” He told the woman; she however, just had a smile on her face as she spoke.

“Water under the proverbial bridge. It’s so good to see you sir.”  She then looked to you, “And you must be Y/N?” She guessed, softening her voice as to not startle you as she saw your look of distrust.

You only nodded at her question; her smile brightened, “It’s nice to finally meet you, I’m Jemma” She said. You could tell she meant those words; you just weren’t sure as to why.

“Nice to meet you too, I guess.” You said, knowing that it was the polite thing to do (as per Coulson’s many lessons on how to conduct yourself). Still, to you they came across as forced; but Jemma’s smile brightened more, so you must’ve done something right.

Coulson shook her hand, “Apparently, in the real world, I have a robot hand,” He chuckled. Oh yeah, you were living in a fake world, how’s that for a reveal?

“How cool is that?” Coulson said, fanboying over himself a little.

“And here, he make his own soap.” Daisy said to her friend when said friend looked at her with a confused look at his words.

“How about that?” She said in an attempt to keep positive.

“I do. You should too.” He advised her. You just rolled your eyes at his advice.

“Ok, we need to move. HYDRA came after the two of them. Ward warned us away, but we barely made it out.” Daisy said as she moved to the bedroom and started packing a bag with everything she needed before you made your get away.

“Oh, thank goodness for Grant Ward.” Jemma said in a sarcastic tone.

“I don’t love it either, but this is the second time he’s helped us,” She grabbed her bag and moved back into the room, “And I hate to say this, but I think we can trust him.”

“Until we can’t. Betraying those closest to him is his signature move.” Jemma said as a warning to her friend.

“History there?” Daisy looked to you, and you saw an almost nostalgic look in her eye for a moment.

“A bit,” She said to you as she then turned back to Jemma, “For now, we just need to get somewhere safe. Ward set up a time and place for us to meet the resistance. It’s a whole password-exchange thing.”

“Bona fides?” Coulson asked as he chuckled, “I always to do that.”

“Or, I’ve been thinking….What if I reached out to Fitz?” She asked her friend.

“Simmons, we’ve b – we’ve been over this.” Daisy said as she left the room to find more things.

“If you were able to get through to Coulson and Y/N, then surely I could get Fitz to remember me.” Jemma argued passionately as she followed Daisy.

“Fitz is not the same. He’s different here.” Daisy said in response.

“This reality may be upside down, but Fitz is still Fitz. He’s still a good person.”

“Who happens to be second in command at HYDRA.” Daisy reminded Jemma as she past her.

“Yeah, which means he has resources, not to mention Framework expertise, which we’ll need to get out of Radcliff’s HYDRA snow globe.”

“Holden Radcliff, the scientist?” Coulson asked as he reached into his bag.

“Well, holy shit, Mr C. Looks like those clipping cuttings finally come into play.” Your words sounded sarcastic, but you had a smile on your face.

“I – I saw something a while back and I cut it out. Here it is.” He said as she showed them one of the clippings you and him had cut one time to help him with his theory.

“Do you know him? Do we know him?” He asked, looking at all of you. Although, you weren’t sure as to why he was including you in that.

“Why would Radcliff be in here?” Daisy questioned.

“I don’t know. But, think about it, he built the framework, which means…” Jemma trailed off for her friend to finish.

“He can get us out.” Daisy finished.

“Yeah, one catch. Nobody has seen him since this photo was taken.” Coulson broke them the bad news.

“You guys meet up with Ward’s contact. I’ll go back to the Triskelion and get a location on Radcliffe.” Daisy said, not really asking, more like ordering.

“Daisy it’s too dangerous.” Jemma said, worried for her best friend.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll be in and out. No one will even know I’m there.” She assured Jemma. She then looked to you, “Take care of them, please?” Jemma nodded at Daisy’s request.

 She led you and Coulson to the meeting pointed, hiding behind a building away from drones. As with everything else in this place, it was rundown.  

“Can I ask you something?” Jemma turned to you and nodded, “Why is Daisy so defensive of me. She acted like she hadn’t seen me in a long time.” Was the question.

“…Because she hadn’t,” You looked at her in confusion; you didn’t know either of them until today, yet you apparently had a history together, “She told us about you, you were the closest thing she had to a friend in the orphanage where she grew up.” It was a simple string of words; but to you it meant everything.

You, in this other world, had someone in the orphanage. Although, it then clicked with you that she hadn’t gone to SHIELD with you. That meant one thing.

“She still left me; at least this time I did that before she did.” She looked a little crestfallen at your words, but a drone flying above made you all look up at it.

“According to Ward’s intel, the drone should leave in five seconds.” So, you all started to mentally count as you watched the drone.

“This Ward guy, from where we’re from, he a friend of ours?” Coulson asked.

“Uh…he was. Didn’t end well.” As she said that, the drone flew away.

A man then left the building you were hiding behind, you all slowly approached him, “I take it you’re our contact?” Jemma asked.

“For the season, it’s unusually rainy.” The man said to you cryptically. The three of you shared a look, before Coulson spoke up.

“Rain or shine, the man with the umbrella is always ready.” That was either the right or wrong answer, as the man brought cuffs out of his pocket.

“What, did I say it wrong?”

“Hands out front. Wrists together.” Was the demand the man made. You did as asked, as your hands were then trapped in the cuffs as they wrapped around your arms. Then a van appeared, then the bags went over your heads.

 Those bags were the removed, revealing a man who looked like your stereotypical action hero; hell, he even spoke like one too, “I’m Jeffery Mace. Welcome to SHIELD. Sorry about the hoods, but trust is a luxury these days. That being said, Ward vouched for you, so I’m happy to provide you sanctuary.” He told you, his look softening into a smile near the end of those words.

“Thank you, sir. My name is Jemma Simmons, this is Y/F/N Y/L/N, and this is –”

“Phil Coulson. Wow.” Coulson had a moment of fanboying over the man known as the Patriot, but he only wanted to go by Jeffery; as, in his words, the patriot was a little much.

The man showed you around the base, showing you a wall that held names of the dead. They were written on the bricks, seemed budget wasn’t big for this place.

However, other noises gained your attention as you walked towards them, Jemma following you. As you came to a door, you saw beds taking up the whole room and it being packed with a diverse group of people.

“Who are these people?” Coulson asked.

“Potentillas. Some of them might have the Inhuman gene or they had a relative who did.” Mace told you.

“HYDRA is hunting them.” Jemma whispered in realisation and horror.

“What happens when they’re caught?” You asked as you gulped. Mace looked at you and seemed to just know.

“You have it, don’t you?” He asked, but in a threatening way; the only people to do that was Coulson and Daisy.

You nodded, feeling Jemma put a supportive hand on your back to silently tell you what to do, “What’s your gift?” At his question, you held up your hand and clicked your fingers together, making a flame flicker.

“Ah, fire, so you are the one we heard reports about a little bit ago.” You felt fear at his words.

“With the HYDRA agents?” He nodded, “Yeah….yeah that was me.” You said, disappointed in yourself.

“Wait, so that was why –” You cut off your teacher.

“That’s why I left the orphanage.” You said, not wanting to go into it.

“It’s all we can do for them if we find them first, give them shelter.” Mace told you in regard to the people.

After failing to get Ward or Mace to see that this world was a fake, you get to go find Radcliff, the man who had trapped you here and built this world.

As you surrounded him, a Quinjet landed on the ground. You all ran for cover, taking it, you watched as the Doctor left it with Madam HYDRA. However, according to Jemma, he wasn’t the doctor, but he was Fitz.

Ward got his sniper up, but Jemma was trying to beg him to not pull the trigger. She looked to you with a pleading look, but you didn’t exactly know what to say on how to stop it.

However, a shot went off, that being Fitz killing Radcliffe’s wife; as he did, Jemma revealed your position. Bullets then flew as you all ran back to the Quinjet and took off as quickly as you could.

You put a hand on Jemma’s shoulder to try and show that she wasn’t alone. She put her hand on yours in a silent thank you.

 Jemma was then gone with Trip, but you had chosen to stay behind to help out in the base. Before she left, Jemma gave you a hug, one you returned slowly, “Keep safe.” Was all she asked of you. You repeated it to her.

As you waited around, helping some people with supplies and what not, Daisy had approached you, “Hey, kid.” She greeted you. You hadn’t seen her in a while, your smile communicated your relief that she was ok; she mirrored your smile, “Come on, we got a job to do.” She said, leading you to the living area.

On the TV was an ex-HYDRA’s (Melinda May was her name, which Daisy told you as she introduced you both to one another) footage of what actually happened in the death of the Patriot at a school where they send Inhumans and children.

You were just lucky you escaped that fate.

 You had gone to a TV station to seize it and use it to broadcast the footage. It wasn’t very guarded, so it was fairly easy to get into; besides, Daisy mainly used her powers to help get you in. You, however, burned the guns out of one guards hand while Daisy took him down; then burning the lock to the door that Ward the booted open.

As you tied the old broadcaster, Bakshi, up to get him out of the way so Coulson could instead present the footage May had to get the truth out about HYDRA.

Daisy left to talk with Ward, while you looked around at the place; you had heard the news before, hearing Bakshi slate anyone that dared to go against the status quo. You, meanwhile, had never really believed it.

Although, you were against the status quo after all by being an Inhuman. So, there’s that.

Either way, you now watched as Coulson showed the harrowing footage. For once, things were looking up. For once, people were waking up to how corrupt and broken HYDRA were.

For once, you felt like your life was looking up.

“Hey,” You looked to Daisy as she walked out of the room where she spoke with Ward. As she approached you, she had a smile on her face, “We did good.” She said as she stood next to you and folded her arms.

“We did.” You admitted. She then turned to looked at you.

“You did good.” She told you.

“…Thank you.” You said, surprised by the words.

“Course.”

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Now it was a race against time, people were rioting in the streets; you had done good, but now you had to get out of here. You had done your part, now it was time to run and leave.

To do that, though, you needed to have the whole team together. You needed to find everyone and get them to one location in order to get out of backdoor.

However, you were now also pretty much public enemy number 1, with HYDRA trying to deal with those riots previously mentioned and also try and catch you as well.

However, you also saw a few issues; mainly the issue of Mack and his daughter. You knew he wasn’t aware yet, and that knowing so would destroy him. You understood why that secret wasn’t known to himself yet, you got that it would probably not have the effect you would want.

You understood how much he cared for his daughter, you were a bit envious of it; you had been the cause of the death of your family; hence why you were alone and on the streets.

However, before you were going to be called to action, you were doing your own thing; that being standing the map room and looking over the map of the area that didn’t exist. You looked at the place that you called your own on the map and traced that line to where you roughly were now. Those streets that were once filled with fear were now filled with anger as everyone came together to go up against HYDRA.

Daisy found you in the room, she knocked on the door, gaining your attention, “Hey kiddo.” She said softly.

“Can I ask you something?” She nodded, “Who am I in your world? Why am I here in this one?” You finally asked the question that had been on your mind since Daisy had pretty much ruined this whole world for you; told you that your life here was a lie and not real.

“We met in Saint Agnes; we were friends. Best friends, I’d say.” She started to tell you.

“Did something happen between us? Is that why you were shocked to see me?”

She seemed to hesitate, before she answered, “It’s nothing bad, I wanted to bring you with me, but they wouldn’t tell me where you went. They told me you were happy, told me that the family that had you were good……AIDA, she told me that she’s trying to fix people’s mistake here. I can’t say I can speak for what your regret or mistake was.” She admitted.

“How long has it been since we’ve seen each other?” You knew this conversation wouldn’t be fun for either of you, but you felt like you needed to have it if you were going to go anywhere with them.

“About six years,” She choked up a bit as she said the words, “But, I still tried to find you. Turns out SHIELD dropped me off at the orphanage; I tried to see if that happened to you but there was nothing about you. I’m so sorry.” She apologised as her voice shook more.

Yeah, this wasn’t going very well so far; maybe you should’ve just leave it be.

“No, no, I’m glad you did,” Oh, you must’ve said that out loud, “I just want you to know, that as soon as we’re out of here, I’m going to find you; I swear to you.” She promised you; you looked taken aback by the comment, by the way she seemed damned sure that she’d find you; despite how her voice shook, she sounded firm with her promise.

“I’m sure I can get out of wherever I am on my –”

“No, I left you before, I’m not going to do that again. Those fucking nuns lied to me; you clearly weren’t with a good family. I should’ve found out where you are.”

“You did what you did –” She wasn’t letting you just push this all aside and treat it like nothing; she wasn’t going to let you bottle this up.  

“We were – are friends, friends don’t give up on each other; especially not through things like that.” She said in response; you nodded, but then had your response.

“Yeah, well, I made it through whatever that was. I made it through here as well. Granted, with Coulson, but I still made it through either way.”

“But you shouldn’t have had to.” She argued.

“But I did. Doesn’t matter if I should’ve or not, I did. And I made it through,” You took a breath before the fight went on forever, “Look, I’ll get you out; hell, I might even jump through myself. But, don’t hold your breath on getting me out. I appreciate this Daisy; I appreciate you taking me in and you all helping me; I appreciate this friendship we’ve built; but I’ve made it on my own. I am happy for you that you’ve found them, really. But I was your past, they’re your present and future. I’ll find my own way.”

She couldn’t deny that she was hurt a little by your words, hurt that you were willingly moving on to not confront that pain; to not try and recapture your friendship, but instead to let it go and move on with your life. Did she understand? Of course, she did; but, did she like it? No.

 She held it in her mind as you all went to the Quinjet. However, as you arrived to it, you met a shaken Simmons, who explained to you that she had killed Fitz’s father by accident in self defence while trying to bring the man back to their side.

The place you had gone to was an old factory by the looks of it, one that was run down. Then again, as stated before, a lot of things in this world was run down. So, it wasn’t really a surprise.

As you entered, you saw what you needed to escape in, that being a pit full of lava.

“You know, if we get this wrong, it’s going to be a painful way to go, right?” You said, looking at the others.

“Radcliff told us this was the way out, so I believe him.” Daisy said, assuring you. However, that then led to Mack questioning what you all meant by that. So, it seemed that the moment of truth had arrived.

You stood to the side as you watched the argument unfold, watching as the man still rejected it and looked at you all like you were insane.

Part of you now knew that coming with them was a bad idea. Part of you wanted to go back to base and stay there; part of you wished that you had never walked into Coulson’s classroom in the need of help; part of you wished you hadn’t met Daisy and been dragged into this.

Gunshots then went off, making you all dive for cover as you all fired back at the HYDRA agents stormed the area, looking for you.

Seemed like they were getting control of the riots outside, things were not going your way now.

People slowly went through, the first group being May and Coulson; as they did, a ripple went through, revealing you all as nothing but hollow avatars in a computer simulation.

Next was Fitz and Simmons; finally, Daisy turned to you as you took out one last agent, “Y/N, come on!” She yelled. With her other hand, she held it out for you. You ran and grabbed it. However, as you went to jump, she stopped you.

“I’ll find you, then you can properly meet my new friends.” She said, as she let you go through.

 When you awoke on the other side, you were immediately in arms and lowered to the ground, “Y/N? Y/N, are you ok?” A familiar voice asked you.

Opening your eyes, you saw that it was the one and only, Phil Coulson, “Mr Coulson?” He chuckled a bit at his teacher name.

“Hey, kiddo. Come on, lets get you up.” He said, another pair of arms helping you up. As you blinked to help your vision, you saw that it was May.

“Oh….hi, your that agent.” You said in a slightly groggy voice. Opening your eyes again, you finally took in your surroundings, a decently lit room with an upright stand that once held you and one that still held Mack.

“Where are we?” You asked.

“Underwater.” Coulson said it like it was an everyday occurrence, he shrugged his shoulders, “Welcome to SHIELD?” He said in a more questioning tone, but also as some kind of consolation for being dragged further into this.

However, before you had time to fully process that, AIDA had appeared and taken Fitz. You all cried out as he was taken, and May took the shot that was ordered of her after the fact as Fitz had attempted to talk her down.

However, now you were in an underwater base that you had no idea of how to get out of.  It had finally all hit you; while you were still having memories from the life you once lived in the other world. This time, though, this story was one of abandonment instead of you killing your parents. If you were honest, you didn’t know if that made things better or worse.

Coulson had gotten to know you as much as you’d allow (part of you were still a little concerned and freaked that your only friend in that world was teacher) but, he still remembered that; he still remembered what Daisy had told him about you. Now those two worlds were colliding.

But now, so were yours; your past life in the framework, your old life when you were friends with Daisy, this new life that was being thrown upon you by AIDA with SHIELD.

You put your hands on your knees as your breath picked up; your hands trembled. Coulson was the first to act, leaning down as he put hands on your shoulders, “Y/N, Y/N it’s ok,” All three of you knew it wasn’t, but he and May knew they could solve that issue when they had helped you through this, “Y/N, I need you to focus on my voice. Focus on something else. Focus on your feet, or your hands, or the floor. You can do this.”

He continued to coach you, to try and be a grounding presence. However, it wasn’t until May took over that you met someone’s eyes; her’s.

“Y/N, I know we didn’t talk much, but Daisy cares about you. I know this is a lot to take in, but we’ll be with you every step of the way, alright? You won’t be alone in this, not anymore. We’ll find a way out and she can give us a proper introduction.”

Daisy….your best friend from before all this. You thought she would’ve just moved on; but that was apparently the furthest thing from the truth.

Finally, you started to not feel the heartrate racing, and instead took more measured breaths. As you did, May only kept her eyes on you, while Coulson watched with a soft smile, despite everything going on.

She kept her hand on your shoulder until you put your hand over hers to silently show that you had things mostly under control. Melinda May gave one of her rare smiles, before helping you back up.

“Alright, let’s get out of here.”

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 You were on a submarine with one person you’d seemingly known your whole life, and another person who was on the other side of that war in your life; but now someone that seemed to care for you.

Now, you were fighting evil robots together. Well, they were holding their own for the most part, you were being thrown around and using your ability to fend them back; but they’d only come back for another swing at you.

One was coming behind you, when Coulson slammed a metal bar into it’s head, as it turned to the man, May jumped on it’s back and hit it over and over and over again to finally finish it off.

 May was injured, Coulson was shouldering one side, while you took the other.

“Come on, stay awake. We need to find a way to the surface.” As you continued to walk, Coulson admitted something to his friend, “And I haven’t been totally honest with you about what happened when you were not around.”

“I knew something was up.” May said as you went up a step, “What are you not telling me?” She asked.

“I drank the bottle of Haig.” He said, and it seemed to touch a nerve.

“What? You piece off…” She was cut off when the place shook, before water burst through and knocked you all back.

“We got to get you to the surface!” Coulson yelled.

May, however, made a valid point, “We can’t leave Mack!”

“You’ll drown if you stay.” Was your argument to her statement.

“I’ll get you two up top, then I’ll come back for him! Come on!” He yelled, as you both went back to helping May walk.

“Don’t make all this mean nothing!” You exclaimed to May as she seemed to really want to got back for Mack, but you and Coulson but corrected her movements.

 You had finally made it to the surface, where a kind of white pod was awaiting you, Daisy stuck her head out, “Come on!” She yelled to all of you. However, as May got in the pod, Daisy grabbed your arm and pulled you in, shutting the door shutting behind you as you fell onto the floor.

As you re-opened your eyes, you met the relieved ones of Daisy Johnson, “Told you I’d find you.” She said, in a light-hearted tone as if she’d been practicing it for when she had eventually found you.

You set your head back on the floor, taking a moment to fully get your breath back, “That you did.” You said with a slight, breathless, chuckle.

 It had been a ride and a half to stop AIDA, but you were now sat in a dinner. You were sat next to Daisy and Jemma, who had both even wanted you to go there. So, who were you to deny your new friends.

It was nice to be able to call them that, to have that once again. To have people watching out for you for you and who cared about you.

As Daisy and you laughed at an old memory, you forgot how good it felt; how alive connections made you felt.

And now you’d have people who would die for you and people that you would die for.

#agents of shield imagine #agents of shield x reader #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d imagine #daisy johnson x reader #daisy johnson imagine #jemma simmons x reader #jemma simmons imagine

[agl03]

Hello! I’m a new aos watcher, so I apologise if this is a repeated rant, I just wanted to vent a little and found your blog :) I just finished through season 3 and 4 and those were really… rough on fitzsimmons, more so than the first 2, and I think it’s because the writers were so inconsistent? 3A was just a mess to jemma. she was so hot and cold, but not in the way you’d expect from being on a planet. it was like watching a different character almost every other episode [1/6]

[2/6] she has ptsd, then she doesn’t, she’s professing love for fitz, then professing it for will. I was getting whiplash! It felt like the writers put her through hell and then didn’t know how to come back from it, but gathered their bearings in 3B (although if I’m honest, that felt a little cheap, because it was a redo for her relationship with fitz but she still never got to react to being on a freaking alien planet!)

[3/6] and then season 4 was so hard to watch how they tore fitz down. I just find it so hard to believe that, without jemma, fitz would be such a monster, because he had to be a good person too, right? otherwise its like he had 0 personality before jemma and she carved him into who he was, but that doesn’t make sense. I guess I’m still shocked that he never woke up from it, even though everyone else did. it felt like the writers pushed him far (too far) and didn’t know what to do with him.

[4/6] I haven’t seen season 5 so I hope they mention it a little bit, but it was a real struggle to see how extreme they went with him, and Im honestly struggling with whether or not i should go on because the writers seem to love to push them to extremes and then backpedal and not in any way that resolves anything, it really makes me cringe sometimes!

[5/6] I also thought it was strange that fitz got a chance to say, very clearly, that he would always choose jemma over anyone, but that jemma never said anything about that for will? I get that jemma is more reserved than fitz, but I’m still a little sore about that, it doesn’t help with fitz looking like besotted second choice, is all I’m saying. I guess I’ll have to see in the later seasons…

[6/6] anyway, i'm sorry for this, i had about 4 seasons of angst built up in me and i didn't know who to turn to! i really like the show, but i am starting to try and watch with less and less expectations because i keep getting my hopes up for a real resolution and it hasn't happened after almost 100 episodes... thank you for listening and for being so friendly from what i see! i hope i haven't poked old wounds or anything !

Hi Anon!

Welcome to the Fandom, and you have no idea how much these kinds of asks are right up my ally over the years.  I’d say go digging through my blog for more of the metas but that is spoiler central in there so I hope this will suffice until you are done.

First and foremost I don’t want to spoil anything for you but I’ll say to you what I said to the fandom at the end of Season 4....just hang in there we have to trust that the writers have a plan.   I”m REALLY gonna stress this one cause I have a feeling you’ll be back.

Season 3 does indeed hold many old wounds and a pile of story lines that started and then went no where or flat out didn’t make sense.  The whole Space Rando thing was upsetting to say the least but I will tell you the writers said in the Season 3 Declassified that he was nothing more than a roadblock in getting Fitzsimmons together, 12 episodes, but that is what is was.  Were there other ways they could have worked with a more father figure Space Rando and Jemma’s PTSD for that delay, yes, but to be very honest they did not have the real estate to do that kind of story the justice it needed with everything else going on.  It is also worth noting they had to fire the actor that played Will and in that had to change a few things, IE Hive was Ward.   Real estate wise the cast had gotten pretty large at that point and there just wasn’t enough time to properly deal with all that was going on.

Season 4 they did much better, had things mapped out better, but that still didn’t change the fact that I suspect there were a few lane changes story wise .  Again thanks to the declassified books.   And over the years I’ve done A LOT of metas on the Framework and I think something that gets lost a lot is what Radcliffe said he wanted and what AIDA actually did when it came to fixing a regret.

Radcliffe told AIDA, in order to keep the team quiet and not trying to bust out like May did, was to take away a regret.   And for May that was Bahrain.  That change was what set up the hell scape we came into with Hydra in charge.  Radcliffe was blissfully off on his happy Island with no clue what she was really up too until it was too late.  

After 4.14 when AIDA got her hands on the rest of the team she didn’t do like she did with May, Change her biggest regret, rather she changed A regret and for everyone but Fitz stuck them somewhere where they wouldn’t get in her way.  Mack got his daughter back and was ready to die in there with her.  Mace got to be the Hero Inhuman Leader he always wanted to be.  Coulson was a teacher.  May was where her regret left her.  Daisy (had she been replaced) would have just been another foot soldier in Ophelia’s army.  And Jemma was where she could never ever have a chance of getting to Fitz because she feared their love and that Jemma would take him from her.  And I have proof those were not the regrets that they would have had fixed and I’ll circle back to that in a second.

Fitz was her target all along.  She knew from the Darkhold she needed him for what she wanted.  Looking Glass and Love.  However, she didn’t realize that his heart always was Jemma’s and when he wasn’t brainwashed and controlled within an inch of his life that he’d leave her in a second.  She mistook his previous acts of caring and empathy as love and had no understanding of the depths of human emotions. IE you can love people different ways.  Sure he cared about AIDA but he loves Jemma with his heart and soul and vise versa.

As Fitz was her target she fixed things so that she could insert herself in his life in Jemma’s place and that he would have grown up with his awful father who taught him that cruelty and power was the way to go.  This also kept out any positive and caring influences like his Mother, Jemma, and the team.  

I said I had proof that some of those regrets weren’t necessarily what the team would have picked.  That came via Self Control from Robo Coulson and Robo Fitz bearing in mind these LMD’s all had scans of who’d they replaced.  Their memories and their desires.  

Robo Coulson told Robo May to let this whole hostile takeover happen because in the Framework they were happy and together.  That was decidedly not the case there though their connection ended up proving crucial to getting everyone out.  

Robo Fitz told Jemma he was doing this for her so they could get married, grow old together.  Had he known he would be sending Jemma literally into the grave Robo Fitz would not have gone along with the plan.  He thought he was getting Jemma and they were going to go live their own Happily Ever After in there.  Yeah, not the case either.  

With the not waking up, no one but Coulson woke up and that was only thanks to Tahiti.  And yes, it was brutal.  Every week my poor ask box got more and more upset and as a fandom we were more than ready to get the hell out of there.  I mistakingly died on the hill that Jemma would snap him out of it (though I did accurately predict the second Fitznapping....yay).  She didn’t because this isn’t Once Upon a Time, True Love’s kiss doesn’t break the curse of having your mind completely wiped by an evil LMD and the Magic Demon Book.  Now looking back it does make the fact that the second he had free will again, despite that other manipulated life where he was dedicated to Ophelia, it was still Jemma.   

Oh and Jemma did choose Fitz over Will, when the sandstorm hit.  She continued to go to Fitz and left Will....she would have never left Fitz in a sandstorm with the evil monster lurking about.  

That all being said sometimes crap just has to happen to move the story ahead and there is always a price to pay for the good.   I do think the Framework went too far but at the same time the writers were making a bit of a political statement there and they saw how good Iain was with evil bad guy.  

Shippping Fitzsimmons is a lot like a Marathon and you are about to the “What on earth have I done to myself,” point of the race.  But I promise the feeling of crossing that finish line at the end can’t be beat.

[icanflyanything]

My Analysis on Jemma Simmons because she is the superior Queen and this is Long Overdue

Part 1

So the finale of Agents of Shield has aired, and I’m going to admit I was content with the ending it had. Especially for the character I have been sympathizing with since I first started watching it. I cannot stress enough that Jemma Simmons is one of the most complex and creative character I’ve seen in a show (at least one of the top ten) and it’s mostly because they are able to hide it so well. There are characters like Daisy and May, and even Fitz who go through this whole psychological and physical change (of course we can’t forget Coulson, who in the end became a robot) but the transformation Jemma goes through is so discreet that you don’t even notice it until the end when you look at her in the first episode and realize how far she’s come. I mean just look at her cute little face.

I first decided to watch aos when I was in the eighth grade scrolling through my instagram feed and saw an interview/promo and it made me want to look it up. I was a new marvel fan at the time so I was like ‘eh, why not?’. I think it was during season 5. I thought it was okay the first few minutes but it was the moment I saw the two english kids (it was a while before I realized Fitz was actually scottish) arguing about a night-night gun and talking over each other that I realized that this show was going to be good. And it was the moment Simmons turned around and mentioned ‘Hermione’ and ‘instant paralysis’ with her tiny eye roll (the first time we get a good look at her face) that I realized that this was the person I was gonna stick with throughout the show. Literal love at first sight.

Turns out I was right. I fell in love with Jemma throughout the episodes and practically jumped out of my seat when she or Fitz did anything adorable like argue or finish each other’s sentences or talk in unison. Not to mention that underrated power moment where they practically save the day in Pilot by finding a way to stop Mike Peterson from exploding. The most scared I ever was in that show was when she was in danger like being infected with the chitari virus in 1x06 or being dropped to the bottom of the ocean in 1x21 and 1x22. Her relationship with Fitz was so believable that I actually thought they were a couple before I looked it up and realized they were just friends and partners (for now)

I also loved the budding relationship with her and Skye/Daisy and their journey into becoming sisters. I honestly think Skye was intimidated by her at first because of her intelligence and energy, but the scene after Ward saves Simmons in 1x06 where Skye comes up and hugs her without a word I think is the time she realized that she really cares for Simmons even if she didn’t know it before.

I think her minor crush on Ward is cute and quirky (although it fades fast when he turns into a you-know-what) As for May and Coulson, they were basically her honorary parents from the start, and that really never changed.

Simmons saving Fitz in the finale of season 1 I believe is a huge turning point in her character arc. It’s sort of obvious at the beginning that Jemma is a little helpless, although she does show bravery throughout the episodes. Being the only female who doesn’t already know or is learning combat, it’s not surprising that Ward was able to capture her and Fitz, then stuff them in a pod and plummet them into the ocean. But I also expected someone like Skye or Coulson to rescue them as part of *their* character arc. (I really didn’t care at this point as long as they were safe) but, no. Instead they had Simmons and Fitz use their smarticle particles to band together and find away out of their otherwise impossible predicament. (Sorry for underestimating my science babies) Even when Fitz sacrifices himself for Jemma because only one can escape still conscious (not to mention he professes his love for her, shocking her to the core) Jemma, the trooper she is, refuses to give up on her best friend and carries the unconscious Fitz to the surface. Who would ever think someone so tiny could do so much.

When the finale ends Fitz’ fate is unknown, except Simmons simply saying he was alive, but we know Simmons has changed. Her last moments showed her as a new person, slightly scarred, but massively more mature. I actually took a break in between the season 1 and 2, as I started watching another show with my sisters, but I never forgot her or Fitz, and when I decided to start it back up, they were the ones I was looking forward to seeing the most.

Part 1 of 7

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #aos #jemma simmons #leopold fitz #leo fitz #phil coulson #melinda may #daisy skye johnson #grant ward #character arc #character development #season 1 #jemma simmons analysis

[amandajoyce118]

Agents Of SHIELD S7E01 “The New Deal” Easter Eggs And References

In the season seven premiere, most of the team ends up in 1931 New York thanks to some time travel shenanigans. We love shenanigans, right? The is the last season premiere ever, and it’s bittersweet, but I’m diving right in.

As always, if you don’t remember this from the last few seasons of me writing up Easter eggs (posts are tagged aos easter eggs if you want to read old ones), this list assumes you have seen the episode. There will be spoilers.

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Again, spoilers. Turn back now if you don’t want them. Okay? Good.

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The Episode Title.

It’s a reference to FDR’s political work. I mean, Coulson even references it and says the episode title in the show. I kind of love when show’s do that? This show didn’t used to, but they did it a lot more the last two seasons, so maybe it’s a thing now.

The Title Card.

I feel like it’s unfair to call this an Easter egg, but if they didn’t put a 1931 timestamp on the top of the episode, the title card could have told you what era the team was in. Whoever was in charge of designing it did a great job making it look like a classic film title card.

Faceless People.

Okay, so the chronocoms erase the faces of the people they wish to resemble. This isn’t really a thing in the comics, but there is a character called “Faceless One.” He happens to be an alien who wants to conquer Earth as well, but is basically a big yellow ball with legs, so I doubt there’s any connection other than the cool effect.

Coulson’s Data Flood.

Okay, we get that literally everything Coulson says when he’s not talking to Daisy, Mack, and Jemma are quotes from previous seasons, right? Good. He even downloads the information on Ghost Rider, his own death, last season, etc.

Deke Has A Workstation.

Okay, not an Easter egg, but I think we need to take a moment and appreciate that Jemma built Deke a workstation and Fitz left him the tool we saw way back in season five. Why? Because Deke never feels like he belongs and he wants so badly to be close to his family, and now, we see that they thought of him while upgrading their ship. He has a place. And it’s right next to Jemma.

Elena Is Quarantined.

That’s because she was infected by the shrike in season six, not because the writers are psychic and knew there would be a massive epidemic going on when the show premiered. (Sorry, typed that before I realized Jemma was going to actually say it in show, so it’s staying in.)

Gemini And Koenig.

Gemini is actually a pretty popular name/codename in Marvel Comics, so it being used as, supposedly, the code name for the person in charge of the speakeasy made me laugh. It’s much more likely here that the bartender didn’t react wrong to the use of the word, that it’s used to weed out pretenders, hence the double barrel shotgun he affectionately calls the twins. I also like that it’s a tease for a Koenig appearing since we initially thought the Koenig siblings were twins and it turns out there are too many for us to count at this point (not really, I’m exaggerating, but great that grandpa or great-grandpa Koenig looks exactly like the modern day Koenigs. I mean, come on, they’re clones or something, right?).

“It’s not exactly your first time being separated by space and time.”

Okay, look, if you have to keep inserting meta humor into a show about how often you separate your main couple, maybe you should stop separating your main couple. (Yes, I know, Iain de Caestecker had another job he was working on in seasons six and seven, but seriously, it’s not funny. Your audience is tired of it.) I mean, to be frank, Fitz is one of my favorite characters in the show, but I didn’t really miss him in this episode? That might sound bad, but I don’t think they needed to comment on him being gone so much considering Jemma told them at the end of season six she didn’t  - and couldn’t - know where he was.

Wilfred “Freddie” Malick.

Daisy explains who he is, but look, it’s the father of Gideon Malick, the same Gideon who became the leader of Hydra after a broken SHIELD (and the Avengers) decided to squash all of its heads, the same guy who got Ward interested in visiting an alien planet where he ended up as Hive. He’s, like, ancient school Hydra, not just old school Hydra. What doesn’t make sense here is that they’re saying the SSR forms in response to Hydra. Technically, the SSR forms, and then they learn about Hydra, unless I’m misremembering, which is totally possible.

The Substance.

So, I gotta wonder… what’s in the test tubes? The earliest we go in the MCU is Captain America, which is still a whole decade after the events of this episode. Prior to that, Hydra experimentation did create the Red Skull, but… still not sure what’s in the tubes. I don’t really have a frame of reference from the comics to speculate either since Hydra was into literally anything and everything. 

New York.

Okay, so I’m curious if anyone knows where they filmed their 1931 New York scenes. I have questions. Because they use the same couple of blocks for all their outside scenes, which makes me think it’s a studio backlot (which would definitely help keep the script quiet) and they’re going to use a different part of the lot next week. A friend asked me if I thought it was the same as the one used for Captain America when he’s in Brooklyn in his first movie. Cap’s first movie’s Brooklyn scenes were filmed on a Universal Studios lot where they had New York building facades and street signs. If you’ve been to the theme park, you basically know what it looks like without the 30s/40s dressing. I think it’s the same lot, and I say this because I actually kept thinking that they used the set pieces Disney used for The Newsies movie in 1992 while watching the episode. Do you know where that was filmed? On the Universal Studios backlot’s New York street set up right after it was renovated in 1991. Huh.

So, Mark Kolpack basically answered this on twitter when discussing VFX. They filmed their New York street scenes on the Warner Bros. backlot, not the Universal one, so I guess the people in charge of designing the set pieces did a great job because they look pretty much the same.

This Picture.

This boxing poster was shared by Jed Whedon on instagram. Honestly, I didn’t spot it in the episode, but that could just be because I have a small television screen and I can’t read the signs unless I pause on a computer and zoom. I have bad eyes, guys. Sorry. Usually signage is something I spot on a second or third watch, but according to Whedon, this is set dressing in the episode somewhere. Probably on the street the characters walk down multiple times. 

Let’s break down the names. Kitson is George Kitson, a story editor, writer, and production assistant on the show. He wrote this episode, and, actually, next week’s episode. The planet Kitson was also named for him. Titley is Craig Titley. He’s a producer and writer for the show, probably best known for writing “4,722 Hours” at this point. Brown is such a common name, but I’m going to guess it’s for Garry Brown who has directed a handful of episodes and is also a producer on the show. Bell is, I’m thinking, Jeffrey Bell, one of the producers and writers on the show. Tancharoen is for Maurissa Tancharoen, one of the showrunners, or you know, maybe her brother, who has directed several episodes (including this one!), or her father, who is in charge of transportation to sets. Gierhart is, I’m assuming, Billy Gierhart, who has directed a lot of episodes of the show, though I don’t think he’s directed any since 2017. (If you look at the matchups, it ends up being writer vs writer, producer vs producer, director vs director when you assume the Tancharoen is Kevin.) It says there are four main events though, and only three are listed?

Not sure if the October 15 date is intentional, but if it is, that’s the day “Eye Spy” aired in season one? Steve Roger’s mother dies on October 15, but in 1936. Not sure if that’s even canon since it’s in a promotional comic, not in anything on screen.

I’m sure there are more, and if you guys spot them and tell me, I’ll add them in. If I notice any on a rewatch, I’ll add them in as well. Who’s looking forward to the time traveling this season?

#agents of shield #aos easter eggs #aos spoilers #aos season 7 #i wrote a thing

[agentmanatee]

AOS 30 Day Challenge

Since I'm late to the party, I will be using this post to catch up.

Day 1: Favorite Season: S4 had the tightest story-telling with the pod structure. For a 22 episode season not to have a filler episode is quite a feat. Aida/Ophelia/Madame Hydra is my favorite Marvel - not just AOS - villian. Mallory Hansen's ability to play 4 different characters in one season in one show (sometimes multiple characters in the same scene) should have won her an Emmy hands-down. All of the cast should have won Emmy's for the performance in Self-Control (Everybody was on their A-game). My love for Robbie Reyes knows no bounds, and Gabriel Luna has mad chemistry with everyone (I pretty much ship Robbie with everybody he's not related to).

Day 3: Favorite story-line: Maveth. When I told my niece the story of FitzSimmons, she declared it "too much!" when I got to Maveth, specifically Hive and we stopped there. In a lot of ways it was the writers dipping their toes in adding more focus to Fitz and Simmons, who are portrayed by the show's strongest actors. I know a lot of people don't like the Will Daniels twist, but other than some hand-waveable plot holes, it really wasn't that bad. It was literally a "only two people on a planet" situation, and they thought that they would never see another human being again and that they were effectively dead to anyone on Earth; so their actions were understandable. Jemma didn't show interest in Will until she gave up seeing Fitz again, and Will initially did not act on his attraction because he respected and even appreciated Jemma's feelings for Fitz; he knew - even if Jemma didn't - that if given the opportunity to choose she would ultimately choose to Fitz ("No wonder Jemma loves you" was Hive channeling Will). If he survived and wasn't a villain I would ship him with either Joey or FitzSimmons (Fitz is canonically bi, Jemma deserves all the love, and the way Will talked about Fitz could be interpreted as romantic interest. He couldn't help falling for Fitz with the way Jemma talked about him), but I never submit prompt requests because I know how people feel about the character.

Also the planet of Maveth was a character unto itself, which is so cool. I really want to know what the light under its surface is; I don't but that it was a only heat source. Since sandstorms turned out not to be one of Hive's powers, Maveth or the cloaked figure (the personification of the planet a la Ego?) Jemma saw had to be the source of those. I suspect the civilization they saw evidence of were tied to the Confederation in season 5. Did they try to settle down and it backfired due to their culture? It very likely was how they knew there were Hydra leaders on Earth for them to manipulate. Will they ever confirm this? Doubtful. Finally, the mystery of Hive and what he was worked and exceeded expectations (his power set of terrifying!).

Day 2: Favorite episode: Inescapable. I was so excited for this episode I paid for it because Hulu was taking its time posting the episode. Of course a FitzSimmons episode would be amazing. The mind prison forced FitzSimmons to deal with issues they've avoided and together to boot. Seeing the turning point in their friendship at the academy and Coulson Recruiting them prior to season 1 was a hoot. I love how they revealed the other Fitz's death to him; he needed to see how the team mourned for him, to understand how much they loved him. Of course the whole scene was painful from him opening the bodybag to seeing the wedding ring to learning of Coulson's passing, but it was necessary and reflected how everything happens at once irl. Seeing their trust and loyalty in their bffs was heartening. And there is no doubt how much they are meant for eachother than when their darksides fall for and on eachother. They certainly learned some things there.

Honorable mention to Self-Control. That was the first episode I have ever purchased. It felt like a movie, and the story is insulated enough I think I may suggest it as the episode to watch when trying to get people to watch the show (either this or Orientation). The entire episode was so gripping I held a pillow to my chest the whole time once it was revealed that either Jemma or Fitz was an LMD. It was such a good Daisy and Jemma episode team-up and jump-started a whole arc of them supporting eachother. It was also a phenomenal Daisy episode. She showcased her powers, and Chloe knocked it out of the park. The scenes between May and Coulson's LMD-selves were so very moving. Ming did such a good job of portraying how May's LMD differed from the others. The episode also revealed what Fitz and Coulson would change if given a choice (not that AIDA gave Fitz such courtesy).

I just realized I switched Days 2 and 3, but don't want to bother with copying/pasting on my phone

Day 4: Favorite male character: Leopold James Fitz. Fitz was my favorite early on and hands-down my favorite character after FZZT. I saw myself in his mannerisms and could relate to his hesitancy to throw himself in the field but doing so because it is the right thing to do. His passion and loyalty to his friends is unparalleled. I also wanted to give Ward a chance. And it's interesting that Fitz was the first of the bus kids to understand how "No one is born evil." It took the Framework arc for Daisy to really understand that. He even has a leg up on Mack here since Mack's first instinct with anything alien is to kill it ("I'm the guy that kills Gordon" is not something someone who values all life, whether he views it as human or not.), which is understandable given his experiences. Fitz was the first person to show Daisy acceptance after terrigenesis, even if he was mistaken to hide it. I didn't realize it the time season 2 aired, but I get a similar aphasia during migraines (it's actually the first and last symptom when it happens). Seeing any appearance by the Doctor makes me feel sick to my stomach because I know how frightened and sick Fitz feels to have that as a part of himself. Fitz loves with his whole heart and he is always driven to do what he believes is the right thing, which is unfortunately what made the Doctor such a formidable villian. He also is always willing to give second chances but not third. He was the first person to joke around with Daisy after the Miles fiasco: he forgave Mack and Bobbi for the real Shield thing; he accepted Daisy back into the fold in seasons 2 & 4 despite how much her abandoning the team felt like betrayal; he formed a father-son relationship with Radcliffe after what he did for Hive; he trusted and befriended Enoch, knowing he kidnapped and sent his closest friends to a freakin future hellscape. Fitz is such a good person. Of course, all my love for Fitz doesn't mean I don't love the rest of Shield's men + Robbie Reyes.

Day 5: Favorite female character: Jemma Anne Simmons. Jemma is a close second for all around favorite (I just don't relate to her as much as Fitz). On a superficial note, Elizabeth Henstridge is so beautiful and hilarious, I have a giant girl crush on her (her smile is dang radiant). I love how they flipped gender stereotypes by making Fitz the emotional one who wears his heart on his sleeve and Jemma the practical one, who shoves her feelings in a box rather than express them. Jemma's cockiness is more real than Fitz's cocky front, too. I wish I had her confidence. Jemma also loves with her whole heart, as much as she has to hide it to function sometimes, and does what she believes is the right thing. She even revealed herself in the future dystopia because she could not stand aside when a stranger was hurt and she knew how to help/save him. Jemma jumped out of the Bus to save her team and jumped at a grenade to help them not thinking she would survive either occasion. She blamed Lash's murdering of inhumans on herself as she has the tendency to hold herself accountable for things that aren't her fault (she shares this trait with both Fitz and Daisy). She doesn't get lost exploring the details within the big picture, which is why she's so good at problem solving. She learned to kickass physically and has always done so mentally. She knows how to let her foes know to fear her. She has the self-awareness to know what traits she needs to work on to complete any mission. She does and would do anything for her team. She's also an incredible leader whether in the field, in the lab, or for the entirety of Shield. She is incredible.

Daisy Johnson is a very close second. And I can't rank May, Bobbi, and Elena. I also have girl crushes on all four of these ladies.

Day 6: Favorite relationship: S3 Shield Team (Coulson, May, Daisy, Fitz, Simmons, Mack, Bobbi, Hunter, Yoyo, Joey, Lincoln and Andrew). OK so I cheated here; we didn't even see everyone be in the same episode. So what? Season 3 had some of the best dynamics from the main team to Daisy's Secret Warriors it's no wonder people love season 3 so much. How can I pick just one? You have Coulson interacting with everyone (except for Joey), Lincoln's fear of May, Her mentorship of him, Fitz and Bobbi, Fitz and Hunter, FITZSIMMONS, Jemma and Andrew, Daisy and Mack, Mack and Huntingbird, MACKELENA, Doug, Fitz meeting his dad Holden Radcliffe, Radcliffe and Hive's "children"...Now I'm getting into characters that weren't on a Shield team. The characters and their relationships with eachother is what this show does best and what makes it such a good and beloved show, not the action or plot twists.

#aos 30 day challenge #leo fitz #jemma simmons #daisy johnson #aida #madame hydra #phil coulson #melinda may #bobbi morse #lance hunter #alphonso mackenzie #aos s4 #maveth #aos s3 #shield team #team as family #found family #inescapable #self control #aos #agents of shield #yoyo rodriguez #huntingbird #fitzsimmons #too many tags #30aos

[whydoyouthinkileft]

okay but Jemma Simmons and relationships with people who weren't in the Bus... Things I will forever wonder in canon, because I do have headcanons and can write fanon, but what about the show?

this isn’t exactly me being salty because hey there isn’t enough time to show everyone, mostly just rambling about what I wanted to see more without resenting other characters for it (I don’t want less f them, I want more of everybody)

Radcliffe wanted to see her too at the beginning of s4, not only to work on Aida but she was invited to go watch the game, Fitz wanted her to come too and she couldn't - were they also friends, even if not on a father-son way like he and Fitz? Did she care about him or was he a work friend or what? Did he care about her? Did they spend the previous six months seeing each other a lot like he and Fitz seemed to have? How did she feel about his darkhold-influenced betrayal and death? Was it like with Ward, a switch towards anger and hatred because it was too painful not to feel that way, or did she see it as 'this time I won't let a former friend hurt Fitz and I'll attack as soon as necessary' kind of anger with no particular pain, or was it a more chill 'eh, another betrayal from someone I barely knew'?

Jemma and Mack: started from a bad place, but he encouraged her with a hand over her back and looks already by the time she talked about Raina being a danger. They argue, they have strong personalities, but they are happy to see each other when the other is gone. Do they ever spend time together? Do they have anything in common beside Fitz? Do they like each other, which is not the same as feeling affection for someone you are used to have around? (What really happened when Jemma told him why she left? Also. They hug now. But I’m not sure they are each other’s priority when it comes to concern the way Mack feels for Daisy or Jemma feels for May)

Hunter started calling her Jemma right before leaving, which Daisy herself has done like twice in the show, and when we had the little time jump in s2 after her return from undercover, with days passing, in the deleted scene Jemma mentions that Hunter talks about Bobbi a lot. So did they talk off screen? Were they friends? Coworkers only who happen to spend time together because of Fitz? Did they have anything in common if Bobbi was something they hardly could chat about for a reason or another?

Bobbi is seen as the one close to her in canon but in reality they spent at best a month around each other, maybe more, maybe less, but not passing all the time together since Bobbi had other relationships going, and then there was Porto Rico, Jemma alone in the temple, Jemma spending basically an entire day in the lab with Skye, about a couple of days before other SHIELD attacked, then they were basically not talking, then Bobbi got shot, and then Jemma got taken by the Monolith. After that Bobbi spent six months around Daisy and especially Fitz, and got to know them much better spending so much time at the base in rehab, especially Fitz. After Jemma came back in s3 she mostly slept first, then spent time working on the Monolith and yes, she interacted with Bobbi a few times, but by then Bobbi started going on the field again too so how much did they really know each other?

And about s3, Daisy was obviously busy, so did Jemma have anyone to talk to about what happened to her beside Fitz, who for obvious reasons she couldn't confide to when it came to Will or really anything Maveth related, given that it would bring up their issues? Did she have someone to talk about Fitz? She saw Andrew maybe three times, four? And as a therapist, not as a friend or someone to have there when she felt like laying in bed and talking about her romantic feelings, her fears, her guilt.

And how close was she to Andrew/Lash in the first place?

Lincoln was closer to Daisy, had some big interactions with Mack and even May and Coulson, and he is one person we see specifically talking to Jemma about their shared interest in biology, human and non, should we assume they got close during the break between s3A and 3b? Or did he spend that time mostly with Daisy?

-Did she ever tell anyone beside May that she let Lash out in the castle? That she was tortured by Giyera and Ward?

-In s2, did she ever find out that the whole team, not just Fitz, thought she left because she had given up on him and 'abandoned' them, as they put it in the first two episodes? Did they ever talk about it? In s4 did anyone find out that she sent May to save some of them, she was basically covering for them when possible, and only acting as a perfect subordinate but stole intel with Daisy and blackmailed Mace to get out of polygraphs?

-Did she and Fitz and she and Daisy ever discussed the misunderstanding about her attitude towards inhumans, given that by the time Daisy came back from Afterlife all she had to ask was if she had made new friends, because the second she knew it was just about alien DNA and not an alien infection she didn't have to worry about Daisy's life being in danger as much as wasn't trying to 'fix' anything anymore? Did she ever tell anyone beside Mack why she left to go undercover? Did she ever tell anyone beside Fitz that she killed Bakshi while trying to kill Ward?

-Do Jemma and Elena get along? They are both very strong and stubborn, do they ever talk outside of work? Jemma was happy for Yoyo getting more involved in SHIELD but they don't really exchange sentences in the show beside the little Yoyo-special.

-Did Jemma and Mace ended up finding some kind of agreement after the first part of s4, when they realized he was really trying hard and was a good guy, and he realized she was tough and they had that first day of understanding? She said they weren't exactly friends but 'friendly' in the framework. What did she feel about his death? Is it something she needs to process or all done and left behind?

-What did Jemma really do in the six months of hiatus in canon? May thought she was on Mace's side and basically lived in the base, did everybody else also thought she was really on his side, beside Fitz who knew the truth? 

**I mean, feel free to explore any of these in our threads including if you play another character but want them to discuss any of these things

#ooc #mun driving herself crazy sometimes with questions so I put them down but it's especially Radcliffe that kills me #I'm not even saying: give me entire episodes about Jemma. She's not the main character #but a line every now and then to let me know how she feels about other people wouldn't hurt? #we actually never really acknowledge how she felt about Daisy leaving because she didn't really seem mad at her or #about to insist about her coming home beside her few salty comments in the middle of helping her out? #but RADCLIFFE. SERIOUSLY. it could have been both Fitz and Jemma being hurt in different ways #and I get that it was about Fitz more but then at least in s3 when it was supposed to be her turn we could have seen her breaking #venting with someone else too after ep 5. talking about her feelings over two men and also you know. trauma of being in that planet #thinking she'd never come home again or see more humans or the sun or a freaking flower. Bobbi knew a few things off screen. end of it #next times we saw Bobbi she was with Fitz. who was being a trooper and needed it but if I were Jemma I'd have been desperate to vent #*about* Fitz too. Maybe get someone unapologetically on her side like Hunter is to Fitz and making her smile. Or trying to distract her.

[freaoscanlin]

Given Unsought, Part 5

Jemma came back from Maveth with a little something in tow. She and Daisy attempt to deal. Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

A/N: Christmas! This is the longest week in the story. This is heavily rated PG-13 with warnings for violence, emotional manipulation, and certain threats coming to life. 10424 words. I’m going to start posting to AO3 now, too, so you’ll see this chapter there in four weeks.

Week Fifteen

When asked about Christmas, Daisy would have answered that she planned to spend the holiday on the couch, eating Chinese food with Coulson. “As is the way of my people,” he’d told her the year before. Daisy had never been big on Christmas. At St. Agnes, it had just been a stark reminder that none of them had had families that wanted them. Afterward, it had been even worse. She’d always done her best to avoid everything associated with it: the manic and intense shopping, the travel, the family get-togethers, singing carols, Christmas trees, all of it.

And yet, here she was, wheeling her luggage through a train station crowded train station in Sheffield the day before Christmas. They’d hopped a train from London so the Simmons family wouldn’t get suspicious and Jemma had spent the train ride pointing out landmarks and points of interest, reminiscing with Fitz about all of their trips home from the Academy, and generally glowing with excitement. It had been a little difficult to take her eyes off of Jemma and look at whatever she was pointing out, though Daisy didn’t plan on telling her that. She wasn’t even sure she should be there with them, but Coulson and Jemma had insisted.

With Coulson, it had been orders. Ward was still at large, making it unsafe for Fitz or Jemma to visit family alone. Since Daisy didn’t exactly have family that she could plausibly visit, the assignment made sense. She wouldn’t be taking any other agents away from their families.

Jemma saw it differently.

“I’m officially inviting you,” she’d said, neatly folding one of Daisy’s shirts and placing it in her suitcase the night before. She’d insisted on helping Daisy pack, possibly because she knew Daisy would just wait until the last minute and throw random things into a duffel. “Even though Coulson says you’re going along as protection, you’ll be a guest. My mum’s been asking about you for ages.”

“You told your mom about me?” Daisy had asked, handing her another shirt.

“Of course I did. I did say that you work in IT since they don’t know about what we really do, but I mentioned how brilliant you are, and how we’ve been such great friends. She’s excited to meet you.”

“I don’t have, um, gifts or anything for them.”

“Don’t worry about that, they’re not expecting anything like that. You’ll be a guest. It’ll be fun, I promise.”

Now, walking through the Sheffield train station, Daisy wasn’t entirely convinced. She was already determined to spend the next week not letting on that a family Christmas was a new thing for her so she wouldn’t get any of those “Poor Orphan Skye” reactions she’d always hated. No big deal.

A tall man stood at the end of the platform, peering through the crowd. That would be Jack, Daisy determined as Jemma immediately raced up and hugged him. Fitz hurried up to shake his hand, talking too fast for Daisy to understand, and she brought up the rear a little more slowly.

Jemma lit up when she spotted her. “Jack, you have to come meet her, this is Daisy Johnson, my friend from work. And Daisy, my little brother Jack.”

Daisy made a point of craning her neck to look up at him, and Jack grinned. “I’ve been taller than her for years, but she refuses to call me anything else. A pleasure. Jack Simmons.”

“Daisy.” She shook his hand. He had the same eyebrows and freckles as his sister, but his hair was shock-white blond. “Hi. Sim—Jemma’s told me a lot about you.”

“That I’m charming and got all of the good looks for this generation? I would hope so.” He offered to take her bag, but Daisy inclined her head at Jemma’s bag. Without missing a beat, he scooped that up instead.

“Enjoy the free labor,” Daisy said as Jemma rolled her eyes at both of them and pointed out that she was still very much capable of carrying her own bag. “I may not have brothers, but even I know that’s what they’re for.”

After stowing their luggage in the trunk—“It’s called the boot, you’re in England now,” Fitz told her irritably, ducking away when Daisy tried to flick his ear—they piled into Jack’s car. Jemma was bursting with questions, chattering at her brother, though she stopped occasionally to point at things outside to Daisy, with asides from Fitz. She was in proper big sister mode, scolding and teasing and batting at Jack’s man-bun all at once.

As for Jack, Daisy hadn’t been exactly sure what she’d been expecting. She’d been anticipating, what, a boy version of Simmons? Jemma’s cardigans and sensible shoes, but male? Daisy glanced at Fitz next to her in the backseat, looking down at his cardigan and his hiking shoes, and kind of wanted to kick herself. She really had been imagining basically Fitz with Jemma’s face.

Instead Jack teased Jemma about her geeky science and argued clubs with Fitz. It took Daisy forever to realize that they were talking about soccer and not afterschool programs, and she’d only cottoned on because Hunter always coopted the den TV for his games that he insisted were, “Football, love, none of that soccer business in here.” And when Jack asked Daisy about where she was from and if she liked working with his egghead of a sister, he winked at her. Definitely flirting.

“Oh, don’t even start, you’re not her type,” Jemma said, rolling her eyes at him.

“I can adapt. You mentioned your friend was cute, but I think you undersold it a bit.”

“Aw, you think I’m cute?” Daisy asked Jemma, who gave her that wildly patient ‘you’re being ridiculous’ look that she’d perfected over the years, though she did look a bit pink. To Jack, Daisy said, “She has a point, though. You do seem far too well-adjusted to be my type.”

“I’ll live in eternal sorrow at that.” He grinned cheekily and turned the car into the drive of a picturesque little house. Not quite suburbs, but not farmhouse rural either. Daisy gave the place a once-over, automatically locating all egress points and escape routes the way May had trained her. Jemma had grown up here, in this idyllic little home with a sloping, waist-height stone wall encircling the property. It was about as far from the institutional walls of St. Agnes as she could get all the way down to the three cats drowsing on the front porch.

“Those two are Cassiopeia and…Scorpius, I think? He’s new. But this old man is Leo Minor,” Jemma said as Daisy crouched to offer her fingers for sniffing. Jemma plucked up a gigantic gray cat, who seemed to tolerate the affection for only a few seconds before letting out a yawn.

“Leo Mi…Leo like Fitz? You named a cat after Fitz?”

“No, she didn’t because my name is Leopold,” Fitz said, stressing the second syllable. He gave them a disgruntled look even as he scratched beneath Leo Minor’s chin. “I was not named for the constellation, therefore—”

“I named him after Fitz,” Jemma said. “And the constellation, too, of course. But they look just alike, you see?” She held the cat out next to Fitz.

Daisy couldn’t deny that both cat and scientist wore the same annoyed expression. “It’s uncanny,” she agreed.

“Unbelievable,” Fitz said to the both of them, taking the cat from Jemma and walking into the house.

“I thought annoying him was my job,” Daisy said.

“You don’t think I’d let you have all the fun, do you? Leo Minor loves him.” Jemma took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, and Daisy realized she wasn’t alone in being nervous. She reached out and squeezed her friend’s hand, and Jemma smiled back at her.

“You two just going to stand around in the cold all day?” Jack asked, walking by with their luggage. He stepped into the house. “Oi, Mum. Dad! Jemma’s home.”

“After you,” Daisy said, holding the door open for her friend.

Inside was just as cozy and lived in as the exterior promised, and Daisy found herself pulled through a foyer and into a kitchen, where Mr. Simmons was in the middle of scrambling together something called a full English. Daisy found out in short time that meant breakfast, even though it was well after noon, and for some reason, tinned tomatoes and beans were included. Since neither Jemma nor Fitz seemed to find anything strange about this, Daisy tucked in.

Later, she carried her impressions of the Simmons family up to Jemma’s childhood bedroom with her during the tour of the house. Craig Simmons had slapped Fitz on the back and given him a hearty handshake before greeting Daisy almost the same way and insisting that she call him Craig, as the only people who called him Mr. Simmons were his students and Daisy looked a trifle too old to be one of those. She’d seen the worry lines and then the relief when Jemma had hugged him.

Mrs. Simmons had given Daisy just as crushing a hug as either Fitz or Jemma. She’d offered them tea, which Daisy had accepted with a defeated ‘when in Rome’ feeling, and had immediately begun asking them about their trip, and how was Daisy finding England, was this her first time here, and you’re not still having trouble with the morning sickness, are you, Jems, your color’s looking good. Jemma had protested that they’d just arrived, couldn’t she wait five minutes before being nosy, but it had made Daisy laugh.

She’d be bunking with Jemma for the stay. Jemma had tried to get her to take the bed, but Daisy had countered that no way in hell was she kicking a pregnant lady out of her childhood bed. So Daisy had an air mattress in the middle of the floor.

“I know, I know,” Jemma said as she ushered Daisy inside. “It’s childish and silly. I’ve been after Mum and Dad to turn it into a proper guest bedroom for ages, but they’ve insisted—”

“It’s lovely,” Daisy said, absolutely meaning it. Jemma’s room was precisely how she would have imagined it. The attic room had a little reading nook and a child-sized desk, the furniture painted a prim white. Among the old toys were scientific texts with words too long for Daisy to pronounce. A corkboard in the corner still had equations pinned to it, mixed with old birthday cards and pictures of Jemma, her family, and even of Fitz, looking even more baby-faced and grumpier than ever. The bed was built into a little alcove, with glow-in-the-dark stars glued all over the ceiling. Daisy would put good money that those were constellations in the patterns, probably sharing names with the cats running around.

Jemma turned a bit pink around the cheeks. “I’m glad you think so, even if I feel a bit silly.”

“Beats the bed in the room I shared with three other girls at St. Agnes,” Daisy said, keeping her tone light. She put her backpack on the mattress and wandered over to look at the corkboard. The handwriting definitely belonged to Jemma, though it was considerably larger and loopier. Daisy turned one of the pages over and gawked at the date. “You wrote this when you were eleven? I don’t even know what half of these symbols mean.”

“I did have two PhDs by the time I was seventeen,” Jemma said, fidgeting. Daisy pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of tiny Fitz and Jemma in their Academy shirts. “Why are you doing that?”

“First, saving this for my own personal collection, duh,” Daisy said, thumbs flying over the keyboard. “And secondly, I’m texting this to Bobbi right away because no way should she live without this picture in her life. Look at his cheeks!”

“Fitz may have a point about us being mean to him,” Jemma said, unzipping her suitcase.

“He’s been so snooty to me all day. ‘No, Daisy, it’s a car park, it’s not a parking lot.’” She sent the text to Bobbi and followed it up with a second text to Coulson, letting him know they’d arrived and she hadn’t spotted any trouble. Conscience struck when Jemma sighed. “All right, all right. I’ll try to be nicer to him. Since it’s Christmas and all.”

“Thank you. He’s frustrated because—”

“The portal stuff,” Daisy said, nodding. “I know. I know how he gets. From the looks of things, he visits here a lot, huh?”

“He used to come back on breaks with me since his mum always takes her trips during the holidays. Mum and Dad, they’ve always let Jack and me have friends over, running wild all over the place. Not that I really had many friends until Fitz. Jack, on the other hand, has too many friends to remember. You’ll likely meet more than a few of them.” Jemma unpacked her clothes into the dresser, waving that she’d left a couple of drawers for Daisy. “And I’m sorry about him flirting, by the way. I’ll tell him to stop bothering you.”

“Why? He’s harmless. And kinda cute.”

“My brother? Blech.”

Daisy laughed. “You two look a lot alike, you know.”

“We actually favored each other more when we were kids.” Jemma’s voice broke, and Daisy’s head jerked up. But her friend waved her off, even as she pressed her fingers to her closed eyelids. “Sorry, sorry. I’ll get it under control. But it’s just—it’s been nearly a year since I’ve seen them, and they have no idea about Maveth and how close I was to never coming back, and they’re so happy and…”

She sat on the edge of the bed and began to cry in earnest. Daisy glanced around the room, looking for tissues. Seeing none, she dug in her own luggage until she produced the little travel pack she kept, which she pushed gently into Jemma’s hands. Wordlessly, she sat on the bed and let her friend cry. She wasn’t entirely sure Jemma had even slept the night before, but they’d been up at the before dawn. The stress of traveling to London in the quinjet and taking the train north likely hadn’t helped. So Daisy sat quietly, simply rubbing her hand over Jemma’s back as she cried. It didn’t surprise her that Jemma eventually curled up, her sobs finally dying away.

“Your mom suggested you should take a nap,” Daisy said. “Why don’t you take her up on it? I’ll go downstairs and let you get some sleep.”

Jemma lifted her head. “You’re my guest, I should be showing you around—”

“Please, it’s obvious Fitz is just as much a member of the Family Simmons as you are. If I run into trouble, I’ll bug him. Sleep. I’m sure Blob will appreciate it.”

Jemma’s eyes drifted closed. “Blob is an awful name to saddle a child with. Even an unborn one.”

“So back to Simmons Junior it is.” Daisy eased herself off of the bed and pulled off her sweater, exchanging it for one Jemma hadn’t cried into. It felt a little awkward wandering down without the social shielding Jemma provided, but she was spending a week at the Simmons homestead and she couldn’t monopolize Jemma’s time. She peeked in the den and saw Jack, Fitz, and Craig watching TV and arguing about something. Daisy decided to back out of that one and checked in the kitchen instead, where Jemma’s mother had set up with a laptop and several magazines, reading glasses perched on the end of her nose.

“Oh, hello. Did Jems decide on a nap after all?”

“The flight wore her out,” Daisy lied. “And I think maybe the hormones got to her a bit. Childhood home and all.”

“I broke down crying at the drop of a hat while pregnant with both her and Jack,” Nora said. “Poor Craig had no idea what to do with me half the time. I remember watching a chat show sobbing and laughing, and Craig thought I’d gone absolutely mad.”

“I don’t think it’s gotten quite that bad for Jemma yet,” Daisy said. “But I’ll keep an eye out.”

“I’m sure she appreciates that,” Nora said. She retrieved a plate of cookies—biscuits—from the counter and set them on the table before bringing the kettle over. Tea really was a way of life in this house, Daisy was beginning to discover. Maybe by the end of the trip, she’d even like it. “Jemma says you’re absolutely brilliant with computers. You work in the IT department?”

“Er, yeah. I keep things running. Fitz and S—Jemma are the brilliant ones, though.”

“Lord, when they get going, I only understand one word in eight.” Nora settled in at the table. She had an open, friendly face, and Jemma’s eyes. “Craig and I aren’t certain where she gets her brains from. He’s a schoolteacher from a family of accountants and my folk are a little more free-spirited in their thinking. Not a lot of scientists or mathematicians in the lot.”

“At some point, I just assume it’s magic. Don’t tell her that, though, I’ll get a lecture.” Daisy glanced down at the feeling of something rubbing against her ankle. Leo Minor looked at her so pitifully that she scooped him up. She scritched behind his ears, smiling when he began to not so much purr as actually rumble. The vibrations traveled up her arms, tickling the edges of her powers. She wondered what Coulson would say to having a cat on base. “She talks about this place a lot, and I can see why. It’s a lovely home.”

“Thank you.” Nora looked as though she were about to say something, but seemed to change her mind. “You’ll have to forgive the curiosity, as you’re the first friend besides Fitz that Jemma’s brought home. Every time we call, it’s been ‘Skye this’ or ‘Daisy that.’ It took me awhile to put together that they were one and the same.”

“Oh, right,” Daisy said. “The name change. I guess it’s a little complicated. I…I found my birth parents earlier this year and learned my birth name, so it made sense to switch.”

Nora squeezed Daisy’s wrist, reassuringly, in a move that was so like Jemma it almost took her breath away. “Daisy’s a lovely name. I’ve always liked the flower names. I’ve got an Aunt Poppy, actually, and my cousin’s Rose. Names are so important, don’t you think?”

Daisy squinted. “Mrs. Simmons, are you digging to find out if she’s picked out names yet?”

Nora laughed. “She said you were quick on your feet. Well? Has she?”

“She’s got it locked up tighter than Fort Knox,” Daisy said, the words spilling out. She obliged Leo Minor by scratching behind his ears. “It’s driving me nuts, but she won’t say a word.”

“That does sound like my daughter.” Nora sipped her tea and leaned in, conspiratorially. “So no hints on the gender, either?”

“None, but she’s not keeping it a secret. The baby wasn’t cooperating for pictures during the ultrasound. I mean, not that I’d blab, but there’s nothing to blab, so I’m not being tested, thankfully.”

“Oh, fine,” Nora said. “You must have other gossip, then. The bloke, what was he really like? Did you meet him?”

Daisy shook her head. “But from what I’ve gathered, he wa—he’s very handsome. So if you were worried about less-than-attractive grandbabies, you’re probably fine.”

Nora laughed. “Oh, I like you. And of course I wasn’t worried about that. But she’s been a bit of an enigma lately—”

“That’s exactly what I’ve thought!”

“—and it’s so nice to gossip a bit.”

“Isn’t it?” Daisy said. She leaned over, running her hand down Leo Minor’s back. “I’m willing to trade stories for blackmail material against Jemma for the next time she shames me about eating a burger.”

“Deal,” Nora said, her eyes twinkling.

When Jemma came downstairs over an hour later, she found her friend and her mother laughing, the cat still purring away contentedly in Daisy’s lap, and the tea in Daisy’s mug completely gone.

Christmas passed in a blur of almost over-the-top cheer from Jemma, who’d managed to procure matching sweaters for Fitz, Daisy, and herself even with the lack of notice about their holiday plans (Daisy suspected she might have already had the sweaters—“Jumpers, Daisy, they’re jumpers”— and had been waiting for an opportunity to deploy them). The gift exchange was followed by lunch where one of the cats made off with half of the roast, causing general chaos as Jack and Fitz tried to catch the beast. Jack introduced Daisy to the concept of Christmas crackers, which led to them wearing ridiculous green paper crowns for most of the day. They went for a walk with Jemma and Fitz, who’d packed one of his dwarves and spent the entire outing making it dive-bomb Daisy while he and Jemma giggled.

If Jack hadn’t been there, Daisy would have quaked the drone from the sky. But as Jemma’s family didn’t know she was inhuman, and she didn’t plan to share, she merely swiped ineffectively at the drone and laughed at Jack’s antics as he tried to protect her. Secretly, she planned her revenge.

She’d been waiting for the subject of inhumans to come up. It didn’t until Christmas night, when the news report mentioned a suspected inhuman sighting had turned out to be a giant hoax during the Christmas evening broadcast.

“That’s your research, isn’t it?” Jack asked Jemma, who was helping him with the dishes. “Studying inhumans and how they work. Have you actually met one yet?”

Fitz, noodling with a drone at the table, looked up and locked eyes with Daisy.

“They keep us in the lab a lot of the time,” Jemma said. “And you know I’m not allowed to talk about my research. It’s highly classified and mostly theoretical anyway.”

“That’s too bad,” Jack said.

Daisy cleared her throat. “What do you mean?”

Jack shrugged and dunked his hands back into the soapy water. “It’d be neat to meet an inhuman, that’s all. You’ve got Thor popping up in Greenwich, of all places, saving the whole bloody world. And now we’ve got more and more people like Thor around? Makes you curious.”

“Thor’s a god, not an inhuman, I must point out,” Jemma said.

“I heard there was one that could lift an entire car and just chuck it.” Jack handed his sister a dish. “What must it be like, to have that much power and still go about your day? What kind of change would that be?”

“For one, you switch your coffee from regular to decaf,” Fitz said in a light voice. “Otherwise you might get a wee bit jittery.”

Since Jack was rinsing a dish, Daisy stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re not afraid of them?” she asked Jack.

“Nah,” Jack said, like it was just that simple. And to him, maybe it was. Where Jemma could be a little uptight at times, her brother was the epitome of relaxed. Potentially too relaxed, really. Daisy had no idea how he would even handle the situations they faced almost daily.

“I’m sure you’ll meet one someday,” Jemma said, sharing a long look with Daisy. They looked away and the subject was dropped.

The day after Christmas was apparently a holiday in its own right. No lazing about indoors for the Simmons family, as Daisy found herself bundled up for the cold and tagging along to cheer Nora and Craig as they jogged in a local race for charity.  Several of Jack’s friends showed up, most of them angling for an introduction to Daisy, which made Fitz laugh and Jemma scowl. After they’d wandered off with Jack to head to the local pub for a pint, Daisy nudged Jemma. “What’s the matter? You look annoyed.”

“I’m not annoyed, of course I’m not annoyed. What? I’m not!” Jemma wrinkled her nose. “But they were laying it on a bit thick, weren’t they? I mean, Bertie actually kissed your hand.”

“Since he willingly goes by Bertie, I feel like he probably doesn’t have much else going for him, so I threw him a bone. What’s the harm? It’s a bit of flirting, Simmons, it’s not a marriage contract.”

But Jemma continued to scowl. “You’re practically a taken woman. Don’t you have that mutual pining thing going on with Mr. Electricity?”

“Careful, Jem, you sound jealous,” Fitz said without looking away from the race.

“Oh, Fitz, don’t be ridiculous. Why would I be jealous?”

Daisy, on the other hand, frowned at the mention of Lincoln. She hadn’t called him, she realized. Christmas had passed and she hadn’t even thought of him once. Sure, he was on the run, but usually they called to check in, their silences saying just as much as their words. Immediately, guilt flooded through her. She’d enjoyed herself with a full family Christmas while he was out there, probably not eating well, on the run from all and sundry.

But then, he hadn’t called her either, had he?

She tuned back into the conversation, which had become full force bickering. “I dunno,” Fitz was saying, “maybe it’s the hormones?”

Daisy heard the warning bells go off even as Jemma’s eyes turned absolutely black with fury. Thinking quickly, she threw an arm around both of her friends and pulled them close. “Are we really arguing on the one vacation we get this year?” she asked.  To annoy Fitz, she gave him a smacking kiss on the side of the head, and automatically did the same to Jemma, who went weirdly still under her arm. “C’mon, guys, it’s Christmas.”

“It’s Boxing Day,” they corrected her in unison.

“Close enough.” But the crisis of a full Fitzsimmons meltdown seemed to have been averted, mercifully enough.

After the race finished, Daisy and Jemma left Fitz at the pub and went out to lunch with Nora. Lunch stretched out into a bit of shopping after Jemma, turning down an offer of finishing Daisy’s chips, groaned that her pants were tight enough lately, thanks very much. It had taken both Nora and Daisy to convince her that perhaps it was time to look into purchasing maternity clothing.

“It’s such a waste,” she said two hours later, as they poked through the racks of a clothing store. “After the baby’s born, this will be absolutely useless. I’ll never wear it again. Plus, most of it is downright hideous. Look at this.”

She yanked a green dress off the rack and brandished it at Daisy, accusingly.

“The pattern’s…unfortunate,” Daisy said, “but you could make it work.”

Jemma narrowed her eyes at Daisy. “I feel like this might be a comment on my fashion choices.”

“Of course it isn’t.” Nora calmly placed the dress back on the rack. “And the clothing could be put into storage should you choose to decide to have another child.”

Jemma’s face went absolutely white. “Another one? I didn’t even plan for this one in the first place!”

Nora gave her a serene smile. “Who knows? You might have this child and discover you want another. Intentionally, even. Your father and I only had one child in mind. You were such a perfect angel that we decided to have another, and we got Jack out of the bargain.” She wandered over to look at stand full of professional trousers.

Jemma jerked Daisy close. “Please kill me,” she whispered.

Daisy laughed and patted her on the shoulder. “There’s got to be something in here that’s not horrible.”

“I doubt it.” Jemma gave her one last dark look when Nora called her name, and walked off to join her mother.

Daisy stayed where she was, poking through a rack full of dresses. Her phone buzzed, so she pulled it out of her pocket, eyebrows going up at Coulson’s face on her screen. “Coulson, hey! How’s it going? Got a Chinese food hangover?”

“Get out of there right now,” Coulson said.

Daisy snapped to attention, every muscle tensing. The bright and happy department store playing cheerful pop suddenly became something far more sinister. Automatically, she reached her hand to the small of her back, where she kept an icer hidden. “What’s the—”

“There you are! Finally.”

Every cell in Daisy’s body abruptly felt like it had been plunged into an ice bath. She stared in a mixture of horror and confusion as Grant Ward easily stepped through the racks of maternity clothing and gave her a giant, friendly smile. Like he had any right to be there, like he was happy to see her.

And the sickest part of it, she knew he was.

She hated that she’d frozen, even if it was only briefly. “Ah, ah, ah,” Ward said. He’d grown a goatee in the time they’d been apart. And he looked rugged, handsome, solid, all the things that had once made him seem trustworthy. “We’re in public, Skye. I wouldn’t.”

She caught the way his eyes cut to the left, and glanced that way herself. Ward hadn’t come alone. She made three Hydra goons, big ones capable of handling themselves in a fight, nicely spaced out among the women’s clothing department. One stood a few feet away from where Jemma and her mother were holding a debate over a shirt. All the saliva in Daisy’s mouth dried up.

Shit, shit, shit.

“Daisy. Daisy, are you there?” Coulson’s voice in her ear brought her back.

Ward merely crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. “Tell Coulson I say hello.”

“Ward’s here,” Daisy said, her voice steady. She could feel her pulse increasing, making the heat pool at the back of her neck.

When he held his hand out for the phone, she considered quaking him into oblivion. But she couldn’t take out Ward and his men before one of them would get to Jemma or Nora, not by herself. And she was in public, in view of every camera under the sun. Never mind that Nora had no idea that Daisy was an agent and inhuman, and Jemma would no doubt prefer it stay that way.

So she handed over the phone.

“Smart,” Ward said with a condescending little tilt of his head, like he still believed he was her SO. Putting the phone to his ear, he said, “Coulson, it’s been awhile. No, no, I don’t think I’ll be doing that, but I’m touched.”

Ward powered off the phone and removed the chip. He pulled out his own phone. On the screen, Daisy could see some kind of dark barroom, and in the center of it Jack and Fitz at a snooker table. The temperature dropped another ten degrees. “In case you think of trying anything funny,” he said.

“Go to hell.”

“You’ve already tried to send me there. It didn’t work out the way you planned, did it?”

“Can I help it if you’re a cockroach?”

“Skye. Skye, Skye, Skye. Always so full of spirit.” His smirk broadened. She gritted her teeth against the creepy-crawly feeling of nastiness that coated her skin whenever he was around. “Here’s what’s going to happen. So we don’t raise any suspicion, you’re going to go and introduce me to the nice lady with Dr. Simmons’ smile, and come up with an excuse for us to leave so that nobody gets suspicious.”

“And you really think Simmons is just going to go along with that?”

“She will if she wants to see the father of her child again.” Ward flashed the phone at her again, giving her another glimpse of the pub with Jack and Fitz. He thought the baby was Fitz’s, she realized. It took every bit of skill she’d learned at the poker table to keep the shock off of her face. And because of that, she was pretty sure her face remained blank, even seeing the outline of the man at the bar behind Fitz, his back to the camera as he enjoyed a pint.

“You’ve been watching us,” Daisy said.

“Of course I have. I’m never far, Skye.”

“Simmons will never go for this. Coulson knows you’re here. How exactly do you plan to get away with this?”

“Just do your part, and maybe all these nice people won’t have their day ruined, hmm?” He grabbed her arm and turned her around, steering her toward Jemma and her mother.

Daisy swallowed hard, eyeing the other three goons. One stood particularly close to a group of young girls, and it turned her stomach. She walked back to where Nora and Jemma were admiring a blazer, and cleared her throat.

Jemma’s eyes widened. They were lucky she hadn’t brought an icer, Daisy saw, for her expression immediately turned to stone and her fists clenched. “Ward!”

Daisy gestured at Jemma to stand down, keeping her hand by her side where Nora wouldn’t see it and get suspicious. “Look who just showed up out of the blue,” she said with a great deal of false cheer.

“Who’s this?” Nora asked, looking in confusion between Daisy and her daughter.

Ward put his arm around Daisy, extending his free hand to Nora. Every bit the jovial, confident conman that had tricked them for months. Anger burned under Daisy’s breastbone as Ward shook Nora’s hand. “Skye hasn’t talked about me? I’m Grant, her boyfriend.”

It took everything in Daisy’s power not to snort her opinion of that. Jemma practically vibrated with tension. She slid her gaze to the left, seemed to noticed one of the goons, and scanned the store. She locked eyes with Daisy and in the two seconds Nora shook Ward’s hand, they held a silent conversation.

“She’s never mentioned a boyfriend,” Nora said.

Can you take him down? Jemma’s eyes seemed to ask.

Daisy flicked a glance at the goons, then Nora, and raised an eyebrow slightly. Jemma’s expression settled into a frown.

“I’ve been upset with him,” Daisy said to Nora, putting on a false smile. “We fought right before I left.”

“But I’m here now,” Ward said, all smarm. “I simply couldn’t go another day without seeing my beloved Skye. And I know she’s missed me, too. Isn’t that right, babe?”

“You know it,” Daisy said.

Ward squeezed her arm, hard enough to hurt. “All this time apart and she doesn’t seem happy to see me.”

“Imagine that,” Jemma said.

Nora gave her daughter a baffled look at the flat tone. “You came all this way to Sheffield to surprise Daisy?”

Nora sounded far too suspicious for Ward’s liking, apparently. He squeezed her arm again, and Daisy did her best not to flinch. “That’s him,” she said. “King of romance. Do you mind if I steal this handsome fella for a bit? We can meet up with you later in the—does this place have a food court?”

“There’s a coffee shop next door, we were headed there afterward to meet Fitz and Jack,” Nora said.

“Oh, those two, they get into such trouble. I’m sure somebody has an eye on them,” Daisy said, not looking away from Jemma, whose eyes widened. From the way Ward tensed against her, he noticed. “We’ll meet you there in an hour?”

She tried to communicate with her eyes alone that Jemma should go along with it. Ward had always made it clear that while he valued Fitz and Jemma and even in some twisted way wanted their respect, they didn’t matter to him as much as Daisy and destroying SHIELD. Being one level removed from Jemma, Nora was worth a second thought in Ward’s mind, but nothing beyond that.

Daisy had to get him away from her at all costs.

“Before you go, I have to ask: why are you calling her Skye?” Nora asked, throwing a wrench in Daisy’s plans. “Daisy, do you truly know this man? He’s not…?”

“My psycho ex? Of course not.” The last thing they needed was Nora contacting the police. Or worse, provoking Ward into attacking. Not with all these innocent bystanders about. “He caught me by surprise, that’s all. No big deal. Right, honey?” Gagging internally, she kissed Ward’s cheek.

He gave Nora a charming look. “It’s nice that Skye—sorry, Daisy, I still have trouble adjusting, she’s just always been my bright Skye—has someone watching out for her. I promise you, I’m harmless.”

“We’ll catch up with you at the coffee shop,” Daisy said. “Text me when you’re ready to go, yeah?”

She hugged Jemma, keeping her hands in sight for the goons and for Ward’s benefit. “Three, eight, twelve o’clock,” she whispered, naming the locations of the goons, and stepped back.

They left Nora and Jemma behind, Ward’s arm going around her again. “I said not to make it suspicious,” he muttered.

“Not my fault my boyfriend doesn’t even know my damn name.” Two of the men followed them, and one lingered near Jemma and Nora. Extra insurance, Daisy figured, in addition to what they thought they had on Fitz and Jack in the pub. She gritted her teeth. “What do you want, Ward?”

“I want Coulson to suffer. No better way to do that than to take you away from him.”

“This isn’t repressed jealousy over not being Director’s Pet, is it? You might’ve had a shot at that title if you hadn’t turned psychotic and betrayed us all.” Daisy looked around for any help, any weapons, as they walked past household appliances and kitchenware. “Which is kind of ironic, given how much Apt Pupil turned out to be your thing.”

“Clever,” Ward said.

“Where have you been all these months, anyway? Usually you’re much more annoying, but SHIELD hasn’t heard a peep.”

“I was holding off on attacking you out of respect for the baby, of course. But now that I know it’s not yours—”

“Wait, how did you even know and why would you ever think it was mine?”

Ward let her go to pull out a folded up sheet. The fold lines had gone white and spider-cracked with age and use, which turned her stomach. He must have carried this with him all the time. Daisy recognized the bookstore, the beanie, and the baby books she was loading in the bag in the picture, and wanted to be sick. He’d thought they were for her.

He’d kept this as a memento, thinking she was pregnant. To what end? No way in hell this theoretical baby could’ve been his.

But in Ward’s corrupt and twisted mind…what? Did he think he was somehow going to kidnap the pregnant version of her and they’d become a big, happy family?

It made every part of her feel cold and disgusting. Automatically, Daisy glanced back toward Jemma and her mother, and found Jemma looking at her intensely. Her face said everything Daisy needed to know.

She handed the paper back to Ward. “Following me, huh? Cute.”

“I had names picked out and everything. Given your family baggage being only slightly less murderous than mine, I thought Calvin might be a good name. If it’s a boy, of course.”

“You’re vile,” Daisy said. She stepped over to a display of dishes and picked up a plate.

“What are you doing?” Ward asked.

“Selling our cover so that Mrs. Simmons doesn’t get suspicious. Cute pattern, right?” She held it up, testing the vibrations between her hands.

Ward narrowed his eyes at her. “Put that down.”

“What? C’mon, you can’t possibly think I can beat you with a plate.”

“Keep it up and Fitz won’t be a very happy man for much longer. Or a living one,” Ward said.

“I doubt that,” Daisy said, and threw the plate like a frisbee at the goon subtly menacing the group of girls twenty feet away. She hit it with a blast of vibration energy to speed it up so that it shattered against the goon’s skull.

He toppled like a giant redwood.

Ward’s strike caught her in the lower back, sending up a flare of pain, but she’d expected that. She threw herself forward, spinning as she did so and unleashing a full quake directly at him. It sang up her arms, lighting everything on fire, but it drove him back into a sales rack. His arms wind-milled. She rolled up onto one knee and yanked her gun free, firing three rounds at him even as he dodged away.

Daisy leapt to her feet. Ward was the primary threat, but not the only one. She had to hope Jemma could handle herself against the third man. Seeing the second moving toward a crowd of screaming shoppers, though, she herself put on a burst of speed. She hurtled into a display, plowing into a mannequin and slamming it with earthquake force so that it pummeled the goon and shattered. As he reeled back in shock, she iced him right between the eyes.

Ward hit her from the back, throwing her to the ground again. She scrambled up and fought back, matching his strikes with her own. Muscle memory made it seem like she was back on the Bus, fighting her SO all over again, but this was so much meaner and desperate. He knocked her back with a punch to the face that May would yell at her for, and she unloaded two hands full of tremor shocks at him.

The fight turned desperate even as the sadistic gleam in his eyes intensified, his years and years of hand to hand training surpassing even the quakes she blasted at him. Sick bastard was getting off on this, she realized with a stomach dropping jolt. He kicked her in the midsection and she stumbled back. The shelves of appliances provided little cover: he threw her into racks, smiling at every punch landed, controlling the fight with vicious smarminess. She battled on, searching for any weakness, but his fighting skill usurped hers and her arms absolutely screamed with agony from the unrelenting quake force. The hits became sloppier, more painful, and every moment he held the upper hand, she could feel the panic closing in.

She just had to hold on and hope Jemma and her mother had gotten away safely.

Ward landed a lucky hit that sent her careening through a rack of men’s shirts. Daisy landed hard, out of breath. When she tried to push herself up, her arms hurt so bad that she screamed. She’d definitely unleashed too much force. She tried to scramble away by using her elbows to pull herself backward.

Ward stepped around the fallen rack and shook his head at her in disappointment. He was limping, his free hand clutching his midsection in a way that suggested broken ribs. Blood dripped freely from a cut on his hairline. “I wanted to do this the easy way, Skye,” he said. “You could have spared Simmons a lot of pain. Now her baby will grow up without a father. Of course, maybe it’ll be better off.”

“Do you ever shut up?” Daisy asked. She tasted blood on her teeth. One blast, she thought. Powerful enough to take him out. She’d break her arm in the process, but one blast…

“I didn’t want to hurt you, Skye.” Ward pulled out a gun and aimed it right between her eyes. “You or Fitz. But you’ve given me no choice but to—”

A gunshot echoed throughout the store. Daisy went tense, waiting for the agony of bullets ripping through her again, waiting for death and pain.

Instead, Ward fell backward, a neat red hole in his forehead.

His body hit the floor with a loud thud, audible even with the screaming shoppers all around.

Daisy stared at it, uncomprehending. Jerkily, she raised her head and looked around until she saw Jemma, twenty feet away, gun still clenched in both hands, shoulders heaving. “S-Simmons?”

The sound of her name seemed to break the spell. Jemma lowered the gun and raced over to Daisy, kneeling down next to her. “Are you all right? How badly are you hurt? Oh, god, your poor arms—”

“Y-you killed him. You shot him.”

“About time, too.” Jemma patted down Daisy’s arms and torso, her brow furrowing when Daisy hissed out a breath through gritted teeth. “He was about to kill you. I couldn’t let that happen.”

“But—your mom—”

“I told her to run. Hopefully she didn’t see that. Thank god you’re all right.” Jemma pulled her into a tight, crushing hug. Daisy could feel her trembling, or maybe that was her. It didn’t matter, in the end. Daisy closed her eyes and pushed her face into her friend’s shoulder.

“What on earth possessed you to go with him?” Jemma asked, not letting go. She sounded near tears.

“He—your mom, she doesn’t know about you still being SHIELD.”

“I’d rather tell her than lose you.”

“Either way, it doesn’t matter,” Daisy said. “I had to let him keep thinking the agents tailing Fitz were actually a threat. They weren’t because—”

“Hunter was there,” said a new voice, and Jemma and Daisy broke apart to see May standing over them wearing, of all things, a Debbie Harry shirt under her leather jacket. And way more eyeliner than Daisy was used to seeing on her.

“Agent May!” Jemma scrambled up. “When did you get here?”

“Too late to do much. But it looks like you two handled it.” May nodded dispassionately at the dead body on the floor. “I’ll secure the scene until Coulson arrives.”

“Wait.” It hurt like nothing else, and Jemma had to grab her elbow to help, but Daisy climbed to her feet and gave May a hard hug. “God, I am so glad to see you. Can you please come home now?”

It might have been the pain making her hallucinate, but she swore May hugged her back a little.

The small laugh, though, she definitely had to be imagining that.

While May handled the police, Jemma drew Daisy away from the downed bodies of the Hydra soldiers and into the women’s washroom so that she could assess the damage to Daisy’s arms.

“You’ve definitely got hairline fractures, at the very least. If only I had my diagnostic equipment with me—”

“Because that’s something you take with you on a shopping trip.” Daisy grimaced as Jemma’s probing fingers sent a bolt of agony straight through her arm and up to her jaw. “Ward really did a number on me.”

“You returned the favor. He definitely had more than one broken bone, though of course I’m not going to examine him further.” Jemma’s hands shook as she wetted down a square of paper towel to dab at a cut on Daisy’s clavicle. “Maybe his brain, assuming I didn’t damage it too badly.”

Daisy closed her eyes and leaned back against the mirror, gritting her teeth against the pain. Jemma had scolded her until she’d sat down on the counter by the sinks, so at least her jellified knees didn’t have to hold her up anymore. A thought had her frowning. “What’d you do to the third guy? And how’d you convince your mother to run?”

“I told her I’m still with SHIELD and that you were in danger if she didn’t go.” Jemma carefully pulled a bloodstained object from the sleeve of her sweater. Daisy recognized the knife she’d made on Maveth. “As for the man: pregnant, need I remind you, does not mean helpless.”

“Apparently not. Do you think your mother saw that or…” Daisy gestured helplessly at her hands.

“I don’t know. It happened pretty quickly.” Jemma looked down. “Maybe this is something of a blessing. I never want my parents to worry about what we do, so I thought, well, I’ll just keep them in the dark, won’t I?”

“Sure,” Daisy said, aware it was better just to let Jemma ramble until she talked herself down.

“But as this year has more than proven, life doesn’t always go to plan, does it?” Jemma swapped the paper towel on Daisy’s clavicle for a fresh one, putting a little pressure on the wound. “And as much as we’d love to insulate the ones we love from getting hurt, sometimes it’s simply not possible. We wouldn’t have been in this situation today, where you felt you had to go off on your own to keep my mother from knowing, if I’d warned her in the first place, wouldn’t we? To be truthful, I’m not entirely sure how well she’ll take it. My dad’s quite cool under pressure, you’ll find, but my mother is another case entirely. When I was nine, I wandered off on a family camping trip accidentally, as you do when you’re a child, which was entirely understandable, but she completely lost it and—”

“Simmons. Simmons—Jemma.” Daisy nudged her with her knee since she didn’t want to move her arms. “We’re okay. Everything turned out all right, and everything will also be okay with your parents.”

“Right.” Jemma pushed her shoulders back, obviously trying to collect herself, and seemed to deflate instead. “When I saw you there, and him, and he had the gun, I thought that was the end. And I really, really don’t think I could bear losing you.” Her free hand traveled up from Daisy’s clavicle to cup her cheek. “Whatever’s coming, I really don’t want to face it without you.”

“Your parents? I’m pretty sure they’ll be fine. There may be some yelling first.”

“No, not that. I mean, I don’t want to face any of this without you.”

It struck Daisy in that moment that their faces were uncommonly close, and her heart had begun to gallop again. It wasn’t the adrenaline rush that came from a fight, but a fluttery feeling seemed to beat through her veins anyway. There were inches between them, and it would be extraordinarily easy to grab the front of Jemma’s cardigan and pull her closer. And even more than that, she wanted to.

“I,” she said, and had to lick her lips because her voice had begun to crack. “I don’t—”

The door banged open against the wall, making both of them jump and jolt away from each other and jostling Daisy’s arms. She hissed in pain even as Nora raced in.

“Oh, thank god, you’re both all right,” Nora said. Daisy went stiff in surprise when instead of just hugging Jemma, she threw an arm around each of them and pulled them both close. “I was so worried.”

It took nearly half an hour to calm Nora down and even then, she kept touching Jemma’s cheeks and shoulders as if to reassure herself that she was truly unharmed. She clucked over Daisy’s arms, even when Jemma scolded her for fussing. “You’re one of them, right? The inhumans that Jemma’s been studying,” she said to Daisy.

“One of them? Mum, she’s—”

“I’m inhuman, yes,” Daisy said, her mouth dry.

“And the shaking, that was you? You caused the earthquakes and…hit people with them?”

“It’s much more complicated than that, Mum. Her powers are actually—”

“Actually, your mom’s pretty much got it,” Daisy told Jemma before she could go on the full spiel. Daisy had heard it at least seven times and she still only understood about twelve percent of it. She remained sitting where she was, tensing and waiting for the judgment.

Instead, Nora patted her knee. “How effective is it on moles? Because Craig’s got a few in the garden that have been an absolute problem and—”

“Mum!”

Daisy was spared from any further bickering by the door opening again, this time to admit Hunter, Jack, and Fitz, who all started talking over each other at once and didn’t stop until May came in and glared them all to silence. It lasted three seconds before the second wave of arrivals: Coulson, leading Bobbi and Mack, and carrying Jemma and Fitz’s preferred field kits. Chaos reigned until Nora, taking control of the situation, shooed most of the agents out—“This is a loo, not a lounge!”—and left Fitz, Bobbi, and Daisy behind.

Jemma shot one final look at Daisy as she was dragged out by her mother, no doubt to explain to her family why exactly there had been an attack at a department store in Sheffield when she was supposed to be a lowly scientist.

After she left, it took forever for Daisy’s pulse to calm as Bobbi and Fitz treated the hairline fractures on her arms, easing her into the cast-gauntlets they’d made. Daisy told herself it was just coming down from the adrenaline of fighting with Ward and seeing him die, and not from that strange moment with Jemma before they’d been interrupted.

But even she wasn’t that good at lying to herself.

Coulson handled the clean-up at the department store, sending Ward’s body and the Hydra goons back to headquarters. Instead of being put on a quinjet, Daisy was driven back to the Simmons homestead, where she found most of their team gathered around the dinner table. Apparently Craig and Nora Simmons’ reaction to finding out their daughter had never left SHIELD was to simply feed the entire team. Daisy, arms in temporary casts, found herself stuffed between Jack and Bobbi at the dinner table, answering Jack’s questions. Bobbi occasionally nudged Daisy and raised an eyebrow at Jemma’s brother in a cute, right? sort of way, but Daisy was frankly too exhausted from her day and from finally, finally seeing Ward fall to put up much of an argument.

She got the full story after dinner while Jemma and her family vanished into the living room, leaving the other SHIELD agents to catch up. May and Hunter had infiltrated the lower ranks of local crime rings used by Hydra, how they’d spent months trying to get close. Hunter hadn’t even known it would be Fitz he’d be threatening at the pub, or that Ward had even been in England. But the minute he’d seen Fitz, he’d known. It simply hadn’t been enough time to warn Daisy and Jemma.

Luckily, they’d handled matters on their own, in the end.

And Ward was dead.

She didn’t know how she felt about that. Relief came in among the top emotions, buried as it was under a layer of numbness. She felt hollowed out. After all of the pain he’d inflicted on her, all of the emotional manipulation and mind games, he was gone. Jemma had put a bullet in his brain using his own henchman’s gun. With a single pull of a trigger, SHIELD’s number one enemy had fallen.

The long, twisted string of his life had been cut, just like that.

The Simmons family hadn’t emerged by the time most of the team left. “Take the vacation, Daisy. You’ve earned it,” Coulson had said before he’d driven the others back to the quinjet. Fitz had vanished up to the guest bedroom right afterward, leaving Daisy with her thoughts.

Rather than going upstairs to wait for Jemma, she pulled on a coat and trekked outside. She’d do some stargazing and philosophize, she decided. That was what you were supposed to do after watching the man who’d manipulated and hurt your friends finally kick the bucket, right? Even if it was cold as balls outside. Like, god, on nights like these she really missed L.A. Scorching hot in the summer, but at least the air had never hurt her face.

She looked up at the panoply of stars above, the milky way visible in such darkness, and her heart lifted. In L.A., she’d gone up into the hills, crawled on top of her van, and had just watched the stars, daydreaming for hours and hours. Usually the same daydreams, ones about finding her parents, or making out with somebody hot. That had been an entirely different person in a different lifetime then.

Now she sat in Sheffield, frozen to the bone, hollowed out and numb to it.

She heard footsteps and whirled, scrabbling for the icer tucked into the back of her jeans.

“Just me,” Craig’s voice said in the darkness before he came around the shed. He held two mugs that steamed in the moonlight. “Jemma thought you might be getting cold. She would’ve delivered it herself, but I’m afraid her mum’s got a few hundred more questions for her.”

“I bet.” Daisy took the mug with a thanks, and sipped. “I, ah, know it’s a bit of a shock. All of it. SHIELD, what happened today, my being an inhuman, Jemma’s whole…job.”

“If nothing else, you’ve certainly made Jack’s day. He’s been curious about inhumans for ages. You mind if I sit?”

Daisy scooted over on the bench to make room for him. She hadn’t spent any time with Jemma’s father alone. He seemed so…professorly. Jemma had definitely inherited his love of neat cardigans and blazers with elbow patches. “So, Mr. S, how are you holding up?”

“About as well as can be expected, considering I missed all of the excitement.” Craig took a sip and looked around the yard. He pointed. “You see that tree there? Jack begged me for ages to put a treehouse in that tree, but Jemma wouldn’t hear of it. She insisted the nailing things into the tree would be beyond cruel.”

“Really? How old was she?”

“About nine or so.” Craig smiled. “She always had a soft spot for animals and plants. Unsurprising that she became a biochemist, isn’t it?”

“Nowadays I’m more likely get a lecture about the genus of that specific tree and how it’s good for, I don’t know, a specific strain of medicine.” Daisy felt a smile tug at her lips, a genuine one. “This seems like a nice place to grow up. No wonder she talks about this place so much.”

“We miss her when she’s gone. As much as we’d love to keep her here, we always knew she wasn’t meant to stay.” Craig sipped his hot chocolate.

“You worry about her,” Daisy said. She grimaced at herself. “What am I saying? Of course you worry about her. Now more, probably, since you know the truth.”

“We’d worry either way. There’s no holding Jemma back when she has her mind set on something.”

He had a point there. Daisy made a noncommittal noise.

“But,” Craig said, “now we know she has a good team with her. Even the Arsenal fan.”

“Hunter’s a sweet guy. Deep down. Very, very deep down,” Daisy said, frowning a little. She’d never been a fan of sports—she hadn’t really done team activities of any kind before SHIELD—but the arguing had seemed friendly enough between Hunter and Craig.

“I’ll try not to hold his team against him, I suppose.”

“Oh, no, go ahead. We love Hunter, but he’s a human disaster.”

Craig laughed and toasted her with the hot chocolate mug. “I can see why Jemma speaks so highly of your team.”

“We all love Jemma, though, all of us,” Daisy said. “She’s my best friend, and actually kind of my first real friend I’ve ever had. Her and Fitz both. My first day with SHIELD, they immediately made me feel welcome.”

She cleared her throat. “Then of course they tried to haze me later on, but nobody’s perfect.”

Craig chuckled. “That does sound like Fitz and Jemma. I worry a little less knowing he’s with her. And now you, too.”

“We’re definitely not going anywhere.”

Craig regarded her for a long moment and nodded to himself, like he’d found something he expected to see. Daisy almost asked him about what he’d been looking for, but he cleared his throat and changed the subject, asking her if she shared Jemma’s love for astronomy. Daisy only knew a few constellations, and those she knew had more to do with navigation than anything else. But she sat and listened to Craig point out stars, filling in her in on the stories behind them, until the rest of the hot chocolate had long grown cold.

Jemma had returned to their shared bedroom by the time she dragged herself back in, all feeling in her toes and fingers completely gone. She’d changed into her pajamas and she had one of those gigantic texts with the unpronounceable words on the cover open, propped up on her chest. She closed it when Daisy stepped in. “You look cold.”

“I can’t feel my fingers or toes.” Daisy wrinkled her nose and met her friend’s gaze. The moment from the bathroom earlier rushed back to the front of her mind, but she shoved it away. She fell back on a smile as she peeled out of her jacket, hanging that neatly on the desk chair. She pulled off her boots and sat on the air mattress. “What a day, huh?”

Jemma let out a little laugh and put the text to the side. She rubbed her forehead. “That’s putting it mildly, I fear.”

“No kidding. How are you doing? Now that your family knows?”

“It’s a weight off of my chest, I can’t deny that.” Jemma rubbed tiredly at her face with one hand. The other, freed from the book, absently circled her stomach. “But my mum didn’t handle all of it well. Maveth in particular. I’ll be calling home a lot more in the near future, it looks like, to keep Mum from worrying overmuch.”

“Guess that’s a mom’s job, right? Worrying.”

Jemma’s hand stilled on her stomach. “Yes. Yes, I suppose it is.”

Daisy left her to her quiet reverie as she stepped into the bathroom and prepared for bed as best she could with her arms still in their casts. Her arms itched, but the painkillers were still working. She grimaced at the cuts on her temple and above her lip, but nothing she could really do about that. When she stepped back into the room, Jemma had dimmed most of the lights, leaving only the lamp by Daisy’s mattress on her. She had curled into a little ball under her covers, facing away from Daisy.

Daisy tiptoed across the room and slipped into bed, sighing as she finally let the tension drain from her limbs. “Happy Boxing Day, I guess,” she whispered.

Jemma, clearly asleep, only made a small noise in response.

Daisy lay on the mattress for hours, staring up at the ceiling. Sleep never came.

#bioquake #skimmons #jemma simmons #daisy johnson #agents of shield #aos #aos fanfiction #fanfiction #avengers fanfiction #avengers #given unsought #oh boy

[theartofbeinganerd]

Alright, what I’ve got lined up for tonight is a bit different. Recently, I finished posting one of my multi-chapter fics, a hand to hold (take me home), which means that I’ve got an opening in my writing schedule for another one. However, I’ve narrowed it down to two options, and I figured I’d let you all decide which one I go with! I’ll give a brief summary of each, and there are snippets below the cut of both of them, to help make the decision easier. Whichever one is chosen, I’ll likely begin posting it sometime soon, so keep an eye out! Thanks!

Option One:  When a greedy politician rolls out his new policy that’ll leave a small-town middle school with a lack of enough funds to stay open after the current school year, the residents of the town think the situation to be hopeless. The same, however, cannot be said for the staff of Margaret Carter Middle School, who will fight with everything they have to stay open – or rather, fundraise with everything they have. This is (obviously) a teachers AU, which is centered around the relationships between both Fitzsimmons and Mackelena, though I’d say it probably focuses more heavily on FS because hi, it’s me. There’s humor and romance and all of the team, with as many fundraising gimmicks as I can fit in the fic.

Option Two: Which doesn’t have a summary yet, but basically it’s a rewrite of my first ever AoS fic, Hardest Kept Promises (which I look back on now and...Yikes), one that I’ve wanted to do a rewrite of for some time. It’s a Season 2 AU, where Clint and Natasha join the team at the Playground following the Season 1 finale, and Natasha befriends Jemma and helps her to realize that she has feelings for Fitz in return during the nine days that he’s in a coma. This one is Angst City and closely follows the events of Season 2, told from the POVs of Jemma and Natasha, as Jemma navigates Fitz’s injury and their distance while fully aware of her feelings for him, often counseled by closet romantic Natasha Romanoff. ((Also, it ignores the....more romantic events of AoU, and Clintasha is featured as an established relationship))

(Ao3)

-

Teachers AU

“Hey, Fitz, can I – is that more chocolate?”

Guiltily, Fitz paused in his frenzied effort to hide a small pile of chocolate bars in the top desk of his drawer. “Oh, hey Simmons…um…something you needed?”

Heaving an exasperated sigh and shaking her head, Jemma crossed her arms over her chest and stepped further into the classroom. Once she was standing in front of Fitz’s desk, she peered disappointedly down at him, the same look that she used on her students when they tried to form some kind of excuse as to why they didn’t have their homework. “Oh Fitz. It’s not a fundraiser if you’re buying up all of the product.”

“I only have so much willpower!” Fitz cried defensively. “How am I supposed to say no to candy bars?”

Jemma pressed her lips together to hide her amused smile as she shook her head again. “Maybe we should have gone with Daisy’s calendar idea – at least that way you wouldn’t be in danger of solely funding us.”

Fitz pulled a horrified face, and it caused Jemma to finally break, laughter slipping past her lips and revealing her ruse. “Very funny, Simmons. But I’m not joking when I say that no one would buy a calendar of ‘sexy teachers’ if I was in there with my shirt off.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Jemma replied with a placating pat to his shoulder, though she figured that the laughter still lingering in her voice made the sentiment less believable, from the telling scowl that Fitz threw in her direction.

“Anyway,” he started pointedly, “what was it that you wanted before?”

For a moment, Jemma had forgotten that she’d had a purpose in dropping by Fitz’s classroom, but at his not-so-subtle reminder, she said, “Oh! Yes, I was wondering if I could borrow a couple of your microscopes. I’m starting the cell unit tomorrow and I don’t have enough for the class, even putting them in pairs.”

“Sure thing,” he replied easily, getting up from his desk and crossing the classroom to the back counter, where a small amount of microscopes were set up in a row. “How many do you need?” he called over his shoulder.

“Two should do it, thank you,” Jemma answered a bit distractedly, taking the chance to check his desk drawer. Once it had been pulled all the way out, her eyebrows rose high on her forehead as she caught sight of the chocolate bars practically lining it. “Ugh Fitz!”

“What?!” When she raised her head to glare at him, she noticed him balancing the two requested microscopes in his arms, struggling a bit under the weight of them, and his cheeks slowly growing redder and redder as he figured out what she’d seen. “Hey, I’ve never claimed to have an ounce of self-control when it comes to chocolate.” Clearly trying to save face, he added, “’Sides, it’s not exactly surprising. You know this happens every year.”

With a sigh, Jemma perched lightly on the edge of Fitz’s desk and reminded him sadly, “This isn’t every other year though, Fitz. We’re not raising money for field trips or extra lab equipment, not without that tax money.”

Fitz grimaced, partly at her words, but also partly, it appeared, due to his continued juggling of the microscopes. Rolling her eyes fondly, Jemma stood from his desk and (only after trying to take one of the microscopes from Fitz and receiving a childish shake of the head in response) wordlessly gestured for him to follow her on the short walk from his classroom in the seventh grade hallway to hers in the eighth. As he trailed behind her, he grumbled, “If it wasn’t for that bastard Governor Ward and his filthy, lying bastard face… I still have no bloody clue how he even got elected.”

“Some people don’t care to look past the clearly false promises,” Jemma sighed, pushing open the door to her classroom and stepping back to allow Fitz to enter. “You can put them over there,” she told him, pointing toward a relatively empty table. Watching absently as Fitz did as she asked, Jemma felt a rush of sadness at the thought that this time next year, she might not be in this classroom setting up slides of plant cells or discussing recent scientific discoveries over tea with Fitz in the afternoons as they put off grading just a little bit longer.

“Hey.” At Fitz’s soft voice beside her, Jemma glanced up in surprise, a small smile flitting involuntarily across her lips when he nudged her shoulder with his. “Ward’s not shutting us down. We’re gonna prove to him that we’re prepared to fight for our school.”

As her smile became more genuine, Jemma’s mind flashed back almost a decade, to when she and Fitz had just been fresh-faced almost-college-graduates, interning at the tiny Margaret Carter Middle School in some tiny little town, entirely unaware that it was where they’d meet the person that would become their best friend in the world. The school meant so much to both of them, and Jemma couldn’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else or with anyone else.

Gently dropping her head to rest on Fitz’s shoulder, she murmured in agreement, “We’ll show him.”

-

Season 2 AU

“Looking for some tips?”

Jemma glanced up from the fact sheet Coulson had had printed up for her, one that she’d been studying meticulously for the past few hours. Glad to give her eyes a rest, she just about managed a smile for Natasha, nodding gratefully. “Anything to help. I’m a rather dreadful liar. I mean, I have been getting better but not…not on this level.” She gestured to the paper that contained what she was now supposed to pass off as her history.

“If Coulson thinks you can do it, then you must have the skill to back it up,” Natasha stated plainly, perching on a stool across the island from her. Nervously, Jemma threw a glance at the doorway to the commissary, always worried that Fitz would be the next to enter, that he’d somehow catch wind of her plans to go undercover, that he’d be…be even angrier with her.

She knew he was never going to understand why she was doing what she was, but no matter how much it would hurt, she had to go through with it – to give him time and space to heal, to give him a fighting chance, to protect him.

“I just saw him heading to the lab,” Natasha said suddenly, automatically bringing Jemma’s gaze back to her knowing face. “He won’t be stopping by anytime soon.”

Jemma colored at being read so easily, anxiously curling the corners of the paper in front of her with her fingertips. “Oh.”

Mercifully, Natasha dropped the subject (it was one of the things Jemma appreciated about the legendary agent the most – she never beat around the bush, and she never pressed if she didn’t need to; it made her surprisingly easy to talk to), and instead she said bluntly, “You should cut your hair.”

Taken aback, Jemma absently raised her hand to finger the waves drifting past her shoulders (she hadn’t had the ambition to put in the time it took to straighten it, not since…since they’d arrived at the Playground). “Cut my hair?”

“And change up your wardrobe. Maybe go a bit darker and heavier with your makeup. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that changing your appearance can go quite a ways with adopting a new personality. Almost every time I go undercover, I look like someone new because I am someone new. You have to live your new identity to sell it.”

It made sense, Jemma had to admit, but the very first thought that popped into her head was, when I return, will Fitz even recognize me? But, she shook away the ridiculous fear and reminded herself that it was all for him, to protect him, and she’d do anything to protect him. “Cut my hair, change my clothes, wear heavier makeup; got it. Anything else? Anything that might help an awful liar survive in the lion’s den?” She forced a little laugh at the end, hoping to seem more calm and breezy than she felt.

Natasha didn’t seem fooled. Her piercing eyes studied Jemma carefully for a long, silent moment, and though she didn’t say a word about it, Jemma somehow knew that she’d seen right through her sad attempt, saw through all the walls she’d been attempting to erect around her heart in an effort to protect it – an effort that came far too late.

“Try to keep things as close to the truth as possible,” Natasha advised finally. “They ask if you’re loyal to HYDRA? You reply by saying that you go where science leads you. It’s true, right? They’ll just think that it’s led you from SHIELD to them. They ask why you gave up on SHIELD, why you switched sides? You tell them you’re trying to move on from losing a partner.”

Jemma inhaled sharply at the innocuous words, her grip on her fact sheet tightening so abruptly that it crinkled in her fists. Tears began to fill her eyes, and she hoped distantly that Natasha would think they were the reason she was blinking so rapidly, and not because she was trying to push away the image of Fitz’s last, watery, trembling smile before he pushed that damn button and him lying in that bed hooked up to tubes and an IV and nine days of horror and the way he hadn’t recognized her when his eyes had first opened and the frustration and anger and pain on his face every time he couldn’t find a word or his hands shook directed at her always at her.

“Simmons.” Natasha’s tone was firm, demanding her attention, but somehow also gentle with concern, with sympathy. When Jemma blinked her watery gaze back to Natasha’s face, she went on, “I’m hitting all the nerves because you need to prepared – it’s what they’re going to do. They’re going to try and break you, they’re going to push you to your limits, and they will push on the raw nerves until you cave. And when you cave, when they find out you’re a spy, they will kill you. Or worse.”

She almost asked what could be worse than HYDRA making her and then killing her, but at the last moment she realized that she probably didn’t want to know – she was already likely to have nightly nightmares about what would happen if her cover was blown, ones where she was promptly executed and she never got a chance to tell Fitz that he was more than that too; she didn’t need to add fuel to that fire.

“Good to know,” Jemma said faintly, her weak attempt at a joking smile coming out closer to a grimace than anything else. “I think, out of everything, what I’m most afraid of is how…how he’ll take it. That’s silly, isn’t it?”

“No,” Natasha replied firmly. “I think it’s only natural for you to be concerned about how he’ll take it. Especially given that it’s not exactly an assignment you can share.”

Jemma agreed with Coulson’s decision to label her assignment classified, knew that it made perfect sense logically, but that didn’t make the idea of having to lie to Fitz any easier. They almost never lied to each other, and never without good reasons – life or death reasons – and she couldn’t imagine what doing so now would do to their already damaged relationship. But, not telling him was for his own good; she knew he’d drive himself mad with worry within a week, and she was not what needed his concentration at the moment; that was the whole point of her leaving, after all.

Even if he wasn’t going to have cause to worry about her, though, she knew he was going to (it was in their nature, after all, to worry about each other constantly) and if she could ease some of that burden by keeping her true destination a secret, she would gladly do it. However, once she was gone, she couldn’t protect him from the knowledge of her whereabouts, let alone anything else, nor even make sure he was doing his exercises or taking time to calm down before he destroyed the lab in a fit of anger, and the very thought of was eating away at her.

She knew she had to do something, but no one else knew about her plans to go undercover, so she couldn’t ask this of them without it seeming suspicious. But, Natasha…

Hesitating briefly, Jemma asked softly, “Will you…well, I know the others will look out for Fitz and help him, of course, they care about him too, but he’s so bad about accepting help – he’s so proud, that one, always has been – but perhaps since you and Agent Barton have nothing to compare him to, maybe he’ll accept your friendship and your aid, subtly, of course, overt aid will put him off immediately –”

She cut herself off when Natasha reached out to lay a hand over hers, and she caught and held Jemma’s gaze as she told her sincerely, “I promise, I will try and watch out for Fitz as much as Clint and I can.”

#shayna writes #fsfic #fitzsimmons #teachers au #season 2 au #you decide! #because i can't make decisions for myself! #(really it's a huge problem) #honestly these two fics couldn't be anymore different #oops

[agent-85]

Hello Agent85!! ^^ Just saw the ep... That arc is way too long... and it makes less and less sense. I really can't stand it anymore! The framework is supposed to be a copy of our world and for some reason now the laws of physics and basic biology don't apply anymore ? Fitz is a scientist! how the hell does aida's survival make any sense to him!? (and that stupid nazi youth hair...) Then, where is Jemma's smartness? and what is she doing? This all world is fake and she knows it! (1)

(2) so why would she think even for a second that the machine would be in this fake world ? I didn't buy it at all. And still no Fitzsimmons... all the aidaxfitz's PDA are beyond disgusting. urgh! And finally in what universe did someone find it a good idea to give Ward any kind of redemption arc? :/ Sorry it's not very joyful but I'm so tired of it all... Anyway thanks Jane! You're amazing! and only your light cheer me up lately.

Hey there!

This arc is wearing me out, too. Not to say that there aren’t things I like about it, but I just love Fitz so much and it’s really hard for me to see him like this. I know they’re doing it for plot reasons, but they drew a lot of things out during season 3 that I did not like very much, either.

But I had the opposite reaction to this last episode! Everything makes a lot MORE sense to me now. We know what AIDA’s goal is, and again, I just cannot believe that I missed what this is all about: the parameters. It’s SO OBVIOUS, looking back, since there was so much set up for it. Here I was, thinking that AIDA would just want to stay in her little dictatorship forever, when it’s clear that she has even greater ambitions. After all, what dictator wants to be limited as to whom they can murder?

Regarding the things that don’t make sense, namely AIDA’s fall: as I’ve said before, I believe that’s intentional. If they wanted to fudge it, it would have been two or three stories. She was FIFTY stories up, maybe more. You don’t need to know anything about medicine to know she would go splat. It’s obvious.

And, as we know, when people die in the Framework, they die in real life. It’s a common sci-fi trope that I happen to love immensely. Usually, the idea is that since the person believes that they’re dying, and people are afraid of dying, they basically get scared to death. Or, you know, their body just gets tricked into reacting the way it would react if the scenario were real. But AIDA is not real, so there is no real body to react to her scenario. Only an android would be able to survive that fall.

But beyond that, this just shows how much control she has over her world. She cannot only survive the fall, but she has also managed to BRAINWASH everyone around her so much that they don’t realize what she’s just done. But of course, they don’t notice a LOT of things she’s done, like spend all her resources on a Real Girl Machine that benefits Hydra . . . how, exactly?

I know I keep saying they were BRAINWASHED, and I am going to keep saying it in all caps until people get it. There is an extreme degree of conditioning going on here meant to override morals, character traits, and anything that would get in AIDA’s way.

And how perfect is it that after this ridiculous fall, Bakshi arrives on the scene asking what story he should tell, only to be lied to by Fitz. Think about it: AIDA is lying about the nature of reality to Fitz, who lies to Bakshi, who lies to everyone. AIDA is peddling deception compounded on deception. They’re all different lies, of course, and all of the liars know that they are lying, but they are all designed to give AIDA everything she wants. So how, may I ask, can anyone find the truth if they are blinded to basic laws of decency? To basic laws of the natural world?

If Fitz, a genius engineer, can’t tell that AIDA is lying to him about his own area of expertise, how can he tell that she’s lying to him about everything else?

How can he recognize basic truths if he can’t recognize Jemma’s face?

So, AIDA’s impossible fall reemphasizes two important truths: AIDA is not a person, and AIDA has complete control. These were things we already knew, but now we see those truths working in a context, so we see just how dangerous they she truly is.

Another thing it does is give Jemma a foot in the door when she finally has the chance to confront Fitz on the nature of his reality. She now can appeal to him emotionally and scientifically. Daisy only had an emotional argument, and we can see that AIDA has used Papa Fitz to condition Fitz to reject emotion. But needed his scientific mind, so that remains intact. The fact that Jemma will be able to use this scientific argument, in addition to the fact that her emotional argument will be infinitely stronger because of their bond, makes me very optimistic that Jemma will be able to chip away at the walls Fitz has been programmed to put up.

But of course, there’s the caveat that they’ve set up perfect scenarios like this before and completely trashed them. We were all convinced that the necklace and Will’s stupid science background were clues to all kinds of things, but it just ended up being lazy writing. In this case, however, it seems a lot more deliberate, and I’m honestly hoping they’ve learned from their mistakes. They have to know how stupid that 3A was.

As for Jemma’s smarts, this is another plot reasons thing. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think that hard about it while I was watching, too blinded by the sunshine of Trip, so that didn’t seem that stupid to me. Jemma doesn’t just have to figure out what the solution is; she has to guide us viewers to the conclusion in an entertaining way. And revealing it the way she did was way more dramatic. It’s a trope that’s been done a thousand times because so many people love it.

Still, I was upset, like you are, about the lack of FitzSimmons. Jemma should have tried to get to him during this episode, even if nobody would let her. They haven’t been together in this arc, but they have been talking about each other. (Which, by the way, is basically the only prediction I’ve gotten right so far.) We’ve gotten Jemma’s confession of love to Ward, which is HUGE. 

Jemma didn’t outright tell Fitz she was ready to have a relationship; she said they were wasting time by not being in a relationship. She didn’t tell LMD Fitz that she wanted to marry Fitz; she only said she would give Fitz the answer. She’s now comfortable with telling Fitz she loves him, but she doesn’t talk about it to other people, especially her enemies. And yet, she basically screamed it at Ward! I can’t express how important that is!

We have never seen Jemma be that blunt about her feelings before. Never. 

With Fitz, we’re seeing something very different—how not to love somebody. Fitz and AIDA’s relationship is supposed to be repulsive. We are supposed to think that it’s wrong. After all, AIDA and Agnes, who share a face, are romantically linked to Fitz and Radcliffe, who have a father/son relationship. So, it’s not only evil and abusive—it’s a little incestuous. They are hitting all the bases here. It’s a stark contrast to the loving partnership of equals that sacrifices everything to save the world. In fact, a starker contrast could not exist, unless Jemma was romantically linked to a moron who told her to give up all the time. ;)  

But really, if this doesn’t convince you that FitzSimmons is the end all be all, nothing will.

As for Ward, I’m going to say the same thing I said about LMD Fitz: you can’t blame someone for something someone else did, just because that person has the same face. You can’t credit them, either. Framework Ward does nothing to redeem the real Grant Ward, because the real Grant Ward is dead. In fact, he died on an alien planet while trying to bring Hive into the world, right after he had Jemma tortured. He is, without a doubt, the absolute worst. Nothing that’s happening now can change that. 

In fact, if anything, it adds to his condemnation by showing just how good Ward could have been. Ward was a traitor, yes, but what if he betrayed evil instead of good? What if he actually loved Skye more than he wanted to survive? 

There was a time when we were hoping that Ward’s love for Skye would change him into something better, and now we’ve seen it happen. 

Framework Ward and Real Ward are a lot like FitzSimmons and Fitz x AIDA, actually. We see how good it could be, and we see how bad it can get. I find that incredibly interesting. I love all of the philosophical aspects of this arc.

So, I know that this arc has been hard, but hopefully that clarifies things a little. I’m hoping that we’ve reached the very bottom, and it’s all uphill from here. After all, this is the point where Jemma HAS to go after Fitz, at all costs, for plot reasons. I’m really hoping that we will start to get our reward as early as next Tuesday. 

All we can hope is that they don’t mess it up!

So, thank you so much for your kind words! I hope I was able to cheer you up a bit.

#AoS spoilers #Meta of Agent 85 #FitzSimmons #Fitz x AIDA #Anons of Agent 85 #Answers of Agent 85

[pizza-is-my-buziness]

Anon I thought the same thing when I saw last week’s episode! Thanks for the prompt! Well I’m not sure it was a prompt but let’s pretend like it was.

The expression on May's face is one of disappointment. It starts in her eyes and spreads across her features, drawing her lips into a thin line, furrowing her brow. More than disappointed, she looks almost dangerous.

Daisy's hand trembles as she tightens her fingers into a fist. "It…it takes a minute," she says softly, pulling in a deep breath to settle the nerves flaring through her body. She wonders if May can hear the lie in her words; she's grateful this May doesn't share the memories that are currently running through Daisy's mind right now of the uncontrollable earthquakes that had started almost immediately.

Letting the breath out between her teeth, Daisy unclenches her fist and holds her hand up again. The gesture is easy, second nature, her muscles flexing with the familiarity. But still nothing happens. Daisy can feel something inside her, the sensation of something new and different in her bones and blood, the steady reminder of what she is. But still there's something different about it; the familiar hum is gone. She feels severed from the molecules vibrating around her, aside from the ones she feels in May.

"You lied to me," May says evenly and her disappointed look has disappeared completely in favor of the dangerous one. "Do you have any idea what I've done? What I've gone through to get that piece of crystal and-"

"No," Daisy says quickly, shaking her head. Her arm is still up between them, almost out of habit. Her body doesn't hurt anymore and she can't taste blood in her mouth but the strength in her body doesn't seem like enough without her powers. "No, I didn't lie," she assures May. "It's just…it's different here. I need time. I promise. I'm telling you the truth, May."

May's scowl only deepens. "Don't say that," she says. "Like you know me."

Daisy can only purse her lips, biting the inside of her cheek until the blood taste is back. May steps forward, grabbing onto Daisy before she can take a step backward, holding tightly to her elbow. "What are you doing?" Daisy asks quietly and the sudden surge of fear that she feels while looking at May's face is becoming unfortunately familiar.

May pulls her toward the door. "Getting you out of here."

Daisy's eyes widen. "Why-"

"I've come this far," May says as she pulls the door open. "Take me to the Resistance. And I hope your powers start working soon because we're going to need them."

Despite Daisy's best efforts nothing happens. There's nothing there, none of the feelings that she's become so familiar with over the past several years. There's nothing.

But there are Hydra agents. And there are guns. Thankfully Daisy doesn't need her powers to use one of those.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Daisy bursts into the apartment that has become the sort of home base in the Framework, listening to the door bang against the wall behind her. "Jemma!"

She can tell right away that there's no one here. It's too quiet, too still. Jemma is gone. Even still, Daisy moves from one small room to the next, looking for her. Anxiety twists her stomach while fear for Jemma twists at her heart. She doesn't try to force down the emotions, letting them flare up to the surface; once that would have terrified her, that feeling of uninhibited emotion that would have driven her powers completely out of control. But now there's nothing, not a single tremble in the earth to reflect how she's feeling inside.

In the bathroom, Daisy finds two words scribbled in Jemma's handwriting, tucked at the bottom of the mirror. Call Ward. It does little to ease the fear thudding through her heart and reminds her all too much of the message she'd left behind years ago, carved letter by painful letter when she'd thought she might die for leaving it. Ward is Hydra.

Daisy leaves the bathroom, her mouth dry. May is standing in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest. "Well?"

"They aren't here," Daisy answers, pulling her phone from her pocket. May's eyes flash, another flare of annoyance and Daisy quickly adds, "They're with Ward."

May frowns slightly. "Ward? Ward is working for the-"

"Apparently," Daisy says breezily as she finds his name in her contacts. "That's the thing about Ward. You can always trust him to double cross someone."

Ward answers on the second ring, as though he'd been expecting her call. "Skye-"

"Where's Jemma? Is she still with you? And Coulson?" Daisy can't hide the impatience from her voice and the tension in her body eases a little when Ward confirms that they're together. Ward's own flood of questions is silenced when Daisy says, "I need you to come get us. Take us to the Resistance."

There's a pause. "Who's 'us'?"

"I'm with May," Daisy says, looking over at the woman standing still and stoic. "Hurry."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

There are tears in Jemma's eyes when she wraps her arms around Daisy, holding onto her tightly. Daisy takes a moment, all too brief in her opinion, to close her eyes and press her face into the crook of Jemma's neck, breathing her in. But they aren't alone and there's so much to do and say. There's always so much to do and say in their lives.

"I'm okay," Daisy assures her as they step away, aware of the eyes on them. "It's okay."

But Jemma only shakes her head and Daisy can't help but wonder if maybe the tears aren't for her return after all.

She can feel Jemma in the same way that she'd felt May and Ward when he'd picked them up. It's different from what she's used to, the steady vibrations in everything around them. But still it makes Daisy feel slightly reassured, like maybe her powers are coming back after all.

The base is familiar but in a dreamlike way, like the type of liminal space encountered only in dreams where reality is more of a memory than a perfect copy. It's crowded with people: agents and civilians alike. The workout area and lab spaces have been converted to a housing area with people crammed onto cots and blankets in every available space. Daisy can see Mack among the sea of faces, sitting off with a little girl on his lap and smiles on both of their faces.

Ward and May are talking a few steps ahead, their heads bent together and a serious expression on both of their faces. Coulson is trailing behind, looking somber and still somehow strangely excited, like he hasn't gotten over the thrill of it all.

It's easy for Jemma to take hold of Daisy's hand, pulling her away and toward a cot in one of the corners. Jemma's jacket is draped across the thin blanket and Daisy feels on odd tug in her heart to think about the time they've spent apart.

Jemma sits down, still holding tightly to Daisy's hand when she sits beside her. Their knees touch, bodies curved together to shut out the rest of the world. "Mace is dead," Jemma says softly and without preamble. The words settle over Daisy but don't seem to make sense, don't seem to connect. Jemma looks up at her. "He died a few hours ago. Saving a bunch of-" She stops and her hand tightens on Daisy's, nails digging into her skin. As she exhales, her grip loosens somewhat. "Teenagers," Jemma says finally.

"I don't understand," Daisy says quietly as the words finally begin to take root. "Mace is dead? Are you sure?"

Jemma can only look at her. "He thought all of this was real," she says softly. "He died for this. For these…these people here." She shakes her head. "And Fitz…I saw Fitz…you were right. He's different here, he's not…he's not Fitz. They've done something to him."

Daisy holds tightly to Jemma's hand as she watches her eyes fill with tears again. She doesn't know how to tell her that she knows all of this all too well, that some of the now-healed bruises and cuts that had covered her body only hours before were from him. Instead she reaches up with her free hand, resting her hand against Jemma's cheek. "It's not Fitz," she says softly, pressing their foreheads together. "It looks like him but it's not him. He would never…" He would never hurt me, Daisy wants to say but she can't make it worse.

"Kill someone," Jemma says so softly Daisy thinks she had to have misheard. But the look in Jemma's eyes lets Daisy know she hasn't misheard at all. It's the look of someone who has just lost her best friend.

As they hold onto each other, Daisy can't help but think about this world and how Mace is gone and Fitz is all but gone and nothing they've done since they've been here has made anything better.

"Radcliffe told me how to get out of here," Daisy tells Jemma softly, her words whispering against her ear so no one can hear. Because there's no telling how many ears Aida might have around them.

Jemma looks up at her in surprise. "Radcliffe? How?"

Daisy crinkles her nose. "We've been enjoying the same Hydra accommodations," she says dryly.

"Daisy," Jemma says softly, "you're all right." She says this like the realization has suddenly just come to her, the memory of what might have happened to her finally coming through the events of the past two days. "Ward said they'd taken you into custody and I didn't know…I've been so worried about you…"

"I'm okay," Daisy assures her again. "Now." Jemma gives her the once over, nodding uncertainly. "May…she…she helped me escape. And she brought some Terrigen."

Jemma's eyes grow wide. "Your powers?"

Daisy shakes her head. "It's different here." Admitting it out loud somehow makes her feel worse, like she's doomed herself to making it true. "I can feel…something. I feel different. I just…it's not the same. No earthquakes. I'm useless."

Jemma rolls her eyes. "Hardly," she mutters. "You're never what I would call useless."

"Well, I guess that's true, I mean I do know how to get us out of here," Daisy points out.

But Jemma's frown only deepens. "We can't leave. Not…not like this. We can't leave everyone here. It will only get worse."

Daisy nods. "I know." She moves closer to Jemma. "We can still fix this. We will."

Jemma kisses her softly, less a kiss and more a reassurance that they're still here together. Daisy closes her eyes, savoring the contact. She's made it back. Jemma is okay. They're both okay. That's what matters.

"Skye." Ward is standing a few feet away, his jaw clenched, his arms crossed over his chest. "We need you. Both. In the Dir…for a briefing."

Jemma doesn't let go out of her hand as they stand and Daisy doesn't even think about pulling away. Ward's eyes settle on the two of them briefly before he turns, leading the way down the hall.

Daisy lifts an eyebrow. "So you've been with Ward this whole time?" She questions, her voice hardly above a whisper.

Jemma frowns. "Don't remind me," she mumbles. "He's quite enamored with you. He's assured me several times that he would die for you, almost as though he's issuing a sort of challenge."

Daisy wonders if it's totally inappropriate to being smiling right now. "Sounds promising."

As they near the office, Jemma suddenly holds onto Daisy's hand tighter. "Oh. There's something I need to-"

But it's too late because they're standing in the Director's office and there's Trip and Daisy feels like the air has been sucked out of her lungs. He's alive and looking unruffled and smiley, like despite this world they're in now there's not a thing that's bothering him. She wants to go to him, to hold him tightly, to apologize for what happened, how his death was her fault. But she doesn't do anything of those things. She just stands there beside Jemma, facing down the metaphorical firing squad.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Daisy lets out a groan of frustration, just barely resisting the urge to slam her fist into the wall. It wouldn't help their situation but it might make her feel better.

"It's useless," she snarls through gritted teeth. "Absolutely useless."

Jemma is standing behind her, wearing a mismatched set of workout clothes that look almost comical on her. Even still it gives them more freedom to move around, to loosen their muscles, to work out some of the tension constantly thrumming through their bodies. They're pulling their punches of course so Daisy is certain that if anyone where to walk by their training session would look more like playfighting.

Daisy turns back to face Jemma, rolling her shoulders. "This is never going to work. I don't have my powers. They're gone."

In addition to working loosely through the training exercises, they've been trying to get Daisy's powers to come back, hoping that Jemma's hypothesis that adrenaline might help the process will prove true. But there's been nothing, not a single twinge of what Daisy is used to feeling.

Jemma just huffs out a breath, frowning briefly. Without a word of warning she lunges at Daisy, wrapping her arms around her waist and sending them both crashing to the ground. She drives her knee into Daisy's stomach, keeping her pressed to the floor and she puts one hand around her neck and the other she raises in a fist.

Daisy lifts her hand out of instinct but mostly out of the obligation that she feels to Jemma. Her adrenaline level isn't exactly spiking and Daisy has a feeling that the sudden increase in her heartrate probably has more to do with the fact that Jemma is on top of her than anything else. But still, she dutifully lifts her hand, fingers splayed, and she tries, she really does.

But she already knows the outcome.

Lightly Jemma lets her fist hit against Daisy's palm and she puffs out her cheeks as she exhales. She takes some of the weight off Daisy's chest, resting against Daisy's bent legs. "We'll keep trying," she says softly.

Daisy can only shake her head.

At the sound of footsteps, they both turn their heads, surprised to see May standing there. She frowns slightly. "What are you two doing?"

"Training," Jemma says primly, getting to her feet and holding out her hand to help Daisy up.

May glances around, taking in the pathetically furnished hanger and its small array of planes and vehicles. It's the only place they could find to have room enough to train and test out Daisy's nonexistent powers.

May looks skeptical about Jemma's use of the word 'training.' She shakes her head. "Let's go. We've got an assignment."

Daisy wipes her forehead against her forearm as they follow May. "What kind of assignment."

May doesn't answer, no doubt still stuck in the mindset of not having to answer to her underlings.

Unsurprisingly the leader of the op is Ward. He seems to have stepped easily into Mace's shoes, which only turns Daisy's stomach. It's more than the fact that Coulson is there and the knowledge that he should be the one in charge. It's the fact that Ward, duplicitous and self-serving, has stepped up to fill in the shoes of a good man. Not that she says anything about it. It's obvious that everyone here, May included, seems to respect and be willing to follow Ward.

"There's a Hydra training facility several miles from here," Ward explains as weapons are passed out, "we want to eliminate the soldiers there and release the civilian prisoners."

Jemma only shakes her head, staring down at the gun in her hands. "We're wasting time," she says softly. "None of this matters."

Ward's eyes settle on her. "You're welcome to stay behind if this mission isn't important to you, Miss Simmons."

Jemma glares at him, sliding the gun into the hostler on her leg. Daisy can't disagree with Jemma's assessment; they aren't here to save this world, after all. But still, they go along with Ward's op, for Coulson and May's sakes.

"We have to be careful," Jemma says quietly, tapping her leg anxiously as they sit crammed together in the back of a Jeep. "We can't die here. We can't. Not for this."

Daisy puts her hand on Jemma's knee to steady her. "We won't," she says but there's no denying the flutter of nerves. "We won't."

The firefight starts pretty much the second they make it to the compound. It's almost as though the Hydra soldiers are expecting them, which maybe they are given what happened only recently at their "reeducation" center and given the fact that one of their top agents helped a prisoner escape and then joined the Resistance. Ward is an idiot but Daisy really doesn't have to time to waste on those thoughts seeing as she's too busy trying not to die in this stupid fake reality.

Daisy hurries into the building, sticking close to the walls, Jemma close behind her. She's mentally counting bullets, mentally counting soldiers and listening for the sounds of Jemma still alive and close behind her.

"This is bullshit," Daisy says through gritted teeth as she kicks open the door to the building, pointing her gun into the unseen area beyond. "I hate this world."

Jemma is beside her, gun drawn, eyes alert. "Computer programming," she mumbles in return. "We're risking our lives for computer programming."

The room they've entered doesn't appear to be heavily used. It's little more than a warehouse, full of shipping crates and containers marked with the Hydra logo. Daisy wonders if the dim lighting is a requirement for all nefariously run buildings and organizations. Just as she starts to lower her gun, the sound of movement catches her ears and she snaps alert once more. "Someone's here."

On cue, the fight starts. The three Hydra soldiers seem to appear out of nowhere, guns flashing and faces hidden by helmets. Daisy loses track of Jemma in her efforts to keep herself from getting shot by this faceless Hydra agent but she has to trust to Jemma can hold her own among these Hydra goons who definitely don't feel like pieces of code. In fact, Daisy is pretty sure she's already got plenty of new bruises to replace the ones that she lost after the Terrigenesis.

Which, you know, Daisy really wishes for her powers right about now.

The agent points the gun at her but Daisy knocks it out of his hand but before she can aim her own weapon they're both on the ground, the Hydra soldier grabbing her by a fistful of hair and slamming her face against the concrete. He tries to reach around her to grab the gun but she bucks him off, upsetting his balance and keeping him out of reach of the gun. Daisy's ears are ringing but she forces herself to her knees, reaching for the soldier once more.

This time he's ready for her. He moves so fast that Daisy isn't entirely sure what's happened until a white-hot flash of pain spreads through her chest. She screams as the agent grabs the hilt of the knife he's buried in her shoulder, pulling the blade out. He plunges the blade in again and even to Daisy's own ears the sound she makes it almost animalistic. She can feel the knife as it cuts through skin and muscle and sinew, scrapping against the bone. And it feels real, too real, horribly, terribly, painfully real.

The Hydra agent doesn't get the chance to use the knife again. A gun goes off with a crack and he drops, the knife clattering to the ground. Daisy can only stare at it and the blood shining on the blade.

Her blood. The blood that she can currently feel soaking the front of her shirt, running through her fingers, hot and sticky and real. So real.

She's well acquainted with what dying feels like.

Jemma is there beside her, whispering, talking to her, saying her name but Daisy is having a hard time following along, finding it difficult to focus on anything but the blood and the way it feels as it leaves her body. She can feel Jemma touching her but only because she assumes that what she's must be doing. Everything feels fuzzy and far away.

And then Ward is there too and Daisy can't help but stare at his face, her heart pounding painfully in her chest. She looks over at Jemma, uncertain. She wants to ask if she's dead, certain that she must be, to see Ward's face above her own.

"We need to hurry." Jemma's voice is quiet and far away and it sounds like a rock facing down the stream trying to weather it away. There's nothing there but stone and the stoic refusal to accept inevitability. "We cannot let her die. You cannot let her die."

Ward grunts as he lifts Daisy into his arms and it hurts, it all hurts, and Daisy feels far away and she can barely hear over the sound of the humming. Why is there humming? It feels like it's moving through her. "I won't."

In the back of the Jeep, Jemma doesn't leave her side, climbing into the back beside her. "I need something to bind the wound and stop the blood flow," Jemma says, looking up at Ward. "Now."

Jemma reaches up, letting her hand rest briefly on Daisy's cheek. It's easier to feel her touch, easier to see her now. Everything seems like it's coming back into focus and the humming is quieting, slipping away. "It's okay, Daisy," Jemma says softly and there's blood on her forehead. "You're going to be okay."

Daisy hisses in a breath when Jemma yanks away the fabric of her shirt, trying to get a clear view of the wound. The expression on her face makes Daisy's stomach twist itself into knots. The years have taught Jemma how to hide her feelings away, how to shut off a part of her mind until the moment is over and the lives have been saved. But this…she's wearing her shock clearly on her face. "What's wrong?" Daisy hears herself asking, surprised at the ease with which the words come. Moments ago she hadn't even been able to think in complete sentences and now…now it's easy to shift slightly, to attempt to push herself up so she can see the wound in her chest.

Jemma reaches out gently to lay her back down. "Don't move, Daisy," she says softly but her eyes are still on the injury. "I…I don't understand."

Ward appears over her shoulder, passing over what looks like a tattered towel and a bottle of water. Jemma wets the towel with water, gently cleaning away the wound. Ward curses, glaring at her. "What are you doing! Hurry!"

But even his expression turns to one of surprise as he looks at Daisy. "What…I don't…"

Daisy feels a flare of annoyance. "What's going on!" She sits up suddenly, surprised to feel only a twinge of pain. "What aren't you telling me?"

She reaches up to touch the wound, her fingers still sticky with her own blood. But…there's nothing. No ragged flesh, no new blood, no flare of pain. Nothing but the rough skin of a newly formed scar. Daisy looks at Jemma. "What happened?"

Jemma can only shake her head, pressing the damp cloth to Daisy's chest to clean away the rest of the blood. There's nothing left beneath aside from the two pink scars that crisscross her skin.

Daisy touches them almost reverently and it's odd how her eyes suddenly burn with tears. The scars look oddly familiar. "My mother."

Jemma looks at her, surprised. "Your powers?"

Daisy can only shake her head, unsure of what to say. Ward looks back and forth between the two of them, scowling. "Can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The base in the Framework gives new meaning to the term 'lack of privacy.' At least in their own reality, they had their own rooms -with doors- and a team who respected everyone's need for space and time alone, sometimes with another person. All those things are a luxury here and the best they can do is push their cots together in the corner that Jemma took as her own when Ward brought her to the base. It's hardly an ideal situation, especially given the sounds of dozens of other bodies in the room with them, but it's better than being alone. Daisy isn't sure that she could handle being without Jemma, especially now.

The room is full with the noises of sleep: the deep and steady breathing, soft -or in some cases not so soft- snoring and the murmurs of people lost in dreams. Beside her, Daisy can just barely see Jemma's features in the glow of the ever-present emergency lights. Jemma's asleep but it's clear that whatever she's thinking about is hardly pleasant, given her furrowed brow and the way that the hand tucked beneath her chin is clutched into a tight, white-knuckled fist.

Not that Daisy should be judgmental. She can't even get to sleep. There was a time where her powers terrified her, where she hated the person that she had become. When she was afraid of that person. There had been a time where she would have given anything to get rid of her abilities and become the person she'd been before. But now she only misses them, misses who her powers had made her and the way they'd connected her to the world around her. The way she feels now, how she's connected to the people sleeping all around her because of their life energies, seems like a terrible mockery, a punishment. Absently, Daisy reaches up to touch the scar on her chest, a gesture she's been doing often. She's alive because of these new abilities but that doesn't make it an easier.

Slowly, Daisy sits up, pushing aside the thin blanket. Jemma is on her left, the cots pushed together without any space between them. There's a few inches between her and the next guy and Daisy manages to slip out of bed without waking up Jemma or the stranger on her other side. Picking her way through the rest of the sleeping people is like making her way through a minefield but she manages.

The Director's office is empty. Daisy hesitates only a minute before stepping inside. In a weird way she has more right to be in here than anyone else, seeing as it's essentially Coulson's office, though she wonders why she feels like it belongs to her by some extension of him. She glances around but there's no trace of Coulson here in this other world, not in this room.

Daisy moves toward the windows, resting her hands on the sill and peering at the world outside. It's unfamiliar and unforgiving and it makes her homesick.

The door creaks closed behind her and Daisy jumps, whirling around. Her hand lifts on its own accord but predictably nothing happens. Not that there's much of a threat. Jemma looks oddly small standing in the near darkness of the office wearing more castoffs to avoid having to sleep in her clothes. Her feet are bare and Daisy finds it odd how such a little detail can make her so in love with the woman standing in front of her.

"Couldn't sleep?" Jemma asks softly and Daisy shakes her head. Jemma gives her a wry smile. "It almost makes me miss the apartment Hydra paid for."

Daisy nods, stepping away from the window and toward Jemma. "I know what you mean." Her eyes fall on Jemma's bare feet once more before lifting to meet Jemma's gaze. "I'm sorry if I woke you up."

Jemma shakes her head. "Don't be." She reaches out, resting her hand on Daisy's elbow. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Daisy shakes her head. "There's nothing to say." The thoughts rattling around in her mind suggest otherwise. "I thought if I had my powers then…I could make things easier for us. I could make a difference. I could help people, help us, get the hell out of here." She looks down at her hands, useless in this reality. "But I have nothing."

Jemma slips her hands into Daisy's, holding onto her tightly. "Don't say that," she says quietly. "Your powers don't make you who you are," she tells Daisy. "And they're not useless. You're alive because of them. They aren't useless."

Of course Daisy knows this. She's grateful for this. But it doesn't make things better. "I can't help anyone," she whispers. "These powers can't do anything but hurt."

"Don't say that," Jemma says gently.

Daisy narrows her eyes slightly. "You know what I'm talking about." She grits her teeth. "My mother. She killed all those innocent people back in China and so many others…these powers made her…the things she did…"

Jemma shakes her head. "Your mother wasn't an entirely bad person," she reminds Daisy gently. "There was goodness in her and compassion. And her powers didn't make her the way that she was; eventually she started making her own choices." She takes Daisy's face in her hands and Daisy can hear that humming again in her bones and her blood, the life humming inside of Jemma. "You're your choices too, Daisy, no matter what powers you have."

The words settle between them and Daisy wonders if Jemma is thinking the same things that she is, how the choices of the people they loved and trusted and depended on have lead them to this place where it doesn't seem like choice exists anymore at all.

Daisy kisses Jemma's forehead and wraps her arms around her, holding onto her tightly. She thinks that if she had the choice, she might still choose to be here in this moment, with Jemma in her arms, the base silent around them. In the scheme of things, it might not be much of a choice at all, an insignificant moment stolen in the middle of the night, but it matters. It always matters.

#skimmons #bioquake #framework fic #long fic #aosficnet2

[hepaidattention]

@fitzsimmons616: Could you do 39, please? Fitz to Jemma post Framework.

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@myownwoorld: Hi, can you please make one with 39, make it as angsty as you like…. I like to suffer :)

You guys happen to ask for the same one, so here it is! Because of how much angst the show has, I for some reason have a hard time writing a lot of it. But, but your request has been answered as best as I can.

39: “How can you even look at me?” 

Leopold James Fitz had never had a bad bone in his body. Jemma knew him as the man who loved monkey’s, the man who cried during sad movies, who hated horror films, and who ogled at any precious child that crossed his path.

Jemma knew Fitz as the man who sacrificed his life countless of times for any and everyone on the team, especially her. He was the man who put his own personal feelings aside and helped her save a man he knew was a threat to their relationship, without her even having to ask. He was the man who accepted the Inhumans before anyone else. The man who refused to accept Ward was evil, despite the evidence laid out in front of him.

The man that crossed the stars for her. The man who would have jumped off a plane for her. The man who drowned for her.

The man who felt bad if ever harming anyone, and if he ever had to kill someone out of self-protection he had nightmares for weeks after.

She knew him as the man she loved with all her heart, with every fiber in her being, her soul intertangled with his for all eternity.

This very man was standing right in front of her, staring at her with his normally warm, soulful eyes – now cold and empty. It was like he didn’t have any emotion left, his gun pointed to her temple, his expression never changing from anything by fury. She could see the hate in his eyes and it was crippling Jemma, slowly. He had never once looked at her with so much hatred – it was a look kept only for Ward himself, if even him.

“Fitz, it’s me. Please.”

Then, his stern expression faltered. “Who are you?” he asks so quietly she could hardly hear him.

Jemma eyed the barrel of the gun, then back at Fitz. “You know the answer to that, Fitz.”

He blinked, his heart heavy. She could see him. Her Fitz. “You say my name like…”

She smirks, just slightly, tears building up in her eyes. “Like it’s my favorite word?”

He stared her down, the gun in his hand no longer even relevant to him. His brow scrunched together and his free hand pinched the bridge of his nose. “Like I hear you say it all the time.”

“That’s because you do, Fitz.”

He looked back up at her, his gun slowly lowering to the ground. “Why can’t I shoot you?”

Jemma smiled for the first time in weeks. She pushed his gun to angle to the ground and stepped closer to him, placing her hand on the side of his face. “AIDA can program you however she likes, but Leopold Fitz would never hurt me, not in any life.”

His eyes were cloudy, but that crystal blue was shining through. “How can you look at me like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like I’m a good person. Like I deserve to be…” he trailed off, his eyes darting to the ground. The Doctor wasn’t a man without a heart, he was a man who had been forced to pretend he never had one.

“Because the Fitz I know is.”

His eyes searched hers, his eyelids pooling with tears. Emotions started overwhelming him, and a sob came out of his mouth as he said, “Jemma?”

She enveloped him into her arms, his head on her shoulder, tears running down her back. She placed a hand on the back of his neck and held him, whispering soothing words in his ear. “I’m here, Fitz, it’s me. I’m here.”

Director Mace’s funeral was today.

Jemma sat beside Fitz, their hands interlaced together. Fitz hadn’t said a word since this morning, his face showing almost no emotions – he just stared at the ground, detached from everything and everyone around him.

“Whoa, whoa, hey now,” Daisy shouted, leaving the table where they were all eating their meal. Other than Fitz, that is, he hadn’t touched his plate. With Daisy leaving, the table was empty, so Jemma took the opportunity to try to talk to him.

“Can’t believe you’re not hungry.” She gave his arm a slight shove.

For the first time in hours he muttered out, “Well, m’not.”

Jemma tweaked a brow at him. “You’re always hungry.”

Fitz just shrugged, his eyes now watching the empty seat in front of him.

“Fitz,” she whispers, giving his hand folded into hers a squeeze. “You can’t keep blaming yourself, Fitz.”

Fitz didn’t move, he was like a statue for a moment. Then, suddenly, he let loose of her hand and stood up, leaving the room without another word.

Jemma held back any tears that begged their way out and leaned back in her seat, taking in a deep breath. She knew he was processing, he was grieving, he needed time. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell though.

“He’s just trying to cope,” Coulson spoke beside her, causing Jemma to jump.

She looked at the (new) Director, swallowed down the lump in her throat, and nodded. “I know.”

“When you left for Hydra, and he realized your ‘going to see the parents’ was a cover, he didn’t eat for a good four days.” Coulson lapsed his hand over hers. “He’ll recover, just give it time.”

Jemma nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

He gave her a comforting smile, standing up from his chair. “It’s what I’m here for.”

Jemma allowed Fitz time on his own, knowing he needed it. After about an hour of never seeing him anywhere on base, she decided to search for him. She of course found him in their lab, his arms crossed across his chest, his eyes staring out at nothing. He looked so distant from everything, so lost.

“I’ve been looking for you,” she approaching his side, gently gripping his forearm. “You disappeared.”

“Yeah,” he looked up at her. His eyes were red like he’d been crying. “I needed some air.”

Jemma nodded, “It’s getting late, we should probably get some rest.”

Fitz shook his head, looking back at the ground. He hardly looked her in the eyes anymore – like he was ashamed for her to see what he was feeling. “I’m gonna stay here.”

Jemma scoffed. “Well you can’t sleep in the lab, Fitz.”

“Might as well.”

“Fitz,”

“I just … I need some space, Jemma.”

Anger boiled up inside of her. Not at Fitz, but towards AIDA and Radcliffe and even his dad. However, she couldn’t lash out at them, so she shamefully lashed out at whoever was in front of her. “We all need space, Fitz, but that doesn’t mean you have to move out, running away from me and everyone else you care about.”

“That’s not…” He let out an unsteady sigh. “M’sorry, Jemma, but I think –”

“Don’t finish that sentence.” She felt her temper running hotter and hotter. “You can’t keep blaming yourself for what happened, Fitz. The more you blame yourself, the more hurt you cause around you.”

Fitz shook his head again, his breath shallow. “How can I not? I killed Mace. I’m the reason –”

“No, Fitz,” Jemma turned his head to look at her. She looked him directly in the eyes as she said, “AIDA and Radcliffe are the ones at fault, do you understand me? You were a victim just as much as Mack or May were. You did not kill Mace, and you did not kill Agnes.”

Fitz searched her eyes, gazing at their desert beauty. He sucked in a deep breath, and while releasing he said, “How can you even look at me? It was my face that gave you all the injuries you’re still healing from. I was the one who pointed a gun at your face, who tortured…” his voice broke, and he looked back down. Her anger melted away, seeing the tears stream down his face. Jemma couldn’t stand seeing him like this. She had to fix it, but she knew she couldn’t use anything but words to try and soothe his pain.

“I can look at you because you are Leopold Fitz, the man I love with everything I have. It was never something I had to overcome.” She lifted his head again, brushing his cheek with her thumb. “I know you Fitz, and this is you. Not that LMD, not the Doctor, those men were never you and I knew that. Because no matter how much they might have looked like you, the warmth and love behind your eyes was never there, like it is now. This is the man I fell in love with – and despite your programming Fitz, you still always managed to twist whatever you were doing into what you saw as the right thing. You could never live with yourself, whatever version of you there was, to do something evil out of will. That speaks volumes, Fitz. It shows that no matter what programming, no matter what brain washing, manipulation, deception, it doesn’t matter, because you will always be Leopold James Fitz: lover of science, monkeys, positive outcomes, video games, and –”

“You.” He gave her a weak but loving smile.

“I was going to say space, but,” she gave him a teasing smile in return.

“I’m so sorry, Jemma.” This time, he didn’t look away. “For everything, I – I wanted to protect you and instead I caused you more suffering than I ever could have burdened –”

“Don’t you understand, Fitz?” She caressed his cheeks in both of her hands, wiping away his tears. “I never once blamed you.”

Fitz stood up from his seat, looking down at her beaming face. He took one of Jemma’s hands in his and cherished her smile before leaning in and sweetly kissing her on the lips. The kiss was short lived, but affectionate. Their foreheads met and meeting her eyes he said, “I love you, Jemma.”

She ran a hand through his hair, smoothing his overgrown curls. She returned the gaze, giving him a tender smile to say, “And I love you. We’re in this together, remember?”

Fitz closed his eyes, taking in everything. Then once opening them again he looked at her fully, searching her eyes, captivated by her strength and beauty. Then, he finally said out in one breath, “Together.”

Send me an ask with a number from my prompt list here!

#ask and i'll answer #fsfic #fanfic #fitzsimmons #my stories #post framework #drabbles

[agl03]

Daisy's behaviour this episode really bothered me. The whole "kill freddy to prevent hydra's foundation" thing, kind of brought back the s5 "kill one persone to save many" debate (like when yoyo killed ruby) but, while back then she was firmly against yoyo actions, she doesn't even esitate now in front of the possibility of killing someone in cold blood. Not to mention that she asked deke to do it, openly against mack's orders and everyone elses opinion. I hope this is addressed at some point

Hey Everyone!

Well.   Daisy was a pretty hot topic after the episode last night so I decided to combine them all into one mega ask response as to not totally spam your dashes more than I already do because many of these questions all pull off of each other.

I was very surprised by Daisy’s actions last night but in retrospect I shouldn’t have when you sit and really look back at her actions.  Her doing something like that in the first few eps of the season is even a given pretty much at this point.  This was a case of me wanting to see evidence for a theory start to show up and instead said theory was pretty much blown to bits.

Where she goes from here is going to come down to what Mack does, IE does he punish her for trying to completely alter the history of the world, bench one of their strongest assets.  Or does he just look the other way like Coulson did for so many years.  Even if Daisy had been Director, killing Freddie was the wrong call.  Even worse was how she tried to make it happen via an inexperienced and confused Deke.

So starting with the OG ask above.  I have struggled with Daisy’s impulsive decisions for the entire series.  It happens every season where she ignores orders, does what she wants, and even betrayed the team.  Those decisions have serious consequences for the team, some worse than others.  Season 5 was one of the worst for me, drove me bonkers with her double standards, with how she treated Fitz and Elena yet talked to Hale about recruiting and training Ruby fresh off Ruby cutting off Elena’s arms, Torturing Talbot, and going for the destroyer machine while torturing Fitzsimmons in the process.  Also had she listened to Fitz about the target in the first place they would have been there long before the Superior was stopping the loop there without losing anyone.

But its never been really formally addressed  by her superiors with the exception of Season 1 when they put that computer blocker on her wrist for Running to the Rising Tide.  Mack needs to do something about it and do something now, before it gets worse.  This was only the first test and she failed.  Disregarding everyone else and history and throwing out the butterfly effect that she saw full force in the Framework with just May’s regret did and AIDA warped it even more.  

Ideally Mack would sit her down, have it out, and pretty much put her on a time out until  he can trust and she can prove she can handle the mission again.  The issue here is with May.....questionable right now though she is in protect my team mode, and I suspect that Elena has lost her powers, Daisy is one of their biggest assets and they will need her in a fight.

Anonymous said:

Who would you see becoming director of shield if Mack dies and knowing that Daisy is clearly not ready? I would have said May but after this episode not anymore and LMD Coulson is happy being a agent and I don’t think he wants to be director again so except Simmons I don’t see anyone being ready to take over if necessary.

I agree that Daisy isn’t remotely close to being ready and I don’t know if they have the real estate to get her there in 11 episodes now.  Not with knowing some of her biggest tests are yet to come (Afterlife).  I mean if the writers really want to get her there they will but its going to take some massive leaps and even will feel unearned to me after how last night went down.

I think we could see May heal and get better as the season progresses.  She’s got a lot to process right now and needs to have Jemma properly look her over and then have it out with who she needs to have it out with over Robo Coulson.  I can see her staying on if Mack falls out of a sense of duty but it would be a band aid kind of thing, only until someone else can be found and vetted.  

I don’t see Fitzsimmons as an option, I’m pretty sure they are out either in another time or just out for their Scottage.

Elena and Deke won’t have enough experience or overall Shield knowledge to do it.

The get rid of the DIrector thing all together and start leading with some sort of Council?

Maria Hill comes in out of freaking no where.

So I’m going to throw out a very very out there option.   Enoch.  Last night he established himself with Koenig, he’s going to be with Shield now as it grows.  I’ll bet that Koenig’s bar is the one above the Playground.  And not only does he have ample knowledge of Shield history but earths history and a lot of the baddies that are lurking out there in the Universe as well.  Because he is a Chronicom he’s calm and level headed....and it would be one heck of a twist there at the end.

Getting long so under the thing.

Anonymous said:

They just completely throw Daisy character development trough the window this episode. Like if they really wanted her to become director at the end of the season they wouldn’t have done that. I feel like she is going to keep going against the other and the mission and she is going to put someone from the team in danger or something

Unpopular opinion here.  No, they didn’t throw away any development with Daisy.  She does something like that every single season.   There is a situation where she doesn’t agree with the higher ups and forges ahead with what she feels is the best coarse of action.  And yes people do get hurt.  

While we are a year removed from the Season 6 finale for the team its like hours.  Hours from she and May going against the others, trusting that Coulson was somewhere in Sarge, and took him right to where he needed to be.  Then he killed May, Elena almost died and has possibly lost her powers, and the evil Zombie Army nearly took over the world.  

Just hours after that she’s ready to totally take out Hydra and do who knows what to the timeline.  Even worse she tried to get Deke to do it by not giving him the whole story.  

I think what scares me and many others is that this was mission one and she was ready to make a tidal wave.   And next time she’s ready to screw history I want to fix this we don’t know who gets caught in the collateral damage.

Anonymous said:

It was unnerving to see Daisy almost make it happen for the Chronicoms just because of her personal issues with Malicks. After all Gideon was the one who brought Hive back and it led to death of Lincoln and Malicks were involved in helping Whitehall which destroyed her family. It was too personal and she doesn’t deal with that well. This is why Mack is the Director.

Yes, Daisy realized in Season 5 that her emotions were getting the better of her and handed it off to Mack.  However, it only works if she follows his orders now that she has.

Yes, Malick hurt Daisy a lot, no question.  But he also did a number of Fitzsimmons with the whole 4722 hours on a deserted hell planet thanks to his monolith then being kidnapped and tortured to force Fitz to take Ward over to pick up Hive, Fitz the sacrifice to him.  Because of Malick Rosalind died and set off that lovely Darth Coulson arc.  May lost Lashdrew.  The team lost Bobbi and Hunter.  So she wasn’t the only one hurt by him but she was the only one who was ready to change history about it.

Anonymous said:

This episode proves that Daisy is still not ready to become director

See Above.

Anonymous said:

Daisy is definitely going to continue to want to do whatever she/they can to stop HYDRA. She’s got a big personal stake there; and I don’t think she cares about their present all that much.

Unfortunately I do agree but its not just Hydra.  We know Afterlife is in play and there is an insanely good chance that they come across her mother there and that is on massive emotional can of worms and one of the biggest temptations to fix.   To try to tell herself that what all would it hurt if I did.......

I do think what will finally stop her is she is going to make too big of a wave and it is going to have some serious repercussions and have major fallout.  Be it we see history changed or someone dies as a result of her actions.  

#aos spoilers #prepares to dodge rotten fruit #I stand by this #no regrets

[tsaralance]

Agents of Shield: One Shot In the corner of the cell was Fitz, sitting against the wall with his back. He was unable to sleep. Since he became aware of what he had done in the frame work couldn’t he close his eyes. Whenever he did he heard Jemma scream in agony after he shot the woman Aida got designed from. Ada who had him all along under his thumb. He regretted inventing Aida with the doctor who now was dead as well. He ruined everything. How could he live with that? He felt so much guilt. “You can’t sleep?” Daisy came inside his cell. She had been looking at him through the glass for a few minutes. Something had held her back. Was it fear or was it something else she couldn’t place? “Hi Daisy.” He said looking at her from right above his knees. His knees were his barrier against the world. Against everything. “Fitz.” Daisy wanted to put her hand on his shoulder. Daisy wasn’t angry at Fitz, but of course she hadn’t seen him killing an innocent woman in cold blood. Daisy knew Fitz didn’t hurt her on purpose when she was captured by Hydra in the frame work so she believed he was still the same. Since they got back he was like he always had been. His joyful, yet serious kind self but she did struggle with what had occured.

“Let go of me.” Fitz said calmly. Daisy didn’t let go, for some reason she couldn’t. “Fitz.” Daisy said, her voice full of compassion. “Go away.” Fitz said again but now a warning tone present in his always friendly tone. “Go away!” “Fitz it is going to be alright. You just have to give Simmons the time. She saw you as someone you weren’t. I was captured and I was the only person next to her who wasn’t brainwashed like all of you. It was a big fucking mess. I believe it was hard on her, especially because Ward was there.” “Ward was there, bla bla bla, but Jemma is unable to look at me! She can’t look at me after what I did. How will I be able to live with that!” Fitz was freaking out. Different emotions rushed through him all at the same time. It was like a dangerous roller coaster ride. “Fitz you need to calm down. She just needs some rest. We all do after everything we’ve been through. We all need to recover.” Daisy said to him. “I did something horrible. I know I did since we returned to the real place, but how can Jemma forgive me? How can I forgive myself?” Fitz sat down, his hands around his head. “If you want I can give you my forgiveness, but there is no forgiveness you can get because there is nothing you can be forgiven for.” “I created Aida. I helped Holden put a monster together.” “You didn’t know Aidee” “Aida.” Fitz interrupted. Daisy looked at him with an expression with the dramatic okay face. “Aida would become that thing. You would not have build her if” Daisy got interrupted. “Daisy can I talk to Fitz for a moment.” It was Jemma. She looked exhausted as she entered the room. “Yeah.” Daisy got up and left the room, leaving the two of them alone. “Fitz you have to know I was not angry at you or disappointed. I was just tired and needed some time to clear my mind.” “But you didn’t even look at me. Explain that.” Fitz looked so small. Like a lost child. “Okay. Yes I couldn’t look at you before, but that was because I was afraid to see you being lost. Not because you killed her. Ward wanted to shoot you to get to Daisy and I convinced him not to because I was convinced you wouldn’t shoot her, but you did.” “I remember you screaming my name.” Fitz said softly, a tone of shame present in his soft voice. “Yeah I did. I at least did not make Ward shoot you.” Jemma said as she looked at him. He thought about how hard it must have been for her to see all of her loved ones brainwashed and to side with Mace and most of all with Ward. “How was it... to face him again?” Fitz asked. Jemma came to sit next to Fitz right before she continued. “It was odd. But everything was odd, I mean I was dead apparently and came back to life. Daisy even asked if I was undead because I looked undead, what is understandable when you just crawled out of a mass grave.” Jemma spoke as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Fitz just looked at her while he listened. “And to answer your question, Ward, he was nothing like the real Ward we have known. He was different, better, like redemption of some kind. He even saved Daisy and I from Hydra… from you and even after that I despised him and couldn’t open myself up to a better Ward. And now that we are back I realized that the framework made him into a better version of himself. I could have forgiven him. Because somewhere else he is a good man.” “That sounds nothing like Ward. Not after everything he had done to us.” Fitz said. Jemma just nodded in agreement. “I’m glad you are back again.” Jemma said softly. “Me too.” Fitz replied as Jemma snuggled against him.

#aos #agents of shield #fitzsimmons #aos fanfiction #daisy johnson #marvel #my fanfics #it took me ages since I wrote something again\

[amandajoyce118]

Agents of SHIELD S6E06 “Inescapable” Easter Eggs And References

In this week’s episode, Fitz and Simmons find themselves reunited, but sharing a mindspace while the Chronocoms want them to work out time travel. It leads to some unexpectedly therapeutic tracking through old memories.

As usual, there are spoilers. Again, SPOILERS if you haven’t yet watched the episode. You’ve been warned.

Spoilers.

Seriously.

Last warning.

The White Room

This is probably unintentional, and the white room they end up in is likely just meant to look like the blank slate it is, but… it made me think of another white room from Marvel Comics. Specifically, the White Hot Room. That’s the name of the Purgatory like space that the Phoenix Force inhabits pretty often. It’s also where Jean Grey recharges and accesses all of her memories when she and the Phoenix re-merge. It’s just a very striking similarity since Dark Phoenix was just in theaters (and the movie doesn’t use that comic book aspect at all).

Fitz’s Proposal

If Fitz’s proposal sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve heard it before. Last season, when he found Jemma, she couldn’t hear him, but he gave her nearly the exact same speech. (Edited to add: She also answered him the same way he answered her when she proposed last season. Nice. And she knew exactly how his speech would end, which means she must have asked him at some point last season how he proposed when she couldn’t hear him. Also, right before Fitz proposes, you’ll spot his bad hand twitching a bit, a nervous tick Iain has kept using since his season two injury. Love the character consistency.)

Alice In Wonderland

A hole appearing in the white room that Jemma escapes through and Fitz following her into her own childhood bedroom feels like a very intentional nod to going “down the rabbit holt” and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Jemma’s Room

I know I’m going to miss some things in Jemma’s room, but there is so much going on in here. Obviously, the book about her and Fitz, but there’s more. We see she’s a Jane Goodall fan because that photograph features prominently. There are stars on her ceiling, likely a nod to the times she spent studying the stars while recovering from surgery as a kid. She has so many samples on her shelves that I wish I could actually see what they all are. There’s a Winnie the Pooh which doubles as a nod to the Disney parent company and it being one of those very English animated properties (edited to add it is technically Canadian) for kids. Not to mention fellow MCU alum Hayley Atwell starred in Christopher Robin. Right next to Winnie is a Paddington Bear, which is a nice touch. Also, the butterfly painting on her wall that looks like it’s a little mixed media with butterfly pieces on the bottom? That was in Jemma’s Hydra apartment in season two. (I remember that odd detail because I used it in a fic.)

Edited to add that Jemma has a serious thing for butterflies that makes me curious. In addition to the butterfly print from season two, there are framed butterflies on shelves, and sample vials of other butterflies in her collection, and even butterflies on the tea set that she and Fitz have in the white room. I wonder if it’s because they were easy for her to study as a kid, or if she was fascinated by their transformation, or something else. Is that something else, perchance, something to do with Sarge’s Snowflake? She does like to go on about how people become beautiful butterflies after she stabs them. Is this just a weird bit of foreshadowing? Showing a connection between them? Is Snowflake another’s world’s version of Jemma? Oh, that would be weird. But food for thought.

Also edited to add: the book doesn’t just feature Fitz as the prince in the stars and Simmons as the princess looking for him. It also features Mack as a strong bear and Daisy as a quick rabbit, which are interesting choices. I’m assuming it’s them only because they’re the friends they call later in the episode. I mean, it could be that the animals are Daisy and Piper since they went to space together, but that would make Davis the monkey? lol

Cuttlefish

Okay, I’m editing this one in because it struck me, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to include it until I looked up the sea creature. So, I initially thought this was a nod to Jemma talking about fish in the pod at the bottom of the ocean in season one. And maybe it is. But, the cuttlefish is actually from the same taxonomic class as squids... like the symbol for Hydra. Nice nod either way.

Fitz’s Academy Dorm

Hey, Bonus mention of Anne Weaver! I enjoy her. The show should try to get her back for a cameo or two.

Okay, I’ll admit I was too focused on them processing the memory to focus on everything in Fitz’s room, but I did spot that massive Manchester banner. Just a reminder that’s Fitz’s team and Hunter is not a fan, as we learned last season. I might catch more on a rewatch, but feel free to tell me what I missed in both of their rooms.

Edited to add: Fitz is wearing the “same” dark blue hoodie that Jemma wears around the base in season three when she returns from Maveth. It’s not actually the same, but we’re clearly meant to think it’s the same one that fits her because it is far too small for Iain to be wearing it over two more layers of clothing. Also, even before Jemma mentions Fitz being manic, you can actually seen hand drawn monkeys on the wall like what Fitz did in the prison cell. Only a few before they start discussing his state of mind and then show Jemma looking at them on the wall. Also, the tie that Fitz wears when they meet Coulson is hanging on his coat rack.

Side note: I found it interesting, though I loathe the term, that Jemma says she friendzoned Fitz in that scene. That means that Jemma at the Academy must have had some inkling that Fitz had a crush on her. Or, this is just Jemma looking back on it with the benefit of over a decade of experience with Fitz and realizing it. Either way, it confirms that Fitz always thought she was the coolest, even while he was busy arguing with her.

Jemma Needs Therapy

I love that Jemma’s problems locked in a box are an amalgam of all her traumas. (Also, it’s funny to me that she has a little pink safe on her dresser that she could have locked her troubles away in, but instead, it’s the easy to open jewelry box.) This version of Jemma looks like a monster, but she’s wearing her shirt from Maveth and shreds of her Kree-slave attire, carrying the shiv from Maveth, has gold paint on her forehead from her time in the future. (Edited to add: she’s also covered in dirt with a hoarse voice, and I’ve noticed some people think that’s a nod to her emerging from a grave in the Framework, which is a good catch. I thought it was simply to make her look more like a monster, but it makes sense that it’s a nod to what she discovered in the Framework now that I’ve watched the episode again, and this “monster” only emerges after they’re faced with the Doctor.) She’s the embodiment of all the bad things Jemma has gone through, and Fitz is right that she’d be better off with therapy instead of keeping the English stiff upper lip.

Meeting Coulson

The scene where the two of them meet and get recruited by Coulson makes me wonder if it happened immediately before we meet them in the pilot episode. Why? Because they’re wearing their pilot episode clothes, though the hair, of course, is not exactly accurate. (Edited to add: Simmons telling Fitz, “yes, I’ve heard the stories, don’t be weird” is a nod to Coulson’s death being on record. They weren’t at a high enough clearance level to actual know he was alive.)

Edited to add: can we talk about how significant it is that Fitz “fights” the demon version of Jemma on the part of the quinjet where he first thought he was going to lose Jemma? It’s where he couldn’t get his parachute on in “FZZT” and Ward went to save her instead. I just found that location choice interesting. It’s not the bus from season one. It’s definitely an updated quinjet, probably because they don’t have the same exact set pieces anymore, but it looks strikingly similar. Demon-demon asking Fitz if his lungs or bones will go first? That’s a nod to the scene of she and Daisy torturing an alien this season when they were looking for Fitz. Clearly, though she saw the intimidation and torture as necessary, it left it’s mark on her.

Also, I didn’t mention in when I initially posted this, but I think them choosing Daisy and Mack to save them speaks more to how they view them than just what cast was available. We’ve seen Hunter literally pull Fitz out of prison, yet he chooses Mack to save him from Jemma. Why? I feel like he might trust Mack with Jemma’s trauma more than he trusts Hunter. Because Mack was there for most of it, and because Mack was there for his own recovery in season two before he became closer to Hunter. Likewise, Jemma calling Daisy and not May, or Elena? That’s because Daisy has had her back for a year in space. She’s seen Daisy literally take out an entire room of badguys while drugged up on puffies, so of course, Daisy is her first choice. Daisy has also already had the Doctor in her own head when Fitz had his psychotic break last season, so it’s a bit of symmetry there too.

Trapped In A Pod

Okay, so it’s sweet that they realize they don’t just have to rely on one another and call Daisy and Mack for backup against the dark parts of their minds. I enjoy that, as well as the symmetry of them both getting to see each other’s worst parts. What I really love here though is that this is the angrier version of the season one pod scene. The two of them run away from their troubles only to be trapped together in an enclosed space, yet again, to yell at one another about all the things they haven’t had the chance to argue about before. Watching the scene, I literally said that the only thing that would make it better would be if it was actually at the bottom of the ocean. Of course, they realized that and it filled with water. Of course. The arguing in the middle of the water, just as it did in season one, leads to their confessing their feelings. It’s a lovely, symmetrical, story of their relationship, this episode.

That Makeout

Leopold and Demon Jemma going at it while Fitz and Simmons argue? This just further proves that all that bantering in the early seasons was really foreplay, right?

That’s all I’ve got, for now. I’m sure I missed some things just because of the nature of the episode. It’s taking us on a walk through memories, some we’ve seen, so there are likely more that are harder to spot. Let me know what I missed!

#agents of shield #aos season 6 #aos spoilers #aos easter eggs #fitzsimmons

[nellie-elizabeth]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Identity and Change (4x17)

Oh boy. I love this story line so much you have no idea. There were so many moments in this episode that made me so very happy. It was a bit of an information-heavy 45 minutes, but all of that information was interesting and pushed the plot forward beautifully. Let's take a look.

Cons:

Like I said, maybe this was a tiny bit information-heavy? A lot of stuff went down, and there was a lot to keep track of. I don't necessarily think the episode felt crowded, but perhaps there could have been more to explore if the contents of this episode had been spread out over two? I often find that to be true with this show. There's a great episode, and I can't help but think it might have been truly astonishing if it were given more time to breathe.

Another nitpick: We learn that in this world, Mack's daughter Hope is alive. The scenes between them establish their relationship, so that when Mack decides to help the subversives fight against Hydra, we understand why he's doing it, and what he's risking. That's all well and good, but maybe these scenes could have been a little bit less sickly-sweet? He's calling her "Spark-plug" as a cute little nickname, and there's just so much adorableness that it actually came off as a bit distracting. Not too bad, though. The little girl playing Hope did a great job.

Pros:

Gosh, I don't even know where to start. Very briefly, the plot is that Coulson, his memories partially restored, along with Ward and Jemma meet up with Jeffrey Mace, the Patriot, who is the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. They find Radcliffe, and then Evil Fitz and Aida, who here goes by "Ophelia" show up. Jemma, horrified, sees Fitz kill Agnes, who is dead in the real world and had existed only in the Framework. Meanwhile, Daisy is tricked into betraying her true allegiances when Mack is arrested by May, and told to tell Daisy that he remembers her from the real world. Hydra has captured Daisy, and Mack decides to go and help the rebellion, despite not remembering the truth.

Yeah. Lots of stuff went down. I guess I'll just break this down by character and see how that goes.

First of all, Mack. Sure, his scenes with his daughter might have been a little too mushy, but the payoff was worth it. The moment when Daisy comes in to his cell and he seems to remember her... wow. Powerful stuff. I was so excited. I felt like doing a victory fist pump. Daisy was so relieved, and I was too. And then... he made a strange face at the name Yo-Yo, and Daisy realized the truth. I was riding right along with all of those emotions during that scene. Mack seems like pretty much the same guy he's always been, with changing circumstances leading him down another path. He's got a strong moral compass, and he always tries to do what's right. I can't wait to see where he goes from here.

Speaking of characters who are fundamentally unchanged... Coulson. You can't tell me that Coulson isn't the kind of person who'd be deep into conspiracy theories if he wasn't actually literally a part of one. There's this recurring joke throughout the episode about Coulson making his own soap, because he believes Hydra controls peoples' minds with soap. There's a lot of humor here, and a lot of really detailed acting choices by Clark Gregg. He has that giddiness and excitement whenever he learns something new about the world, as evidenced by his tone of voice when he talks about his robot hand. He's also realistically not the same bad-ass we know from the real world, as we can see when he holds and fires a gun. Clark Gregg did an excellent job of showing us that he's not familiar with holding this weapon. Even so, hints of his original self peak through, and he handles himself well in a tense situation.

Ward. Oh boy. This isn't Ward. Just as Fitz and May have been fundamentally altered by a new set of circumstances, so has Ward. Sure, we know his capacity for true evil, and I will still be sick to my stomach if they try to put Ward and Daisy together in any capacity. But here, he's a fearless rebel doing whatever he can to take down the bad guys, and he really, really loves Skye. That's so interesting to me. And Jemma's reaction to the whole thing is pretty classic. She's confused and weirded out, and not giving an inch. The moment when Ward finds out from Mack that Daisy has been taken by Hydra... he looked like his world had just ended. This version of Ward is some perfect idealization of him. The Ward that could have been if not for the way he was brought up and corrupted. In some ways, he's the Ward that we all found so boring at the start of Season One, before we learned he was a traitor. It's amazing to me that I can now find those same character traits so fascinating.

Mace. This is what I'm talking about. This is why this Framework thing is so brilliant. Here, we see a Mace who has taken over as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., just like in the real world. But he's confident and actually in charge here. Coulson isn't helping him. He's calling the shots. Mace is such a surprising character on this show. I never would have expected to find him as interesting as I do.

Daisy took a very reactionary role in this episode. She got information on where to find Radcliffe, but in the process she was taken in by May to help on a mission. Ward was forced to leave her behind. From there, she just follows along and tries not to betray anything strange about herself. This all falls apart when she thinks Mack remembers her. Of course, being the bad-ass that she is, even after May and a bunch of other Hydra agents are bearing down on her, she manages to get pretty far before being captured. She even gets an awesome elevator scene, where she takes out a bunch of people single-handed, in a beautiful homage to Captain America: The Winter Soldier (which is the best movie in all of the MCU. Fight me). Daisy gets pretty badly beaten after her capture, and as the episode ends, Evil Fitz is unmoved by her pleas for compassion. He's run a test on her, and knows she's a potential Inhuman. Things are not looking good for Daisy. This is awesome, because it adds real stakes. She's been captured by Hydra, and they're not messing around. I can't wait for the payoff here. Ward's desperation to get her back, Fitz's horror after they all get out of here, and he realizes what he's done to his dear friend... it's all going to be so delicious to watch.

May doesn't get a lot to do here. I'm waiting to understand more about her Framework self. In any case, she's still completely without mercy when it comes to her dealings with Daisy. Bringing in an innocent man and his scared innocent little girl just to trick Daisy... that's some brutal stuff, May. I'd love to see May and Coulson interact within the Framework. This world has emphasized Coulson's lovable and silly side, and emphasized May's coldness. In this world, the idea that the two of them could love each other seems frighteningly far away.

Radcliffe, like Mace, is a character I never expected to have such complicated and interesting feelings about. When Coulson, Jemma, and Ward find him, he's genuinely distressed. He doesn't want them to be imprisoned. He didn't want Aida to have taken over. Radcliffe is not exactly above reproach, here. Not by any means. And yet... he's a victim, too. A victim of his own stupidity, perhaps, but not of his own malice. He tries to get through to Fitz, telling him that they had a deep friendship, almost like father and son. He genuinely beseeches him to remember the love that Fitz and Simmons shared. And he wants to do whatever he can to protect poor Agnes. He's a bit of a coward, and he lets the power and possibility of science go to his head. But he really does love Agnes, and he really does care about Fitz. Fascinating!

Aida, or shall I call her Ophelia, is just brutal. Lady Hydra, they call her, and I can tell why. She has a tight grip on this world she's created, and any threat to it infuriates her. Maybe the very best scene in the episode is when Aida confronts Radcliffe about how he treated her in the real world. She talks about how demeaning it is to be used, and treated like a thing. All of those little moments, those hesitations and ticks we saw all season, as Aida learned more and more about her own personality, are finally able to come out. She knows the power and complexity of the world she's created. She knows what she has to do to keep control of that. There's something so frightening about an AI who not only turns against her creator, but actively hates him.

Fitz. Oh, God. Fitz. If this universe shows us a Ward who is changed into a good person through idealized circumstances, here we have a Fitz who has become a hardened mad scientists through the reality of his own world. In some ways, Fitz is still the biggest question mark in the Framework. We don't know exactly what went on in his past to make him this way. At first, I wondered if he was going to have a past with Jemma, and then Jemma died inside the Framework and he blamed S.H.I.E.L.D. and became Hydra. But they went another way. Fitz doesn't remember Jemma. He doesn't remember anything from the outside. But there's one important difference between Fitz and all of our other characters trapped in here: he knows. Ophelia, as Aida calls herself, has told him everything. I mean, sure, a highly edited and skewed version of everything, but still. He knows that there's an alternate reality. He even knows that he and Aida existed over there. He can't remember anything, so his entire perception of the real world is based on what Ophelia tells him.

And this is the best thing ever. Ophelia and Fitz's romance makes me sick to my stomach, but it's so clearly supposed to. Whatever resolution they have planned, I'm so excited for it. You've got Fitz telling Ophelia "I'd cross the universe for you," and then later Radcliffe tells Fitz about his love for Jemma, and says "he crossed the bloody universe to rescue her." According to Radcliffe, Fitz and Jemma were "in love. Unbreakable." This entire Framework narrative is centered around the Fitzsimmons relationship, bringing their journey as a couple into the forefront in a way that we haven't seen yet in all the years of this show. Fitz, even though he doesn't recognize Jemma, and has no problem in leading a team to eliminate her, seems drawn to her. He sees her across a crowd of chaos, their eyes meet... and it doesn't change anything, but Fitz seems perturbed. It's enough of a hint there to make us think that somewhere deep inside, the real Fitz is reacting against all of this.

Of course, Fitz killed an innocent woman in cold blood, after Jemma promised Ward that he'd never do anything like that. That was hard to watch. I think we're still missing some pieces as to why Fitz is like this, but in other ways it makes a lot of sense. His devotion to Opehlia is a sick and twisted version of his devotion to Jemma. Leo Fitz loves fiercely, and his loyalty is not to be questioned. That applies here as well as in the other world, but in the Framework it's twisted to a frightening degree.

Jemma. My darling Jemma. Just like last week, she had a really rough go of it here. What with Daisy running around evading capture within Hydra, Jemma felt very alone. Coulson is sort of the real Coulson, but Mace, Ward, and most troubling of all, Fitz, are not the people she knows. Like I already mentioned, I cannot wait for the epic reunion stuff with Fitzsimmons. But at the same time, Fitz has done some pretty unforgivable stuff already, and he doesn't appear to be snapping out of it. Jemma's anguished yell of grief when Fitz killed Agnes was really hard to hear. I anticipate this might be a difficult thing for them to move past. I can't wait to watch the angst.

That's all I've got. And it's a lot. I have feelings. I don't want this show to end this year... I'm hoping they can eek out one more season, because there are still stories I want to hear with these characters.

9/10

#review #agents of shield #agents of shield review #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. review #aos #marvel

[shineyma]

Brett. Is. Back. As. Ward. Amy, I am so stoked. I missed him so much. I came online to download the show because I live timezones away in what qualifies as Narnia, and I saw a "AOS Core Cast Member Returns" headline and died. Heart attack. Started wheezing Vader-style and thinking, "Brett. Ward. Brett. Ward." But then I thought of Trip and Lincoln and Robbie, but *core* isn't really something they were. Mack's the only new true core we've had. Then I saw Aida building that new body for (1/2)

Ivanov and I was disappointed because I just really miss Brett as Ward, regardless of what version of the character we get. I didn't want Ivanov in Ward's body or whatever. But then we saw Ivanov in his own mechanical replica and my mind was eased. Also, what a good Jemma and Daisy and Jemma x Daisy episode. How. Absolutely. Delightful. But onto the Framework subject. I want your thoughts. I *need* your thoughts. Because I have a lot and they're all jumbled up. (2/2)

I KNOW, RIGHT?? I’m SO EXCITED for Brett to be back! Especially as I’m clinging to hope that, after fifteen episodes without him, the writers have seen the error of their ways and will want to bring him back permanently. With any luck there’ll be an LMD Ward running around next season---since, assuming the writers stay true to form, this framework stuff will be wrapped up in the finale. 

So, hopes: 1) Daisy or Jemma or hell, Aida, falls in love with framework!Ward and can’t bear to leave him in there to be destroyed, so they build him an LMD body and let him download out of the framework.

OR

2) the REAL Grant is somehow alive and it’s not a framework~ version of him Daisy’s dating, it’s the real him. Aida plugged him into the framework and his one regret she fixed was him choosing Garrett over Skye---hence their relationship. So when Jemma, Daisy, and the Redshirts Three track the others, they’ll find Grant hooked in like all the rest. And then one of the Redshirts will let him out because they don’t know any better.

I know those are both long shots, but a girl can dream, can’t she? I have MISSED HIS FACE and I want him to stay FOREVER.

As for the framework itself, JD and I have already agreed that framework!fic should be the new rock!fic. There are SO MANY possibilities and we want to explore them ALL. (If nothing else: AU where Daisy and Jemma are switched and it’s JEMMA walking into a bedroom she shares with Ward. Because I am a #terrible and predictable raccoon.)

For me, the biggest concern is framework Jemma being dead. Immediately after the episode aired I was full of terror that REAL Jemma might die as a consequence---if you die in the framework, you die in real life, but what happens if you plug into the framework when you’re dead there????? I was TERRIFIED.

However, I’ve since calmed down because HOPEFULLY the show wouldn’t just kill her off without drama. Now I can only hope that she just appears in some random spot and doesn’t, say, appear in her coffin and have to dig herself out of it. Because she has been traumatized ENOUGH already and does not need that.

In other news, the date on her headstone is November 5---aka, the day FZZT aired, so there’s the possibility that this Jemma died then. OR, as JD pointed out, it might be a red herring, as the year is, after all, covered. Either way, I dread this being turned into an fs Thing where he’s reassured of his importance~ because look, she died because he wasn’t there to save her!

Speaking of which, there had BETTER be some kind of consequence for the (beautiful, amazing) fight scene between Jemma and the Fitzbot. Our bb got stabbed, hit, tied up, and choked by her boyfriend and then had to kill him via repeated stabbing and throat slashing. In any reasonable show, there’s no WAY she’d walk away from that without SOME kind of trauma. So fingers crossed the writers realize/acknowledge that and let Jemma DEAL with it instead of sticking her and Fitz back in their little “our relationship is modeled after the writers’ so obviously we need to be deliriously happy together despite these terrible circumstances” bubble.

Anyway! Sorry for all the rambling, nonnie; I, too, have a lot of thoughts.

#amy communicates #anonymous #my nonnies are the best nonnies #/ #// #aos spoilers