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Chapter Text

Fitz was woken suddenly at five am when the Bus banked alarming hard to the left, the move was so sudden that he nearly rolled out of his bunk and onto the floor. Cursing, he scrambled to his feet, grabbed his trainers and barged into the Bus’s corridor. He stumbled into the corridor as the Bus corrected its turn and levelled out again, at the same time Simmons had left her room, although unlike him she was wearing a cardigan against the chill something he’d wished he’d thought of. As the Bus banked again she gripped his forearm to steady herself as he braced against the wall.

“What the bloody hell is May playing at?” he asked her “It’s five in the morning”

She patted his chest calmingly “It must be something important Fitz, maybe we’ve been recalled back to base for some reason.” She replied. Simmons was wearing her lavender pyjamas he liked that colour on her and she hadn’t brushed her hair.

Skye and Ward had joined them in the corridor; unlike them Ward was fully dressed in black combat gear and was full alert like a sleepy action man while Skye was dressed sloppily in a huge shirt and tiny shorts, she looked blearily at them clearly she was even less of a morning person than he was “Wuzz going on?” Skye asked sleepily.

“We’re changed direction” Ward answered promptly, obviously trying to teach his student “Probably been recalled for some reason”

That perked Skye’s interest up.

“We could have guessed that Ward” he snapped waspishly, he was never in a very good mood before he’d eaten in the morning especially when he’d been yanked from his sleep by falling out of bed. Simmons rubbed his shoulder again and apologised to Ward on his behalf.

“He’s never good in a good mood when he’s woken suddenly” As she well knew from bursting into his room in the middle of the night with some new plan or design for them to try, he’d always had the respect for her to wait until she was awake and dressed before going into her room.

Before they could argue any more Agent Coulson joined them in the corridor, he felt a little embarrassed that their boss had seen them in their pyjamas. Unlike them He was full dressed in a suit and tie and his face was grim. “Oh good you’re all up.” Coulson paused to order his thoughts “I’ve just spoken with Agent Hand at the Sandbox, they have had an incident there”

Simmons gripped his wrist tightly, they both had good friends working at the Sandbox and he was as worried about them as she was. Coulson must have seen the concern on their faces.

“No one was hurt, but an intruder was found inside a secure area of the Sandbox, when security confronted him, he became agitated and incoherent when confronted and had to be stunned by the agents there. They’re transferring him to the Fridge for questioning, we’ve been asked to lead the investigation.”

“Us Sir” Ward asked “Surely the interrogation teams would be more effective than us?”

 “Yes they probably are but someone managed to get inside the Sandbox without anyone noticing” Coulson looked directly at him and Simmons “We all know that’s is nearly impossible”

He was right there the Sandbox was one of the most secure of the SHIELD bases.

“Also apparently there is some confusion over who this man is so we’re been ordered to the Fridge to assist with the investigation. We’ll be given more information when we arrive in around an hour.” With that he strode off back towards the Cockpit “So get ready”

He met Simmons eyes and he knew they were both thinking the same thing.

“Here we go again.”

*

After about twelve pieces of toast and three cups of tea he was fully dressed, awake and installed in the Bus’s conference room next to Simmons when the bus landed. They’d spent breakfast obsessively discussing how someone could have broken in to the Sandbox while Ward had explained to a confused Skye about the Sandbox, the Fridge and how it was insanely difficult to break into any SHIELD facilities. She had immediately started to wonder why SHIELD kept giving their facilities “cutesy” names, which they had to explain that that was the point.

 You don’t go round labelling secret bases as secret bases.

He couldn’t help but feel the tension build up inside him. Although he was happy to be in a place that had a definite decrease in the likelihood of getting them all killed, even though this was still SHIELD and they did still have a chance of being horrifically killed on base he reminded himself wryly. However being dragged into a meeting on a Level 8 meeting with some seriously classified intel that Skye had tried to hack with no success made him nervous. He could tell Simmons was equally disquieted by this someone had gotten into the Sandbox where SHIELD kept and worked on various and very dangerous stuff. Unlike him she was trying to look on the bright side of things and Simmons voice soothed his frayed nerves as she told Skye all about the state of the arc systems that the Sandbox had to offer.

Skye bounced happily at Ward’s side clearly excited to be visiting her first proper SHIELD facility “Yeah but seriously guys all those suppression systems are just overkill. They’ve never had to use them, right?”

“No, the Sandbox is quite safe; all the systems are in place to prevent… um… accidents from happening.” Ward butted into their conversation and pushed a decidedly crestfallen Skye in front of him to the check point. He and Simmons exchanged a glance and as one decided that it was better not to mention to the new, not quite trusted, hacker about the numerous and dangerous breaches occurring in the storage areas of the 084s or the various act of mad science that was the reason the Sandbox had so many state of the arc safety systems in the first place.

The automatic door hissed open and they all stood as Agent Coulson and May walked in with Agent Hand, they were followed in by a number of lower level agents carrying in a small mountain of files and a box full of evidence after placing it on the Buses conference table the other agents left

It must be bad it Hand was involved, after greeting her, they tried to make themselves look inconspicuous.

“Thank you for coming” Agent Hand was direct as always “We’re not really sure how to explain this”

Coulson smile his polite smile “Well let’s see if we can sort this out”

 “Earlier today The Sandbox’s sensors picked up a massive unknown energy reading” Clearly Agent Hand just jumps straight into her briefings and doesn’t provide tea or biscuits. “Of course the 084 protocol was activated and a team was sent out to investigate.” She held her hand up placating to Coulson “Coulson, this team was only sent out because yours was finishing up your last mission and couldn’t be disturbed. When they arrived on the location of the energy reading initially they couldn’t find anything, but as they searched the area they located a man”

She definitely looked at him when she said that but he barely noticed turning over all the possibilities with his mind. Could the man have created such a device that produced enough energy to be picked up by sensors or was the man as Simmons suspected a powered individual. He could see Skye fizz with excitement.

“He became very agitated and upset” Hand continued “He had to be sedated after he attacked and injured several members of the squad, saying he had to find them. Who he has to find we’re not sure on as he has said very little since he woke up and what he has said has made very little sense”

“With respect Ma’am” Ward asked politely “Surely the Interrogation or Psych teams would be better at getting information out of the prisoner than us, we’re a mobile team for 084s”

She nodded in agreement with Ward “Yes Agent Ward, however the problem is of whom this man claims to be and if he is who he claims to be what implications that he has on the world.”

Coulson leaned forward deeply intrigued now “And who does this man claim to be?”

 Hand clearly was harbouring a flair for dramatics when she said this she tapped her tablet to bring up the prisoners mug shot and when he saw the man’s face he felt all of the air leave his lungs in shock. Numbly, like he was underwater he heard the other members of the team react in the same shocked manner. Simmons fingers clutched tightly into his wrist he could feel the points of pressure as the crescents of her nails dug in and dimly he knew she was leaving little half moon marks on his arm. Strangely though he was glad of the pain as it was something physical, tangible and quantifiable that anchored him to reality.

“He claims to be Agent Leopold Fitz” She hesitated clearly considering her next words “And he says he’s from the future”

Stunned he sat there quietly as May, Ward, Skye, Simmons and Coulson simultaneously explode into questions.

*

His face, it’s his face; he’s looking at his own face.

It’s not possible, not probable. He doesn’t understand.

Something is wrong with the data in his brain, with the data in the universe.

That can’t be him; time is linear moving forward with an unalterable, unchanging, unstoppable series of moments through space. To go back goes against all the physics he’s ever known and he almost doesn’t want to see the truth in front of his eyes and stay in that safe known reality before Agent Hand showed them that photo, Hell even before he was cruelly wrenched from his sleep this morning. But he’s a scientist and a scientist believes in proof and the proof is right in front of him the man in the photo that Agent Hand is showing them has his face.

Well it’s not quite his face but the man in the photo taken in interrogation is definitely him if he had aged a few years, a little more worn and with more obvious worry on his forehead and laughter lines around his eyes. The shape of his head is intensely familiar from seeing his reflection in a mirror his whole life, he even holds it at the same angle he does, although Other Fitz’s skin is paler and less freckled. Other Fitz’s jaw is mostly obscured with a five o’clock shadow which isn’t like him he hates the itch of a beard and shaves as often as he needs to. His hair is shorter too, gone are his curls that Simmons says make him look boyish and the loss of them changes the shape of his face, making him look older and more masculine. This Fitz doesn’t dress like he does, he’s wearing a blue dress shirt and dark slack which combined with his altered hair make him look almost severe.

It’s the man’s eyes that disturb him the most, they’re the same shade of blue he has, the same shape. But like almost everything else they’ve changed slightly, those blue eyes, his eyes, are frighteningly intense and burning with emotions. He’s always tried his best to hid his emotions under a cheery mask, but this man glares back at the camera with grim determination. He didn’t know his face could make that expression.

The blood is rushing in his ears drowning out most all other sound and he feels Simmons’s hand run gently up and down his spine trying to comfort him. He’s able finally to drag his eyes away from the picture and look to meet her eyes. She looked almost as distress as he felt and he squeezed her hand that not stroking his back to comfort her. Gradually he was able to focus on the rest of the team in the room and from a far away he can hear Agent Hand continuing on with the briefing.

“We’ve tested his genetics and fingerprints against Agent Fitz’s profile we have on record” She slide the results across to Simmons who examined it with shaking hands.

“And the two profiles match” one look at Simmons confirms to him that this statement is true.

“Fitzsimmons” Coulson’s voice is what breaks through the fog of shock he’s been lost under. “Is this even possible?”

“No” Even to his ears he sounds strangely flat and hard “The future is set, time is linear you can’t you just…” His voice trails off with as his disbelief overwhelms his vocal cords. This can’t be happening…. it just…. can’t be.

Luckily Simmons takes over the explanation for him, her own voice shaking. But the profiles match and DNA only rarely lies, it could be a clone or an evil twin brother, those theories as likely as anything else.  He retreats back inside his underwater bubble of shock and distantly he follows the flow of conversation although who says what he isn’t sure.

“What has he said so far?”

“He’s asked where the rest of his team is and what year this is. Once he was told that he asked to speak to Agent Coulson which is when the decision was made to call your team in. I was wondering if Agents Fitz and Simmons could look through the items we took off him and see if there is anything that can prove it?” Hand gestures at the box and Simmons reaches for evidence box to open it and hesitates, she knows him too well that he doesn’t like anyone touching his things. Carefully he gets up and takes the lid of the box for her.

Nothing in the box is instantly recognisable but as he and Simmons carefully examines the distressingly few items in the box, gently trailing his fingers over them; a few items do jump out at him as familiar:

A folded jacked that matches Other Fitz’s slacks, clearly his future self has gotten lessons in how to dress for success.

A SHIELD ID badge, its leather worn comfortably on the folds and the metal on the badge a little more dented than the one he has in his pocket now. But the name and id number branded into it are his, he had to memorise those numbers when they graduated the academy and they are as familiar to him as his date of birth.

The watch that Simmons gave him for his twenty first birthday, it’s been damaged, its glass face has been scratched a few times, the strap replaced and it looks like its been water damaged. But it still ticks smoothly keeping the time exactly right which means that despite the damage and general wear and tear someone has lovingly maintained and repaired it.

An unfamiliar wallet which contains a variety of different currency in it from all over the world, it can’t be his because it doesn’t have his Manchester United fan club card in it.

A gun, he’s never shot a gun in his life and this one has a handprint sensitive handle that he has to admit is clever. It activate when he picks it up though and shuts down when he hurriedly passes it to Agent May.

The photo that he and Simmons took outside that temple a few months ago only it’s faded with torn edges and creases where it’s been folded and unfolded many times.  Probably keep in the jackets inside pocket along with his wallet and ID badge that’s where he’d keeps his valuables when he wears a jacket.

 Simmons hands the phone directly over to Skye who instantly loses her lost expression and dives into trying to break into the phone with unnerving laser focus. Ward starts examining the handgun while Coulson, May and Hand all continued to discuss how future Fitz may have gotten into the secure area.

When they’ve finished examining the box the conversation turns to how they are going to proceed with the interrogation of the Other Fitz. In the end it’s decided that Coulson and Ward will interview him and if he proves difficult they’ll send May in. He and Simmons will observe and offer their options and tips to Ward and Coulson. Skye will be in the room with them and continue trying to break the encryption on his phone.

“There’s just one last thing” Agent Hand reached into her inside pocket and drew out a clear plastic zip lock bag, in it was a single plain gold ring. “He’s asked for his wedding ring back.”

Why the hell does Other Fitz have a ring?

It’s almost enough for him to start considering the imposter theory again. He’s barely had a girlfriend let alone started to think about a long term relationship and a commitment with a woman, in fact the only person he could picture spending his life with was….he quashed that thought quickly and stopped himself from glancing in Simmons’s direction.

Ward tilted his head quizzically and asks “Why would he want that?” He looks at himself and Simmons “Could it be concealing something?”

Agent Hand shook her head “Our labs have already done a careful analysis of everything taken from him there is nothing out of the ordinary although the hand gun is of a similar technology to the weapon Fitzsimmons have been developing. Do you recognise it Agent Fitz?”

Relieved to be focusing on something tangible he takes it gently from Agent Hand and examines it closely, Ward is right jewellery has long been used to disguise spy gear but as he examines the gleaming gold surface, rolling it around in his fingers he can’t see anything obvious and the scanners are sophisticated enough to have picked up any abnormalities. It’s a nice ring whoever picked it out had good taste.

“No I don’t” It’s not his Dads; his dad sold the ring that’s been passed down from father to son for drinking money.

A shrewd look creeps over Wards face, it makes him look quite sinister “Then the question is do we give it back to him”

Coulson takes the ring from his numb fingers and for some reason he’s reluctant to be parted from it, its proof that some woman liked him enough to marry him and that feeling makes him understand why Other Fitz would want to have his ring back.

“Prisoners have a right to wear their wedding ring Ward” Coulson admonishes him gently “But we could make it a goodwill offering to start building some trust between us and him.”

As everyone gets ready to leave the room and head down to the observation room he grabs Simmons hand. “Are you ok?” She asked him quietly and he distracts himself from the situation by running his hands gently up and down her forearms.

“No, it’s not every day you meet someone claiming to be you, but this is SHIELD” He tries to make it a joke but it falls flat.

She wraps her arms around him and pulls him into a hug and he pressed his face into the smooth skin of the crook of her neck relived that she’s there and let the comfort of her presence wash over him “It’ll be alright Fitz, we’ll sort this all out. Don’t worry.” She’s always so optimistic, although that’s a good thing; one of them needs to be the voice of hope between the two of them.

He has a horrible feeling that she’s wrong though.

The door clicks shut softly behind them and they follow the rest of the team down into the depths of the Fridge.

Chapter Text

The observation room is softly lit and about eight by twelve feet and stuffed with enough recording equipment to eavesdrop on a small country like Gibraltar or maybe Wales. Squeezed in between the towering recording devices is a table which some kind agent has arranged four chairs and four head sets. May gestures for him and Simmons to sit on two chairs in the centre where their view is unblocked while she and Skye arrange themselves on either end facing the one way glass. Skye has set up her laptop with Other Fitz’s phone attached, her eyes moving back and forth across the screen as she fights her way through the encryption. May was sat poised on her chair at her end of the table, which is angled slightly to get the best sight into the room she could. Her face was unreadable but he could feel her coiling tension, it was reassuring that the Cavalry was ready for anything.

The room feels even more cramped as Coulson, Hand and Ward have also slipped into the room to take their first good long look at Other Fitz. Probably learning a lot about Other Fitz just from observing him without his knowledge.

With a deep breath he looked through the one way glass into the interrogation room. The interrogation room is a lot like how he’d imagined on to be like based on the American crime shows his Mum had watched religiously while he was growing up. He didn’t know whether to be surprised or disappointed, either SHIELD was part of a long running tv cliché or they were sticking with a tried and tested method of breaking people.

The headset is fiddly to put on and he wants to track down the person who designed them and give them a lecture about designing for practicality.

He’s stalling and he knows it, the others already have their headsets on. He’s looking around at the room rather than at the room’s only occupant, focusing on the minor faults when he really should be look at the main problem. Frustrated at his tentativeness he gives himself a firm command to get a grip even then it takes a while to build up the nerve to focus on the Other Fitz.

It’s like seeing the mug shot again, the world tilts sickeningly and the blood starts to rush through his ears again. This time however he’s more prepared and forces himself to ignore the shock and focus on the man on the other side of the glass.

Other Fitz is sitting facing them and Fitz can’t help but marvel at him, seeing the picture was one thing but to actually see another version of himself across from him is amazing. Up close Other Fitz looks even more like him and it take a minute for him to pinpoint why he thinks this way before it clicks, their body language is identical, he can read him more clearly than anyone he’s ever meet, even Simmons, because he knows in his head what those little gestures mean. Other Fitz was kneading his eyes with the heels of his hands, elbows resting on the table something that he Fitz does when he’d tired and stressed. And he can’t stop the empathy for him welling up, poor Other Fitz has had a really hard night.

“Headphones” May’s quiet order makes him and Skye jump wrenching them both back into the real world and they both fumble with their headsets.

Simmons, headset already on is leaning forward, hazel eyes intense and bright with interest, “He’s saying something. Can you turn it up a little Skye?”

She right, Other Fitz’s lips are moving and Skye with a cheery smile adjusts the volume of the microphone closest to Other Fitz and his voice with its broad Scottish accent fills the observation room.

It’s strange, like hearing a recording of his voice and make him wonder does he really sound like that? His accent is a lot heavier than he thought it was. Other Fitz sounded like he was having an round about conversation or argument, possibly with more than one person, although there is no one else in the room with him.

“Shut up, please I’m trying to think” Other Fitz pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration and then flinches slightly “Yes, Yes I know” His left hand creeps up to rub his right shoulder with his thumb.

Then his other hand creeps up to the top of his head where the hair is longer brushing it over more towards the right and then cringes away from something, fear, doubt and self loathing deepening the lines on his forehead. Suddenly Other Fitz’s eyes focus on something and his feature warp with rage and he suddenly lashes out swiping at the air, sending the chair spinning. “I don’t need your help, I don’t need anything from you” the disgust in his voice makes his accent even stronger.

His hands clutch at his forehead tugging at his hair and then startling them all even May and Hand, Other Fitz bellows “NEITHER OF YOU ARE HELPING!” his eyes are scrunched tight and his teeth are bared, breathing fast and erratically. He remembers doing something similar when he was younger, to drown out his parents arguing.

He scared of himself, they all are.

“What’s wrong with him?” Distressed he looks round wildly at the others but they don’t have the answers for him.

With deliberate slowness Other Fitz picks up the chair which has slammed into the wall and rights it. Fitz can see his chest rise and fall under his blue shirt and he can almost hear what Simmons whispers to him when he’s upset going though his doppelgangers mind. “Calm down Fitz, Calm down, breathe. You’ll hurt yourself, shhhhh its aright, its ok” With exaggerated calmness Other Fitz sits back down on his chair and rests his forearms on the table. That left hand creeps up to his shoulder again and the thumb moves soothingly back and forth and the small smile softens his face but those blue eyes are distant and distracted “I know, I’m sorry”

Behind them Hand murmured “Maybe I should have had the pysch team take a look at him first”

“We can always have the pysch team examine him after our preliminary interview” Coulson placates her “Right now we need to know how he broke into the Sandbox, if the rest of his team whoever they are, are in the wind they may be trying to complete their mission, we need answers in case they need to be stopped”

With that Coulson strides out of the room with Ward following along in his wake and Fitz is left to wonder if all senior agents have flair for the dramatics or if it’s just Coulson and Hand.

*

As soon as the door to the interrogation room opens Other Fitz’s jerks his head up to look at them, his eyes squinting a little at the light. Ward enters the room first with a deliberately intimidating expression, so he’s playing bad cop.

“Good Morning…” Other Fitz is immediately up on his feet looking alarmed, knocking his chair over again, and skittering away from Ward. His hand migrating down to his hip where he must have usually kept his holster, Fitz has seen experienced field agents make the same kind of movement before; his doppelganger is balanced on the balls of his feet like a cat about to pounce.

Ward appears to be a little bewildered with his doppelgangers extreme reaction to him but Ward smiles a little to reassure him and gamely completes his sentence. “…I’m Agent Ward.”

For several heartbeats Other Fitz is frozen in place, his expression unreadable then without warning he explodes across the room, shoving the table aside, grabbing Ward by his shirt lapels and pinning him up against the glass. The attack is so quick and violent, so unlike him that everyone is shocked by it. The attack must have surprised Ward too because he can’t appear to pry himself free from Other Fitz’s grip.

“You” Other Fitz snarled his voice full of venom and he slams Ward into the glass again the thump made them all jump and the glass rattle, Other Fitz apparently has been working out because he doesn’t think that he could currently do that to Ward.

Luckily for Ward Coulson took action before he was strangled. He grabbed Other Fitz by his shoulders and bodily pulled him away from Ward then gave him a little push that sent him stumbling. Cursing, his doppelganger whirled around and then stopped dead after seeing Coulson, his angry expression melting away.

“S-ss-sir?” He sounded so tentative, so hopeful. “Is that really you?” He reached out and tapped Coulson’s shoulder like he was making sure that Coulson wasn’t a hallucination, his shaking hand meeting the solid flesh of Coulson’s shoulder and he brushed a tear away from his eye with his other hand.

Then he lunged again, this time at Coulson, May was up in an instant ready to go into the room and pry Other Fitz of their boss. But it wasn’t necessary Other Fitz wasn’t attacking Coulson, he was embracing him, shoulders shaking with suppressed sobs.

“I never thought I’d see you again Sir” Coulson looks worriedly at them through the glass and he awkwardly pats Other Fitz on the back. 

“Its alright… Fitz” Coulson hesitates over calling Other Fitz that “lets just calm things down and get to the bottom of everything.”

“I don’t know if I can.” It’s ambiguous if he means if he can calm down or explain things. He steps away from Coulson wiping his eyes again. “What it I tell you something and it messes everything up? I need everything to go exactly as it happens because at least then I know that everything will turn out like it does in my future?”

All this time travel theory is really starting to hurt his brain.

Coulson sets the table square in the room again while Other Fitz picks up the chair he sent flying, Ward is wheezing and massaging his throat. Coulson catches the murderous expression on Other Fitz’s face and held his hands out the universal expression of calm down. “Why don’t we just all sit down and talk and if you feel that answering a question might upset the timeline you don’t have to answer it. Maybe we can help you?” Coulson makes it sound very reasonable and Other Fitz can’t seem to argue with that and with a heavy sigh he sits down. He jerks his head rudely at a recovering Ward and in a contempt full tone say “I don’t want him in here.”

His fingers tremble a little as he adjusts his headset that went a little skewif when his doppelganger attacked Ward, a psychological response to his own shock and confusion. Why does Other Fitz hate Ward so much? He thinks, Ok Ward’s a stereotypical member of operations but he’s a good guy that’s always had the teams back. 

Still wheezing Ward reaches into his pocket and Other Fitz tenses, following his every movement. Very slowly Ward pulls the little zip lock bag containing Other Fitz’s ring. Other Fitz’s eyes instantly lock onto the ring, full of heartbreak, following the bags movement like a cat after a lazer pointer.

“Here’s the deal Fitz” Ward’s voice is commanding if a little hoarse “I’ll give this back to you if you let me stay in and answer all of Agent Coulson’s question if not I’ll destroy it”

He’s a tad taken back at how casually Ward can threaten Other Fitz so nonchalantly, especially when it’s clear that he’s desperate for his ring back. He can understand Other Fitz’s outraged expression at being manipulated so callously. He just wants Ward to give him his ring back. He’s being needlessly cruel.

Coulson glances sideways at Ward evidently surprised at Ward taking such an aggressive line of interrogation.

After Other Fitz doesn’t respond to him, just staring at the little bag like he could pull it to him by willpower alone, Ward stands up slowly and moves as if he’s going to leave the room.

“Stop” the word is torn from Other Fitz and he looks like he’s in pain. “Please just give it back”

Ward pauses and wiggles the bag back and forth in a teasing manner “And you’ll tell us what we want to know.” It’s a little over the top performance.

“I won’t tell you or anyone things about the timeline that might change things” Other Fitz glares threateningly at Ward “But there are a few things I know about you Ward that I can share with the group if you’d like me too”

It’s fascinating to watch the two take measure of each other, watching to see if who would blink first.  And to his surprise it’s Ward. Ward sits back down at the table next to Coulson and slides the bagged ring to the middle of the table. With shaking hands Other Fitz snatches it up quickly and tenderly frees the ring from it bag. Lifting it to eye level he examines the ring carefully checking to see if the smooth metal has been damaged in any way and began to clean it with the bottom of his shirt. Again he recognises what Other Fitz is doing, it’s an impulsive thing he does whenever someone returns things to him because people never take as good a care of his things. Especially with Simmons who has a bad habit of leaving their pristine lab in a bit of a state.

After a while and careful examination Other Fitz slid his ring onto his ring finger with a little sigh. He did look more relaxed. Coulson took this as a point to get started.

In the observation room they all leaned forward in anticipation.

“What’s your name?”

The answer came back promptly “Leopold James Fitz”

Skye leaned over Jemma and whispered to him “Your first name it Leopold?” she sounds almost gleeful at that niblet of information and he can feel himself flush with embarrassment and old resentment. Only his Dad ever called him that and it being spoken aloud made him think of his old man.

“Don’t call me that.”He whispers sharply back at her and Simmons pats him distractedly then he realises that Other Fitz has said the same thing at the same time and in the same tone answering to Coulson calling him by his first name.

“Leopold is His name” Other Fitz sounds like he’s naming something although who or what it is Fitz can’t tell “And he’s a monster”

That does not sound good.

Coulson looks very frustrated “Then what should we call you then, there are two of you and we can’t keep on calling you both Fitz.” He’s right if Other Fitz really is his future self and if he’s going be sticking around then having two Fitz’s running around is going to get confusing, he just desperately doesn’t want to be called Leopold.

Other Fitz looks like he feels the same way. “Well” he says slowly “You’re Fitz was here first so you can keep on calling him Fitz” He feels very great full toward Other Fitz for letting him keep the name he/they prefer. Other Fitz grumpily considered the problem for a moment “You can call me Leo” He doesn’t like it but it’s an acceptable compromise. 

“How old are you?” This time it’s Ward that asks.

“In what timeline? In one I was technically 104” Now Leo’s just lashing out with sarcasm, something he has always done, if you’re a lot shorter, skinnier and lack much sort of athletic ability being sarcastic is a good way to get back at someone, he’s learned that the hard way.

Coulson sighed tiredly “Just answer the question please”

Leo looks equally tired “I’m thirty one” That means that there only five years between them, empathy for Leo wells up inside him again, Leo must have faced a lot of hardship but he’s still astounded that he’s changed so much in such a relatively short amount of time. Unless Leo is lying.

 “Who were you talking to before we came in?” Of course Coulson leads with that, it’s against the law to interview a mentally unfit person without council. Its also a question he needs answering, if this is his future he scared that he might lose the most important part of himself.

“We got attacked” Leo taps his temple as a way to explain it “I got hurt, Hypoxia damaged my brain that’s what happened to me, I got better though but its messed up my hand and words sometimes…. Aphasia and sometimes I hallucinate when I get very stressed” Leo suddenly looks a little shifty like he’s not telling them everything but he quickly continues as if to reassure them “It’s mostly under control” which does not sound reassuring at all.

This can’t be happening, cold horror wells up inside him suffocating and making him panic. He focused hard on the white table top in front of him and studiously avoids looking at Skye and Simmons not wanting to see the pity they must feel for him. It’s terrifying to think off that one day he won’t be able to control his own mind. He wants to protest against what Leo is saying, to say it isn’t true, and to fight fate but the evidence is in front of him and he can’t ignore it.

For a moment they’re all caught up in the shock of this revelation.

“I don’t have time for this.” Leo jumps to his feet and starts pacing again “I need to help find my team, they are the ones that need my help” All they could see was his back as he leans againt the opposite wall, palms flat, head bowed with stress.

Coulson has pricked his ears up at that like a hunting dog who’s caught the scent “Why do they need your help F..Leo?”

Leo struck the wall with his fist in frustration and whirled back around “I don’t have time for this” he repeats himself, the desperation in his voice is as clear as water “I need to find Jemma!” A fleeting look of panic crosses his features like he thought he might have said too much. Ward had noticed the slip too and leaned forward with interest.

“And whys that then?”

Leo ran his hand through his hair distractedly “I…Um” His hand creeps up to his shoulder again and the confusion resolves into a hardened resolve “because Ward, Jemma’s already lost her husband…. If she loses me as well it might just finish her” the sadness in his voice is overwhelming. Leo’s obviously trying to soften the blow in case Simmons is listening but in this case they can all tell lose almost certainly means died.

He’s numb at this for two reasons, Simmons gets married, he finds that almost as upsetting as learning about his future injury. Because it means that she’s probably going to marry some big shot hero man and they won’t be able to do everything together anymore. And then she’s going to lose him.

Next to him Simmons gives a little gasp the way she does when she’s surprised or upset, this time he’s the one reaching out to wrap her up in his arms, tangling their headset leads together as he try to console her. The long smouldering coal of resentment inside of him over Simmons’s boyfriends, which he tells himself is purely platonic protectiveness towards his best friend over her occasionally terrible boyfriends i.e Milton, flares up again this time at the inconsiderateness of her husband for leaving her, which is irrational because he probably didn’t mean to die.

Coulson sounded very sombre “Fitz….. Leo” He blinks owlishly trying to remember the correct nomenclature “Could you tell us why you where in a secure section of the Sandbox?”

 Leo sighs and returns to his seat “It’s a long story.”

Ward interrupts “We want the truth Leo!”

Of a moment Fitz is as annoyed with Ward as Leo looks, after all Leo has already said he’d tell them the truth as long as he doesn’t think the information will interfere with the timeline and he’ clearly worried about his version of Simmons. But before he can say something sarcastic to Ward through the headset Leo fired back “And I want to be lying on a beach with my wife working on making our first child but we can’t call get what we want out of life Ward!”

That shut them all up sharpish and he had to screw his eyes shut and think very hard about the periodic table so not to imagine himself and a pretty girl lying on a beach making babies.

Leo rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands again and letting out a long sight he launched into his tale.

Chapter Text

When Leo has finished his story they all just sit there in a shocked silence, mouths all held slightly open in a traumatized stupor. The identical expressions on all their faces, even the usually stoic May and Coulson would be funny if the story they’d all just heard wasn’t so out of this world awful. It was a good one though, if it were a TV series or a movie he’d definitely sit down and watch it repeatedly.

The hard back of his chair digging into his back is what finally breaks through his swirling maelstrom of thoughts and he’s able to start thinking again. His mouth is very dry and he reaches for the jug of water in front of him and with shaking hands pours himself a drink. The cool water is a welcome relief and weight of the water in the cup in his hands is a welcome reminder of reality. As an afterthought he pours a glass for Simmons and Skye who drink automatically.

Out of the corner of his eye he catches his faint reflection in the glass and what he sees makes his heart miss a beat in surprise. His reflection is staring grimly back at him, in it he can see the faint shadow of Leo looking back at him waiting to fully emerge. His reflection and Leo are both facing him and he can see now that despite that up until now he’s only been seeing the differences between them he can now see that they have more similarities than differences.

He doesn’t want to believe the story Leo told them, mostly because it’s all so fantastical, out of this world amazing. Two facets of his personality are currently duking it out inside of him over how to feel about what Leo has told them. His constantly curious side wants to rush off and explore all the new possibilities that Leo has described to them for himself, while his timid side wants to hide until it all goes away. His sceptical side is still raving on about how time travel isn’t possible. Mostly he’s just as bewildered by everything that’s happened today and worried about what the future might hold for him.

What he really wants right now is a cup of tea. Tea solves everything, scientific fact.

Leo is still sitting on his chair nervously playing with his wedding ring, looking back and forth between Coulson and Ward who have their jaws handing open like idiots, he looks slightly concerned. He clears his throat “Ummm Sir could I get you something? Tea maybe?”

Told you so.

Coulson regains his voice first at that rouses them all out of their daze “Let me get this straight” He paused pinching the bridge of his nose. “Five years from now the Avengers will fight of a giant alien Warlord using a modified quinjet that’s space worthy called the Zephyr that you invented”

Leo nodded earnestly “Yes, although it was a me from another timeline that invented it really I just copied the designs” This is really too much to take in. Another timeline, another version of him running around somewhere in space and time, his head hurt.

Coulson nodded absently running his hand though his short dark hair. “They won but your only working prototype of the Zephyr got destroyed. Since the battle put earth on the map so to speak the Avengers and your Director want more in preparation from any threat.”

Leo nodded again “Pretty much”

 Coulson played with his tie “And to use the propulsion system in a vacuum you need gravitonium, only in the future your supply was depleted and you no longer have a way to create it.” That was genius why had no one ever thought about using gravitonium as a source of propulsion in a zero gravity vacuum, it was energy efficient and if he could say so for himself a very elegant solution to the problem that engineers had been trying to solve out for years.

A big grin transformed Leo’s face making him look a lot younger “You’ve got it”

 “So it was decided that a team would travel back in time using something called a Monolith that was created by an alien race called the Kree to get hold of some of the very pure gravitonium that SHIELD has in holding, so to replicate it?”

Leo nodded earnestly “Yes but it was a White Monolith, that’s the one that transports you through time, there is another one that takes you through space….” He trails of when he sees the mystified expressions on their faces with a lame “…It doesn’t matter”

“But something went wrong with the portal and you were separated from your team and ended up in the Sandbox instead of the programmed location?”

His doppelganger winced “Yeah I’m not sure how that happened though the co ordinate were all set and it worked the last time They all went through it” he sounded thoughtful “Course the White Monolith had been damaged in an explosion but we had to risk it.” As he reached up to massage his shoulder again, anguish filled his face and in his head Fitz finished Leo’s sentence for him “and now they might be lost in space and time and I can’t be with them”

Ward shakes his head is if to clear it “You built a spaceship Leo?” Disbelief fills his voice “Really?”

Leo looks contemplative for a moment, considering several options, before he lashes out and punches Ward in the face. The tension in the room ramps up again as Ward stands up violently. If it were him he would have backed down but Leo just sets his jaw in a hard manner and squares his shoulders, there both spoiling for a fight.

Which is not like him at all.

Ward shoves Leo “You got a problem with me?” he growls, Leo stumbles backwards but he recovers himself well and blocks Ward’s next shove and puts Ward into what Fitz assumes is a wrist lock and Ward grimaces with pain. 

“Yeah, I have a problem with you” Leo’s voice is very deep now almost a growl, trembling with rage but he doesn’t elaborate. With a quick jerk of his wrist Ward breaks the wrist lock and in a single powerful move he punches Leo in the ribs. Who doubles over wheezing and clutching his side, Fitz winces Ward had probably broken or at least bruised Leo’s ribs and his own ach in sympathy.

Ward stands over Leo, fists clenched while Leo tries gamely to stand up straight. “Do you really want to do this Leo?” Luckily for Leo Ward has regained control and is trying to go with reason looking at him pleadingly, he doesn’t want to hurt him. “You’re not a fighter Leo, I know what you’re capable of and you don’t have a chance against me”

Wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth Leo looks grimly up at him “No offence” He says offensively “but none of you has any idea what I’m capable off.”

“I don’t want to hurt you Fitz” Ward sounds upset.

“Why Ward?” Leo smile is cruel “It’s not weakness is it?”

Ward’s face blanches but before they can dissolve into fisticuffs again Coulson steps between them a hand on placed, firmly on each of their chests forcefully holding the two of them apart “Ward, Leo Stand down” The authority in his voice makes them both back off and Leo looks shamefully at the ground. Ward is still itching for a fight but he obeys their boss, both of them pace for a minute to regain control of their emotions.

Coulson returns to his seat, his nice suit not even rumpled by the incident. His expression is stony, he only makes that face when he is very displeased with his agents and he’s learned to dread that expression. “Sit” He commands both of them, like obedient puppies they obey him. Ward’s eye is slowly turning purple and he dabs at it carefully while Leo is still nursing his ribs. Coulson looks like he’s desperately trying to keep his patience.

“Forgive me Fitz” He winces having forgotten the correct name again “But Ward does have a point Leo, what your saying does sound a little far fetched”

“I know how mad it sounds, Sir. But would I have told you such a madcap story if it wasn’t true? If I was lying to you would I have told you something this weird or would I have made something a bit more believable up.”

He got a point there.

Then Coulson says what they have all been thinking “How do we know you are who you say you are?

Leo looks intensely aggravated, which is understandable, his replying outburst of “Well I’m not a robot this time I swear!” is not. What in the why, the when and the how? Does Leo mean by about him being a robot. In the interrogation room he and Simmons look at each other in bewilderment, even May is confused, which is very strange as he’s used to seeing nothing on her face evidently even the Cavalry can emote when the circumstances are odd enough. On the other end of the spectrum Skye is positively giddy, practically fangirling over the possibility of robots in the future.

Shaking Leo pounds the table with aggravation, dismay visible is every line of him. “How can I prove who I am? You’ve already taken my finger prints, Blood type and DNA. They’ve probably already matched it to my records you have on me.”

Sympathetically Coulson pats the hand nearest to him “those things can be faked Leo” he says gently Leo looks up hopefully as he continued “But if you tell us something only you know then maybe what you’re saying is true.”

He doesn’t like that idea, his past isn’t something he really likes to talk about even with Simmons and now Leo’s going to revel some of his private innermost thoughts. This leaves him feeling sick and vulnerable, the others look at him sympathetically and even Leo looks a bit uncomfortable at this. Good to know that his probable future self still has hang ups about the past.  

“Okay” Leo draws the word out slowly, clearly thinking hard about what he could say to prove it and what he could say that was provable. A decision made Leo squares his shoulders and dives straight in.

“One time, Simmons and I burned down a lab at the academy using dry ice, four and a half litres of sun cream and a paint ball gun. No one ever knew it was us”

Beside him he can feel Simmons wince at this revelation, it had been the weekend before the fourth of July and he and Simmons in a fit of patriotic fever had been attempting to ruin the fourth of July firework display. The resulting experiments with said items had not gone as planned and only pure dumb luck had saved their lives. And them not being caught and expelled from Sci-Ops.

Skye nudged Simmons “How on earth did you get those things to explode, none of them are particularly flammable?” she’s both confused and impressed which he takes a little pride in. He catches Jemma’s hazel eyes and silently they both agree that it’s best not to tell her.

“I’m sorry Leo, but you and Simmons’s little experiment wasn’t as secret as you thought it was” It wasn’t! Likewise Leo’s face falls as Coulson continues “The staff at the academy did a careful investigation after the incident and considered expelling you both” He shrugged “Luckily expelling you both over a freshman year prank wasn’t in SHIELDs best interest”

Evidently they weren’t as careful as they thought they had been.

Flustered at SHIELD knowing about that secret Leo forged on determinedly “Ok, I’m not allowed inside Old Trafford grounds anymore” Coulson nods, this is one of his great frustrations that he can no longer see his favourite football team play at home anymore. Honestly you rig up a scheme that indirectly helps Manchester United win the 2002-2003 premier league and suddenly you’re “cheating” and get banned from the grounds.

“He means soccer right?” Skye whispers over to him, next to him Simmons rolls her eyes as frustrated by Americans as he is at this point. She may not love football as much as he does but her disgust at American Football remains the same. As she said once in total bewilderment while watching a game with an American college “What the point of this game?!? Just when it gets going it stops for adverts?”

Coulson is playing with his cuffs “Leo, SHIELD does intensive background checks for it Sci-ops recruits, putting extra strong electro magnets behind the goalposts and in the balls in order to help deflect goals is something they are going to find out about.” The disapproval on his voice makes him cringe, apparently Coulson supports sportsmanship and fair play.

Crestfallen Leo traces the scratches of the table in front of him, he can see the thoughts turning over in Leo’s mind and he knows that he’s going to tell them next, the secret he’s carried since he was a child and its on the tip of his tongue to ask Coulson to end the interview so his shameful past doesn’t have to be revealed. Before he can though Leo starts to tell them, every word dragged out reluctantly and with great pain.

“When I was little I broke my arm.” Leo swallows his adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “I told everyone that I broke it playing football but I didn’t” Leo’s rubbing his arm at the remembered pain, with a start he realised that he’s doing the same “the truth is my dad broke it when he was mad at me and my mum and he made us not tell anyone.”

Like Leo he’s tracing the scratches on the white table in front of him. He doesn’t want to see the pity on their faces to look at them will only enhance the humiliation he feels. He knows now that it wasn’t fault that his Dad treated them that way but the shame still makes it hard for him to talk about it without feeling overwhelming rage at the unfairness at it. Almost everyone had Dad who gave a damn about them, who was proud of them. Not called them stupid and walked out when they were ten. He’s only every really talked to Simmons about this and she knows not to ask about his childhood unless he brings it up, to talk about it with anything other than her, even his mum, would be excruciating.

“I’m sorry Leo” Coulson is genuine about that he can tell “but SHIELD already summarized that when your medical records were reviewed. The way the bone fractured, it’s a classic abuse injury. That combined with the police reports made by your mother lead SHIELD to conclude that you had an abusive upbringing”

Coulson continues gently “Anyone could have looked up what you’ve just told us and faked DNA reports; SHIELD does this all the time. Is there anything else that no one would know?”

He hates to admit it but Coulson’s right, anyone could have looked up that information, anyone with enough time and reasonably good computing skills could find out enough about him to create a convincing doppelganger. Leo leans back on his chair with a defeated look on his face, all of the desperate energy that has been driving him up until this point has deserted him and he curls in on himself wrapping his arms around his torso as he works to control his emotions. Suddenly Leo looks a lot more like a reflection of himself, younger and more uncertain. Next to him Simmons gives a little twitch, she most likely suppressing same urge he has to go and comfort the distraught Leo.

Leo abruptly looks up, hope reigniting in his eyes “Jemma” He lurched to his feet, for a frightening moment he thought that Leo might have sensed Simmons wanting to comfort Leo the way she would normally comfort him. But that fear is dismissed when it becomes evident that Leo has thought of something that he can prove to them that he really is the future version of Leopold James Fitz.

He skirts around the table, avoiding the side with Ward on it and with deliberately cautious steps Leo draws closer to the glass, cupping his hands around his eyes he tries look though the glass. He’s so close to them now that any of them could reach out and touch him if the glance wasn’t there.  Instinct made him hold his breath to prevent Leo from hearing him, which was stupid, he was on the other side of soundproofed glass after all but after glancing around at the others who were also holding their breath he didn’t feel as stupid. Sometimes the instinct to hide can’t be over ruled by logic.

Leo leaned his forehead against the glass “Jemma, Fitz I know you can hear me” He spoke softly now “They wouldn’t have known the things I told them so quickly if you and Fitz hadn’t been there.” He took a deep breath “Do you remember Jemma, do you remember when we first met?”

Of course he remembered, how could he forget, how could either of them forget. It was the first day of the academy and he hadn’t really wanted to be there. Always the odd one out, the one speaking a completely different language to other people he hadn’t really expected to fit in.

Leo smiled sadly “You thought I was so pale and pasty….so incredible smart” Leo gave a little chuckle at that, clearly finding it amusing now “Handsome” Simmons had thought he was handsome, she’d never told him that. Leo continued his palm pressed against the glass “You thought I must have been so annoyed with you following me around all the time. But I wasn’t Jemma, I wasn’t. I just didn’t know what to say to you cos I was this shy awkward teenaged boy who’d never spoken to a pretty girl before.”

The only thing he can see in the whole world now is Simmons, her face and reaction to Leo’s confession and she’s looking at in the same way. He’s never told her why he wouldn’t speak to her in those first few months, she’d been so impressive, so nice and smart, so accomplished and beautiful that he couldn’t really understand why such a nice girl was interested in a nobody like him. Tongue tied and self-conscious he’s been unable to think of anything smart enough to impress her and so had resorted to ignoring her whenever she was around. Until they’d got paired up in chem. Lab and that had broken the ice. From that first conversation he’d known they’d had something special, something to be treasured.

“Is that true Jemma?” He asks her very quietly, so afraid of having his hopes dashed he almost doesn’t want her to answer it. Simmons’s eyes are full of tears and he watches the pale column of her throat move as she swallows back her emotions and abruptly she nods. He doesn’t know how to feel at that revelation elated, devastated? He doesn’t know.

“Is it true too?” She whispers back “Why you wouldn’t talk to me?” Now he feels naked, raw even, to be expressing a very private part of himself that he’d thought he’d grown out of. But how can he not confirm the true to her especially when she’s been so truthful, painfully so, to him. The words can’t quite claw their way out of his mouth so he can only nod in confirmation.

From a great distance he can hear May say to Coulson through her headset “It’s true Coulson, its true”

*

He, Simmons, Skye and Ward have all been banished from the observation room back to the Bus while the senior agents discuss what to do next. They’ve retreated to the lab on the Bus and both he and Simmons have apologised extensively to Ward on Leo’s behalf for punching him, which he has accepted with good humour.

He’s supposed to be reconfiguring the Buses sensors to look for similar energy readings that Leo made when he arrived at the Sandbox but his mind is on other things, turning over all the new revelations of the day. Worse of all he feels disconnected from Simmons they can only sit awkwardly next to each other the revelation of the morning having disquieted both of them and he’s really afraid that what has been said will impact their friendship.

The other three are dissecting in detail everything Leo has told them and whether they believe it is true. Ward doesn’t believe it he thinks that Leo is an enemy spy. Skye on the other hand believes as she points out how could he have known everything he’s told them and keep on having identical DNA results from different independent labs chosen at random. Simmons is on the fence, she doesn’t want to believe it’s true and yet at the same time she admits that the science makes sense.

When Ward and Skye wander off to the other side of the lab, Simmons taps his wrist to get his attention, her hazel eyes are warm, concerned and open. “Are you alright?” She asks him kindly “It has to be very strange for you” she sighs “it is for me.”

Trying to make it better he smiles at her “I’m not Ok Simmons” and he squeezes her hand reassuringly “But I will be.” He takes in her strained expression and realises she’s having as much trouble with this as he does and she’s not especially good at coping with unexpected change. “How are you?” he asks her quietly so that Skye and Ward can’t hear.

Letting out a long sigh she puts on a brave face “I’m not ok either, but it will be.” Oh Simmons always trying to be on the positive side of things. They smile at each other and they’re friends again and everything is right with the world.

One or the other of Skye or Ward has activated the holo table and Simmons charges off to tell them off.  Watching them absentmindedly out of the corner of his eye he catches Coulson and May coming up the ramp.

And with them is Leo. Who’s looking round the Bus with an expression of fond reminiscence.

Quietly he gets to his feet and walks over to them and they both take measure of each other. It’s his face, his body, harder and more rugged perhaps but it’s him. He can’t decide how he feels. The hair on the back of his neck prickles up and he’s certain that all eyes are on him and Leo, waiting to see what either of them would do.

Deciding to be brave he sticks his hand out and forces his numb lips into a smile “Hey” he can hear himself saying “I’m Fitz, Engineering”

They shake hands and the world doesn’t end in a paradox. It’s a bit like touching a livewire emotionally but Leo’s hand is warm and callused in the same places he has them. He’s a bit afraid to look and see the expression on Leo’s face; but he screws up his courage and does it anyway.nOut of the tenseness of the interrogation room Leo’s face is warm, open and friendly, happy even to see him. Whatever has happened to him hasn’t removed his intrinsic good nature which is a relief.

“I’m Leo” Leo smiles back at him “Engineering”

Behind him he can hear the others assembling behind him, gawking at the strange sight of him shaking hands with himself. Leo’s hand goes limp in his grasp and he lets out a little shuddering breathe. Hypnotised he’s gazing at Simmons, heart in his eyes “Simmons?” he says very softly and with great care he slowly embraces her “Thank you” Leo whispers to her and he quickly releases her before trigger fingers get jumpy. Simmons, uncomfortable at his display of affection, slides away from him and goes to hide behind May.

Coulson places his hand on Leo’s shoulder, pulling him from his hypnosis by making him jump “We’re going to help Leo find his companion” he sounded determined. “Give Agent Fitz” They all winced at that it looked like Coulson was going to have trouble remembering the correct names “Leo, everything he needs to accomplish that”

Leo looks at him gratefully and confidently strode up towards the lab.

Skye sidled up to Coulson “Are you sure that’s a good idea A.C?” Fitz rolls his eyes at her using that annoying nickname again.

Coulson smile wanly “If he is who he says he is then we are assisting a future SHIELD operation, If he isn’t then we should be able to catch the rest of his team.” He shrugged looking serene “Either way it’s a win.”

He and Simmons both feel that Coulson’s taking a big risk.

Coulson turned to them “I want you four” He gestured at Simmons, Skye, Ward and him “to keep an eye on him, watch what he does or says, Fitzsimmons look at his science try to figure out what he’s doing before he can does it, Skye keep him talking and Ward if he does anything suspicious, attacks anyone” he looked at Ward especially “stop him” he strode off up the ramp towards the lab where Leo was making himself at him

Stunned they followed Coulson up the ramp like ducklings, Leo had already logged on to HIS workstation and was typing furiously away.

“Where to Leo?” May asks Leo’s back, he’s pretty sure she means to sound sarcastic.

“To where I should have ended up.” Leo says with firm resolve “The Lighthouse.”

Chapter Text

The Lighthouse? He’d never heard of a SHIELD base called the Lighthouse and from the looks of things neither had May or Coulson. As they all exchanged bewildered glances, Leo was rapidly making himself at home in the lab, cleaning off the painstakingly drawn blueprints for the Night Night Pistol off the whiteboard much to their collective annoyance.

Coulson cleared his throat “Umm Leo?”

“Hmm?” Distractedly Leo had the maker’s lid in his mouth as he was carefully drawing a little cartoon monkey face onto the top left hand corner of the board. Why he couldn’t tell you maybe Leo was his future self but clearly some screws had been knocked loose. Still a comfort to know he still loved monkeys.

“Leo” Coulson’s voice was sharp and Leo turned to look at him, his monkey only half finished, the annoyed “What?” was completely no verbal and yet so obvious beside him Simmons’s shoulders started the shake with laughter.

“He’s so like you” She whispered in his ear. He had to agree with her.

Palms facing outwards Coulson shrugged in confusion “We don’t know where this Lighthouse is?”

Leo blinked at them, pen lid still in his mouth and then the corner of his mouth twitched up into a little grin “Oh right” he smacked his forehead “Secret base and all that” Turning away from his half drawn masterpiece he activated the holo table and began to input in co-ordinates. They all crowded around to get a better look. 

The holograms danced and spun as Leo found the co-ordinates and pinching thumb and forefinger he zoomed in on the holographic lake. “The Lighthouse” he tapped at the cliff line making it glow. “It’s a bunker underneath Lake Ontario commissioned by SHIELD Official, General  Rick Stoner during the Hydrogen Crisis in the 1970s as part of Project Reclamation, it was never used, not even Fury knew about it. It’s fully equipped with all the best technology the 70s had to offer We started using it after…..” He trailed off distracted. “Its where I was supposed end up when we came back to the past but something went wrong” He returned to his whiteboard losing all interest in them as he finished the cartoon monkey and figures and equations began to fly across the board.

May nodded and lithely padded up the steps towards the cockpit “Lake Ontario, got it” The familiar rumble of the Bus starting to taxi did make his stomach bubble with excitement and dread as it always did when it took off.  

*

An hour later still in transit, cradling cups of tea and they were all sitting watching Leo work. So much for Coulson’s belief that he and Simmons could figure out what he was doing by observing his science, the math’s Leo was working on was beyond anything he’d ever seen branching out into different physics equations that he knew and those he suspected Leo himself had created.

It appeared that Leo was in the midst of combining Quantum physics and the Lorenz reaction with Schrödinger’s equation and throwing in a little of a modified Hawking’s theory of black holes and adding to an mathematical algorithm for locating objects. But that was as about as far as he and Simmons could comprehend. Unlike Leo, he had yet to learn about these Kree monoliths and how they worked so he had no real comprehension of what laws of physics (if there were any) to truly follow along with the maths. It was still incredible to watch himself work, each letter or number was in his handwriting scrawling neatly across the board. Even though he didn’t fully understand the meaning of the numbers he could still appreciate the elegance of the forces involved. A fizzle of excitement and confidence welled up inside of him, he really is that smart, his father was wrong. He felt like nudging Simmons and whispering to her “Look at me go! I’m a genius!” to see her eyes light up with mirth, but he restrained himself.

Because next to him Simmons was fizzing with frustration, quantum physics was not as much her strong point as it was for him. He could practically see them bubbling up within her. Skye had given up trying to figure out the equations within the first few lines and had gone back to surreptitiously trying breaking the encryption on Leo’s phone. Ward stood guard silent as a post; eyes glazed over slightly at all the science.

For the last five minutes Leo had done nothing put stare at the whiteboard deep in thought, mind ticking over everything. He suspected this was why Simmons’s hadn’t asked the questions that were buzzing away inside of her, she knew that he didn’t like to be interrupted while deep in thought and that if she did he lose his place.

Ward’s voice was quiet “Do you guys understand any of this?”

It pained him to admit it, both of them, he could tell when they shook their heads, Simmons ponytail softly tapping against his shoulder. Bits of it he does understand but then the maths and physics principles wander off and combine in completely new ways like nothing he’s ever read in any paper before.

Simmons answered for both of them “It makes sense, but what we’re seeing doesn’t work with any models of space-time we’ve ever seen”

He chimes in completing the sentence for her “It’s something completely new, has basic principles in physics but it’s something completely new… I don’t know if it’s even real” They exchange flustered looks “To be honest we don’t really understand half of what he’s done” Physics wasn’t really their focus at the academy.

 “It all works” Leo snapped, his back to them, writing away again, fingers stained blue with ink. “They don’t call me the big bad brain of SHIELD for nothing” He’s trying and failing at sounding modest at his own abilities.

Big Bad Brain of SHIELD? As far as he knew nobody have ever called him that, ever. And besides there are a lot of other more accomplished scientist, worthy of the name running around Sci-Ops.

“How do you know all of this?” Simmons asks him, she looks a little wary at talking to his older self.

“Yeah” Ward butted in “It looks like gobbledegook to me”

Leo rolled his eyes exasperated “Honestly, you figured out a problem that Hydra spent the last ten thousand years trying to solve. After that its relatively simple to apply that problem to the white monolith as well just change a few things here and there and presto…..” Leo trailed off deep in thought.

His stomach drops in the bottom of his shoes, crushing the pride that’s been welling up inside him about his own cleverness “Hydra?”

“But” Ward stutters “Hydra was defeated years ago”

Leo glared at him “Well you know what they say Ward. Cut of one head…”

And two more grow back in its place. They all finish silently.

If Hydra where involved, he didn’t like to even think about the consequences of what might happen. If Hydra still existed then who knew what sort of damage they were doing running around in the world unknown and unchecked. Perhaps they were the reason he’d gotten his brain injury? He’s been fighting a war. The fear bubbles up his spin and freezes his brain, his temples are throbbing.

Distantly he can hear Ward ask “Why were you working for Hydra?” that is a troubling thought and he needs to hear the answer so he pushes the fear away so he can focus on the answer.

Leo gazed at Simmons for a moment before he turned back to the board “I was highly motivated” He murmured while correcting an equation. Fitz wanted to shake him, he knew what Leo was doing, focusing on his work to avoid answering a question he didn’t want to answer. He was about confront Leo about it when Skye’s voice interrupted them.

 “Damn!” Skye’s voice made them all jump even Leo, her pretty face scrunched up in frustration “I just can’t get past the encryption on this thing!”

Behind them Leo chuckled absent-mindedly “I don’t know why you just didn’t give it to Fitz, it’s the same password I’ve used since I was seventeen” Taking the phone from Skye’s hand Leo types in the code he’s had for so long he does it by muscle memory, he swipes at it a few times and then soft rock beings to emit from the little speakers, it takes a few bars for him to recognize the song, I’d do anything for love by Meatloaf, a song he and Jemma used to rock out to while building the D.W.A.R.V.E.S. Memories of those happy time swims up in both him and Simmons and Leo returns to his whiteboard nodding along with the beat. They’ve always liked working to music.

Still he could have smacked himself for not thinking of trying to open the phone himself, Why on earth hadn’t anyone of the numerous scientists and agents thought of that? Probably because this sort of thing never happened before.

“Who wrote this encryption?” Skye breaks through the music “It’s so advanced”

Leo didn’t look annoyed at being interrupted again “Of course you’re having trouble cracking it, you were the one who wrote the code in the first place.” Astonished she looked at him, delight in her eyes “I do?” She sounded both joyful and tentative “I get to stay?”

Poor Skye, she’s always been alone in the world, always moving from place to place. Never being able to find her own place in it.  At least he’s always had his mum and Simmons to want him, poor Skye didn’t even have that.

Leo nodded “Yeah course” He glanced at the blue marker stains on his hand a bit confused to as how they’d gotten there “Course your talents are better use in the field these days, Daisy.” He winced as Skye jumped up and down in excitement her eyes as round as marbles “Bugger.”

“I change my name!” She looked delighted at that titbit “Why?”

The friendship between them is palatable, not romantic like he’d hoped when he’d first met Skye definitely more brother and sisterly type thing. Leo shrugged in response to her question and gave a small teasing grin “Sorry Skye, I won’t tell you that, you’ll have to wait and see.” His attention is off from his work now completely focused on them.

Leo’s eyes trace around the Bus and lingers over each of them like he’s both remembering them and comparing them to the versions of themselves that he knows now. He patted the wall of the Bus affectionately “Its good to see the old place again.”

That was alarming and he asked his older self “Why what happened to it”

“It got blown up.” At the alarmed expressions on their faces, Leo caged up again “Urm details not important”

The Hell they are! Their home gets blown up? Their lab? The fish tank he and Simmons have been angling for? Abruptly he remembers the sadness that comes and goes from Leo’s face, his injury, the loss of Simmons’s husband. Of course there must be losses coming why the Bus, their home, shouldn’t be one of them. They’re all thinking the same thing and they stand soberly in a little semi circle, the only sound the thrumming of the engines.

Eventually Skye said gently to Leo “Coming back to the past must be really weird for you, I mean its weird for us and you know everything that’s gonna happen.”

Oddly enough Leo doesn’t look as disturbed as he really should. “Not really” He deadpans picking up his marker pen again and turned back to his equations at his surprise, considering how cagey he’s been, Leo continued “I mean no one had tried to kill me yet” He tapped his head in a touch wood gesture “Or brain washed me. I mean this is definitely up there, probably in the top ten, but of all of the things that has happened to me, it’s this is probably the least traumatic.” Leo is remarkably casual about the situation.

His reply makes them all laugh until they see the lack of irony on his face which sobers them up something sharpish.

Brain washing and lightly joking about his relief over no one trying to kill him yet not reassuring, the gallows humour of Leo’s response puts him in mind of several field agents or soldiers he’s met, they joke about the horrible things they’ve seen cos its either laugh about it or cry. Right now he’s guessing Leo’s trying to do the same thing so not to concern them too much.

What Leo’s revealed so far really doesn’t bode well for his future safety. And maybe his sanity.

Looking around at the little group he’s glad to see they all have similar worried expressions on their faces.

*

He’s yanked from his musings over the future when Leo lets out a sharp cry of pain, Leo is doubled over by the white board clutching his ribs where Ward punched him earlier. He must have over extended himself trying to lean across the board. Simmons is instantly over by him helping Leo stand, worryingly Leo is wheezing and swaying slightly, his skin turning bone white with pain. She hesitant only for a moment before putting her hand on Leo’s shoulder, helping him stay upright.

“Are you alright?” She asks him soothingly. He grasps Leo by his other side to help her keep him upright. His body is warm and solid through the shirt, he’s definitely not a hallucination. Leo’s face is tight and his blue eyes bright with the pain he’s been trying to hide.

“Fine” He gasps, clearly he not fine. He’s always been good at dealing with pain, getting beaten up and regularly hurting yourself while building machines will do that.

“Do you think you’ve broken some ribs where Ward hit you earlier?” Simmons has on what he likes to call her professional doctors voice. They’ve started to guide him towards the medical bay, stumbling over the doorframe while Ward hurries to open the other door guilty expression on his face.

“You don’t have to examine me, Simmons” Leo protests weakly.

Simmons whirls round at him expression fierce “Ward could have broken your ribs Fitz.” She pauses to correct herself, after all she’s called him Fitz since she’s met him and knows the real reason why he hates the name, it’s difficult to break the habit of a lifetime “Leo, I need to check out your side in case you’ve punctured your lung” Leo opens his mouth to argue with her, but like Fitz he recognises her expression and there is no use arguing with Simmons once she’s made her mind up. They both share an exasperated glance at Simmons long running insistence of looking after their health.

They have to turn sideways to fit through the medical bay’s door which Ward is holding open for them. He looks apologetic but he can quite spit an apology out instead he asks begrudgingly “When did you get so good a fighting?”

Leo grunts with pain as they deposit him on the medical bed “Other lives” He says wryly before moaning with pain when he tries to sit up. Behind them Skye slips into the room and sends him a supportive smile.

“Do you feel breathless at all?” Simmons asked him making a beeline for the first aid kit.

Leo had forced himself into an upright position “A little” he sounded hoarse.

With her head buried in the first aid kit Simmons voice is muffled “Take off your shirt”

Fortunately both he and Leo have the same reaction a jaw dropping “Whaat?”

She looks up with both eyebrows raised “I can’t examine you with your shirt on Leo” She hold up a stethoscope “please” she tacks on.  Leo reluctantly starts to unbutton his shirt.

Fitz bit the inside of his lip in anguish, tasting blood, it may not be his body that going to be on show but he wishes that Skye and Ward would leave to give them a little privacy. Well Skye, Ward has to be there as protection for him and Simmons. He’s not very proud of his body, taking his shirt off in front of girls has always been an issue. But now he has to show his body in front of his best friend, his female college who he likes and Ward whose bulk puts him to shame. He turns around to give Leo a little privacy he wishes the others would afford him.

The gasps behind him make him turn around, maybe Leo has horrific scars, both Skye and Simmons are flushed pink. Spinning to face Leo he feels his own jaw drop, Leo’s not an astonishing picture of the masculine physique but he’s done a pretty good approximation of it.  He still hasn’t lost a lot of the wiriness he’s had since he was a teenager but he’s filled out, a lot like he’s finally growing into the strength his frame has always hinted at.

In other words he’s got abs.

And pectorals. 

His partner is still staring slightly hypnotised, like she can’t believe she really looking at HIM. Skye shakes her head, breaking herself from her trance and bounces with glee “Fitz got ripped!” she declared with a big grin on her face. Even Ward looks surprised.

Leo is flushed with embarrassment as he neatly folds his shirt, worrying away at an imaged creased in the fold line, he can’t look them in the eye. “There’s not a lot to do in solitary confinement of a secret base except work and work out, otherwise you got crazy”

Leo’s been to prison and solitary confinement at that, that titbit makes his head spin. As if the world wasn’t crazy enough. He’s always hated being alone and to be without Simmons really would make he do something drastic like work out.

In his shock he hears himself asking “How many can you do?”

Leo winces dropping his shirt on the chair next to the bed “I’m in double digits now” He sound very proud of himself. Next to him he can hear Ward give an unimpressed snort, well it might not be much for Mr Action Man over here but for him it’s a big deal.

“Sit back” Simmons has shaken herself from her surprise he supposes and had snapped back to doctor mode. Leo obeys reluctantly “Simmons it’s not that bad really…” There is a large attractively purple bruise forming on the lower left side of his ribcage where Ward slugged him earlier. He breaks off to give a little gasp when Simmons gently laid her gloved hands on his chest pressing a little to measure the difference between the expansions of Leo’s ribcage on either side. His skin erupting is Goosebumps and he flinched a little at the sensation, muscle twitching. 

 Seeing his reaction Simmons asks Leo kindly “Are you alright?” she smiled kindly at him “I’m not pressing to firmly.

Leo’s responding smile looks a little forced “No, its just your hands are freezing”

Its true, he’s teased her about if for long enough now to know it, she’s always had cold hands, something she attributes to her having poor circulation.

She gives a little chuckle like him she’s relived to have familiar banter with what is practically a stranger. “Do you think you can stand it?”

Leo started chuckling but ends up clutching his side with a pained groan. When he uncurls from the spasm he’s smiling at what looks like a memory “I suspect I’ll be able to power through”

“Think about something else” Skye piped up helpfully from behind him, ruining the moment. “Tell us about your wife.” She still angling for more information about the future since Leo slipped up earlier.

“Yes” Simmons was absently listening to Leo’s breathing now with a stethoscope which she put away. “I’m going to have a feel of your ribs and see if there’s any abnormalities” Leo didn’t reply verbally, only nodding his assent, he was watching her hands trace his injury with a blissful expression on his face.

Before he yelped with pain when she went over a particularly tender spot.

Skye leaned against the cabinet “So Leo what’s the wife like?”

Leo must have been a little dazed because he answered dreamily “To me she is perfect.” His eyes are far away “She’s kind and brilliant and beautiful and I don’t deserve her.” He chuckled sadly “She’ll argue against that, that she’s not perfect and that I do but so many bad things have happened to us sometimes I think its true”

Ward sidles to lean against with cabinet with Skye “It can’t be that bad Leo, you’ve been apart less than 24 hours.”

Leo looked cantankerously at him wincing when Simmons went over another sore spot, sounding upset his accent was more pronounced “This is just the latest in a series of being torn apart. “ He let out a big sigh “When we got married we swore that we would never leave each others side again.” His voice broke with anguish “but it keeps on happening. We’re cursed”

Skye’s eyes were bright with tears “you must love each other very much?”

Leo’s voice is rough “I do, I would cross space and time for her” He sniffed and said brokenly “I’d do anything…” He was struggling to control himself before whispering “I’m not strong enough to live in a world without her in it.”

He’s struggling with the enormity of what Leo has told him, how much he must love his future wife. He never thought he would ever find someone to love that much apart from Simmons, who is his best friend in the world. He’s always considered himself a romantic, wanted that whole falling in love experience but he’s never expected it to actually happen to him. What Leo’s telling them, that sort of thing only happens on films or TV.

Leo is lying back now looking up at Simmons stopped her exam looking concerned at Leo’s emotional outbreak, he looks calmer now “She doesn’t think we’re cursed, she thinks we have a gift cos we keep on finding each other again.”

“I’m just going to check the x ray” The bed was one of his designs it took an x ray, Simmons had taken it while they’d been distracted by Leo’s abs. “I don’t think you’ve broken any, just bruised them” she handed Leo two pain killers “This should take the edge off the pain” She got up to look at the x ray. Leo swallowed the pills absently and looked self-conscious about his emotional outburst.

“I don’t think that anything is broken” Simmons sounded absent, shes upset he can tell by the way she’s examining the x ray to intently. “Just keep on take the painkillers and try not to do any heavy lifting” She smiled briefly, not meaning it, snapping off her gloves “go to the doctors if it gets any worse, excuse me”

He manages to track her down in the medical supply cupboard, sniffing sadly while she tries to clean her hands. Carefully he takes the wet wipes from her and starts to wipe her hand clean. The little room was filled with her soft sobbing breathes as she struggles to control herself. He can feel his eyes getting suspiciously damp as well and only his iron will stops them from falling. When her hands are clean he cradles the back of her head and pulls her in for a hug.

She pressed against him and he can feel her hands dig into his cardigan and for a while they just hold each other. Listening to the soft tread of Ward lead Leo and Skye back to the lab, they’re locked up in their own private cocoon and nothing in the world can touch them.

“Are you ok?” He whispers to her at length

“I’m sorry” is her reply “He’s you and he’s not you if you understand what I mean” He does for all the bits of himself he recognises the amount that he, Leo has changed makes the familiar actions he does make even more foreign.

“And you’ve been through so much Fitz” She presses closer and he strokes her back “Been through so much pain, I don’t want that to happen to you, Ever” he’s touched by how much she cares about him.

“What about you?” her ponytails tickling his nose “You’re going to lose your husband. I’m so sorry for that”

She sniffles but squares her shoulders and strokes his cheek with the tips of her fingers “You’re trying to be there for me Fitz. Even after everything that’s happened to us, we’re still friends” She smiled wanly at him.

That realisation is a huge comfort to him, times may change and their relationships might but in the end they will still be friends and that is enough.

*

Lake Ontario was a really beautiful place to build a secret SHIELD Base, well SSR base considering when it was built and who built it. The little tourist town was post card perfect and the water of the lake was crystalline. All in all it was one of the nicer places he’s been on a mission is recent months.

It was a shame though that they couldn’t explore the area a little he thought as they crouched next to a cleverly disguised blast door below the pretty white Lighthouse that must give this base its name. Maybe next time he and Simmons had some leave they could come here for a visit. That thought cheered him up a little as the cold crept up his legs, they’d been stuck here for the last half an hour while Skye worked away at the keypad trying to break the encryption.

Leo crouched next to her, face grim. He’d had absolutely no trouble leading them to the hidden doors but when they’d pressed him to open it he’d looked at them with confusion. “I don’t know the code, Enoch brought me here and the code changes every day.”

Whoever this Enoch fellow was, Leo wasn’t elaborating. Next to him Ward and May crouched in readiness. Coulson was serenely doing a bit of bird watching.

“I wish Daisy was here” Leo broke the hush apart from Skye typing away frantically at her keyboard “She’s have this open in two seconds flat”

Skye looked a little irked at this after all no one likes to be told someone else is better at something than they are, even hackers, even if it’s your future self.

“I’m going as fast as I can” She snipped at him “This place has some hard-core protection for something set up in the 70s.”

He, Leo and Simmons all shrugged simultaneously “Its SHIELD, they always have the best for everything.”

With a great rumble the blast doors began to rumble and crack open loose earth trickling down with each rumble. Coulson clapped Skye on the shoulder “Good work” He sounded a teacher praise a student.

Skye looked at him wide eyed, alarmed “That wasn’t me.”

Immediately Ward, May and Coulson took up defensive position, guns drawn while he, Skye and Simmons took cover behind them. Leo stood defensively in front of them trying to give them as much cover as possible.

Slowly the blast door revealed two figures also standing in ready defensive positions, mirror images of their team. It took a minute for him to fully wrap his head around what he was seeing. He understood what it must have been like to for the others to see Leo for the first time, the strangeness of it.

One of the figures was Skye; mentally he corrected himself Daisy is what Leo had called her. Like Leo she’d changed too, her hair was shorter and wavier, her expression hard and determined she looked order and more sure of herself. She wasn’t holding a gun which was weird but she was standing there in readiness, arms with odd metal gauntlets on them outstretched in readiness.

His heart stuttered and turned over when he saw the other figure. It was Jemma. It was her but it wasn’t her. Like Leo and Skye…Daisy she’s changed too. She wore a dark leather jacket and a red bandanna tied loosely around her neck, her hair was longer and no longer tied back. Unlike Daisy she was holding a gun with the same hard, determined expression.

Coulson holstered his gun and stepped forward, holding up his hands placating “Okay, Everybody I think we all need to take a moment.”

Chapter Text

Only a moment?

Yeah right, if Coulson thought that everyone could wrap their heads around seeing their future/past selves and attempt to reconcile the time travel shenanigans with their view of reality in only a moment, then he’s a blueberry scone.   

A quick glance around at everybody’s faces confirms that everyone, especially Skye and Simmons, looks as shocked as he felt when he first saw Leo. Probably because deep down they had all believed or hoped that he was an imposter.

With Future Skye and Simmons showing up that theory had been blown out of the water like a game of battleship.

Kinda like Hi sorry to bother you I’m your future self and BTW I’ve sunk your battleship of normalcy.

Lowering her gauntlet clad arms Daisy blinked rapidly and took a hesitant step forwards, May and Ward adjusted their grips on the guns but her eyes fixed on Coulson. “Coulson?” Her voice was quavering, a child looking for its father and she stared at him for a long moment. He can see the instant when his friend pulls on a professional spy veneer over herself, insulating herself from her emotions so she can get the mission done, like a good agent. Daisy has learned to do that, Skye hasn’t yet.

Daisy forces a big cheesy grin onto her face that she clearly doesn’t feel and with a playful jerk of her chin she says “Hey Mini Me”

The only response Skye can currently give is a weak “hey” in return.

The strange gun slipped from Jemma’s bloodless fingers and landed on the grass with an audible thump that brought everyone’s attention away from Daisy and onto Jemma and Leo. Neither of them had moved a muscle from the moment Coulson had holstered his weapon. They both stood stock still, frozen really, chests heaving with emotion, eyes wider than anything physically possible as they absorbed everything about each other in.  

For the two of them, everything else might as well as ceased to exist, the teams (both future and past), the mission and honestly the rest of the world, they didn’t matter, weren’t real. For these’s long heartbeats only the two of them existed.  

He could only see the back of Leo’s head so he couldn’t see the expression on his face but he could see Jemma’s face work, blindly he reached out and put his arm around Simmons as an automatic response to try to comfort her.

A sob caught in Jemma’s throat and then they both exploded forwards throwing themselves at each other. They wrapped their arms around each other, knuckles turning white from their grip. She buried her face in his shoulder and he hid his in her hair and sobbed. They both were, not nice it’s been so long I’m happy to see you again sob’s but deep painful sounds that spoke of long held pain, hurt and fear.

Tearfully she thumped his shoulder “Stop doing that!” she exclaimed between sobs “I already lost you once, I just can’t…” Her voice trailed off and she pressed herself closer to Leo and mentally Fitz finished her sentence for her

“Loose you like you lost your husband” He dug his fingers into Simmons shoulder, his emotions were at war in his chest, empathy for Jemma and Leo’s pain, awkwardness over viewing something so private, the desperate need to keep Simmon’s friendship and something dark and ugly that made him want to scream over the unfairness of it all. He pressed his eyes shut so tight he saw sparks behind his eyelids while he grappled with his emotions. Leo’s little chuckle startled him away from his conflicted emotions and forced him to open his eyes.

He could see their faces better now, both so familiar yet so different, tears sparkle on their checks in the afternoon sun, Leo had pulled back from their desperate embrace just far enough to stroke Jemma’s silky brown hair and cup her cheeks. The little playful smile made him look almost handsome as he carefully wiped her eyes “Death cannot stop true love” His smile grew to a grin “it can only delay it”

Trust himself to make sappy film references at a time like this. Just to break the tension. And yet it felt wrong witnessing Leo and Jemma’s reunion. It was too private; they shouldn't have been there.

Jemma scoffed and rolled her eyes at Leo and pulled him back into their embrace, fingers smoothing the short hair on the back of his head, sunlight glinting off the ring on her fourth finger she sighed sounding simultaneously extremely happy and fondly exasperated “Oh Fitz… what am I going to do with you?”

“You can’t call me Fitz” Leo voice is muffled but cheery “You have to call me Leo while we’re here”

Aghast she pushed him back to look at him again “I’ve never called you Leo”

Leo pressed their foreheads together, blue eyes crinkled with happiness “It’s just until we get home”

“Yes but…” she trailed off as she wrapped her arms firmly around Leo’s neck, eyes half closed.

“Yes but?” Leo teased her gently. Whatever Jemma was going to say was promptly forgotten when she pulled Leo to her and they kissed. Like properly kissed. Like a proper full on slow-mo, camera circling, sun setting, music swelling kiss of epic proportions.

Shocked, he let go of Simmons like she’d burnt him and they leap apart, faces on fire with embarrassment. It felt a trapdoor opened beneath his feet plunging him down into confusion and into a world where nothing computed anymore. They were Together? As in together with a capital T? His brain got stuck on that thought like a gear catching on a particularly rough or degraded part.

Simmons’s relationship status had always irked him, probably going back to when they’d first met and he’d had that ridiculous crush on her. Had thought about doing all of those relationship things with her, had he imagined kissing her, wanted to destroy her boyfriends because they weren’t good enough for her, fantasised about her in the middle of the night…

…but those were just silly crush things that he’d had pushed down so much he rarely noticed them nowhere days when they bubbled up to the surface he’d automatically pushed them down. Their friendship was too important to him to mess up with his stupid fantasies. He’d rather be her Best Friend in the whole world than be that guy she used to know. 

Annoyingly, joy and hope started to bubble up through his disbelief making him feel like he’d drunk to much lemonade. Furiously he pushed it down and began to pace in short jerky movements, after all they were only together because Jemma had lost her perfect husband, he was her second choice, a back up. Bitterness tasted sharp on his tongue and immediately he regretted feeling this way so angry and resentful to a guy he’d never met, to be angry at Simmons that way, it’s not like him.

Plus it’s no-one’s fault that the universe hates him.

All this emotional turmoil takes place in less than a second and he manages to drag himself away

He can’t bring himself look at Simmons, who is in a similarly shocked state as he is so he looks at the rest of the team instead, their reactions are about what he expected: 

Coulson looks gobsmacked, pleased but gobsmacked,

May is expressionless but very faintly he can see the corners of her lips curled up in a smile huh he must be getting to know her better,

Skye is beaming in delight hopping up and down on the spot, hands clasped under her chin mouthing “I was right, I was right, I was right” 

Only Ward’s is not how he expected to see, it’s a calculating, slightly smug expression that is at odds with his usually pleasant demeanour.

Daisy groans and covers her eyes with her hands “Get a room you two” Like this was a regular occurrence. They broke apart blushing madly, especially then they catch sight of Fitz and Simmons’s pale stunned expressions.

“Sorry” Jemma said a little breathlessly and Fitz can feel the blush creep up his cheeks to his ears. He did that he made her breathless, well his future self did.

Hand on her hips, gauntlets shining in the sun Daisy does has a strikingly good impression of May “Seriously you guys couldn’t just like hide it for twenty four hours?” She sounded stern but her eyes are twinkling with mirth, like Skye Daisy seems delighted that they are together.

They have the good grace to look embarrassed, arms still around each other, Leo is gently running his hands up and down the soft skin of Jemma’s inner forearms. Flushing intensely Leo mutters “Well you know”

Compassion floods across Daisy’s face as well as a lot of sadness “Yeah I know” She shook her head affectionately and said brightly “But you’re together again, this time with minimum trauma”

Her words do not have the soothing impact on them she appeared to have wanted, if anything they clutched each other tighter in alarm and both said with utter seriousness “Don’t taunt the curse”. He’d had thought they might have been joking with Daisy except for their solemn, anxious expressions.

He tries to catch Simmons’s eyes but she’s still not looking at him, this latest discovery has put a wall up between them, an awkwardness which shouldn’t exist between them.

Coulson cleared his throat, ever the buzz kill, to get their attention which made Jemma and Leo both jump, evidently his earlier impression that they hadn’t noticed anything but each other during their reunion was spot on. Putting his hands in his pockets Coulson looked at the trio of time travellers impishly “Okay, now we’ve taken a moment I think we need to discuss how to move forward”

The three of the nod automatically in agreement and he remembers how Leo calmed down to talk to Coulson in the interrogation room. Despite all of the changes they’ve gone through they still obey Coulson almost without thinking about it, he’s still their leader and they trust him. It’s reassuring to know that even though he doesn’t like all of Coulson’s decisions he/Leo still respects and believes in him.

As Coulson goes to greet Daisy properly, Ward follows him protectively but with a roguish grin on his face. If Fitz hadn’t been looking at Jemma, trying to figure out how she could have fallen for him he would never have seen her expression. It was a strange expression he’d never seem on her before Part fear, real fear the kind that makes you want to hide until it goes away, part hurt but mostly it’s of anger, no not anger, rage. It’s the same expression Leo had on when he met Ward in the interrogation room.

Unlike with Leo, Ward didn’t see this attack coming, after all who would suspect Simmons of deliberately trying to hurt someone. But this is not quite a Jemma they know; this is one forged through fire just like Leo. So before anyone can react Jemma tore herself out of Leo’s embrace and flew at Ward and for the second time that day someone punched Ward with a dull thwack.

Hurriedly Leo grabbed Jemma around the waist and hauled her away from Ward body curved protectively around her, keeping himself between her and Ward. Blood drips from Ward’s split lip as Jemma and Leo both breathe harshly. They’ve both tense, coiled like springs ready to fight or flee depending on Ward does. While Daisy looks on equally tense and with contemptful look on her face.

Without a doubt none of them are happy to see Ward. Why? He wonders.

Arms still wrapped desperately around Jemma he could hear Leo muttered “Calm down Furiosa, I think you got him”

Jemma stroked his cheek gently, trying to calm poor Leo’s fear and agitation and said contemplatively “You know punching him felt even more amazing than shooting him ever did.”

Leo hums in agreement “I gave him the black eye” the look she gives him is so full of pride it’s almost funny.

Astounded Ward makes a wordless gesture at Daisy to try to make her get future Fitzsimmons to apologise to him she looked at him coldly and just shrugged “You deserve it” is all she said. She flounced off through the blast doors and beckons at them to follow her “Come on I’ll catch you guys up with the rest of the team. He notices that Jemma and Leo are careful to put May and Coulson between them and Ward.

As they followed Daisy into the base he can just catch Leo whisper to Jemma “Is that really what my hair looks like from the back?”

What’s wrong with his hair?

*

Inside the Lighthouse is even cooler that the outside if the circumstances were different he’d be bouncing all over the place, putting his nose in everything and exclaiming “You got me a Bat cave!” but now is not the time especially as the atmosphere especially between Ward and Jemma and Leo crackles with hostility, like the air before a thunderstorm.

The control room is dusty and full of the chunky old style monitors quite like the first computers he took apart as a child; his fingers itch to dismantle them for old times’ sake. His brain itches to discuss the base with Simmons, to get back their old dynamic back but things are still off between them. He wants it back desperately.

They all assemble around the large table that someone has dragged in from the kitchen area. It’s covered with maps and blueprints of various building, including what looks like a container ship. Daisy leaned carelessly against the railings arms crossed across her chest, dark eyes lingering over Coulson and Skye. Warily Leo and Jemma slid around Ward and retreat to a whiteboard full of calculations of what looks like sound resonance, which is baffling. Like Leo’s calculations on the Bus earlier both he and Simmons lack the understanding to fully comprehend what Leo and Jemma are trying to do.

Leo is much more relaxed now he’s been reunited with his version of Jemma and at being back in familiar if slightly dustier than normal surroundings. There’s a lightness in his eyes and in his step that is impossible to miss. Fitz is much easier to see in Leo now and he is now no longer a stranger.

They both lean against the whiteboard and eye him and Simmons with some trepidation.

Perfectly at easy like he ran into the future versions of his younger team members everyday of the week Coulson leaned forward “So…Time travel???”

Daisy, equally at ease with the weirdness nodded in agreement “Not the weirdness this we’ve ever done, but yeah pretty weird” It felt odd that the newest member of the team was leading them in the briefing.

An awkward silence reigned for several moments.

“What happened?” Coulson proceeded to explain all the events that had led them up to this moment. Daisy’s face grew darker and more closed off as he wrapped up their story.

Daisy sighed tiredly “I did hope we could come back without running into anyone we knew. At least we have you back now Fitz” She smiled at Leo “We can find our way home now.”

If Coulson was geeking over the possibility of time travel he wasn’t showing it instead he gestured at the empty seats “Where are the rest of us? Me, May and Ward?” Ok maybe he was geeking out a little.

Daisy cringed a little “May and Coulson didn’t come back with us” She hesitated noticeably “They’re taken a umm…. Vacation” He can feel his forehead crease up in confusion. Coulson and May on holiday? That doesn’t sound like the dedicated agents he knew especially one with such unusual circumstances. Then he notices that Leo, Jemma and Daisy all have similarly strained looks on their faces that reminds him of the face he makes when he thinks about his parents making him.

Jemma recovers herself first “We sent Bobbi and Hunter after the Gravitonium, while we looked for you”

Head in his hands Leo groaned “Let me guess Hunter wants to use a helicopter to get in and out right?”

Both Daisy and Jemma look deadpan “Yup”

“It’s his old pal Rusty isn’t it?”

They both nodded “Yep, He’s the best pilot Hunter’s money can buy”

Leo sighed and spoke mostly to himself “I’d better get those fire extinguishers out”

The worrying thing is he doesn’t sound like he’s joking

“Bobbi as in Bobbi Moore, Mockingbird?” Skye is fangirling as much as Coulson can be “She’s a legend” Skye’d been working hard on becoming familiar with the various legendary agents in SHIELD and only last week she regaled them for an hour over the exploits of Mockingbird.

Daisy played with her gauntlets straps “The very same”

“Wait” The blood from Ward’s split lip has dried and left and interesting stain on his shirt, black really does hide bloodstains very well. “I’ve heard of this Hunter, He’s a mercenary” He turned to Coulson in alarm “You can’t trust mercenaries” Unfortunately that is a sad but true fact of the world they live in.

Leo bristled at that “You can trust Hunter” He glared at Ward the earlier hostility rising again before he brightened considerably at a memory “He broke me out of a secure military prison once”

That statement in itself didn’t make this Hunter chap sound any more reliable.

As if he’d read his mind, Ward scoffed “Just because he broke you out of prison doesn’t not make him trustworthy. Mercenaries are all the same only in it for the money”

Leo looks like he’s going to fire back a retort when conference phone went off. “Speak of the Devil” he said as Jemma darted forward and hit the button off the conference phone “And he shall come, Hunter Bobbi how’s it going?”

“Aww Mate, You’re a legend” A rough friendly voice with a London accent filled the room “You made it then? Simmons was dead worried about you?”

Leo grinned at Jemma who smiled back “Really?”

“Oh yeah” Hunter’s sounded very merry, plainly looking forward to the havoc he was about to raise “We’re about to raid the compound, It looks tricky. Its gonna be fun, they’ve got these pathetic little laser grids and I’ve been helping Bobbi with her stretching”

In the background they could hear a woman start to tell Hunter off for saying that

The three of them rolled their eyes and Leo leaned closer to the conference phone “Don’t crash the helicopter this time okay?”

“I didn’t crash it last time, it was Rusty! Besides Bobbi’s flying!”

They continued to bicker for a while which is surprising, he’s never been great at making friends with people least of all rough tough mercenary types they’ve always made fun of him, but Leo and Hunter just bounce off each other ribbing away and making fun of their football teams. Out of the corner of his eye he watches Jemma watching him and Simmons with a poignant expression on her face.

“Seriously though mate” Hunter’s voice sobers up and goes serious “I’m glad you’re back, Simmons was going out of her mind with worry. I mean it’s not surprising considering last time.”

“Hunter!” The warning is heavy in Leo’s tone which Hunter gaily ignores.

“I mean it’s not surprising considering last time you two got split up you got killed”

He dies, died. It’s like he’s been forced into an ice bath the shock is so severe freezing every muscle, every heartbeat and nerve impulse. He dies? That doesn’t make any sense since Leo is walking around talking and kissing Jemma. What was it Jemma had said earlier? “I lost you once” At the time he’d thought she’d been talking about her husband but what if Leo had been her husband? And she’d lost him but found a way to get him back? He wouldn’t put anything past Simmons to find him again she was so determined when she set her mind to something.  No wonder Leo had been so desperate to find her again after being separated. They both must have been so afraid.

Wildly Leo looks from shocked face to shocked face “It wasn’t that bad” He’s trying to minimise the impact of what Hunter’s saying and failing miserably.

“Wasn’t that bad” Hunter chuckled disbelievingly “you practically got cut in half by a Building! Then you come back from the dead like Lazarus, cos you froze yourself like a popsicle to get to the future to save everyone, only that one died and left only you. Both dead and alive at the same time, like Schrödinger’s cat” Hunter paused for a second “Schrödinger’s Fitz.” He laughed at his own joke.

The room is suddenly rocked with tremors causing Hunter to trail off, Daisy interrupted with a strangled tone “Hunter you’re on speaker and our past selves are here and you’ve just told them everything” Her voice rose up several octaves letting him know just how much he’d messed up.

There was a loud thunk probably Bobbi thwacking Hunter around the head to punish his thoughtlessness and long pause followed and then Hunter’s voice rang out again “Hi Mini Me’s”

There was a scuffle and a woman probably Bobbi’s said “We’ll let you know when were on our way back” and hung up, just before she did they heard her say faintly “Hunter you can’t just go blurting things out when you don’t know who’s in the room”

When Hunter tried to defend himself they could just hear her shout exasperatedly over him with “You’re supposed to be a spy!”

And on that bombshell Hunter and Bobbi hung up.

*

After the bombshell Hunter had dropped on them it had taken a while for the unwittingly revealed information sink in. It’s shameful for him to admit it but after the meeting he slunk away by himself and found a quiet corner several levels below in what must be a storage area. Amid all of the boxes and crates, he half expected to find the Ark of the Covenant stashed in there somewhere; he finally lets himself crumple. He doesn’t cry, just strangely deaden as he tries to acclimatise to his new reality.

He’s left alone to stew with his conflicted thoughts for hours. He’s got many questions that he both wants to know the answer too and really doesn’t at the same time.

Really he should be finding Simmons and talking things out with her, to try to find their footing in their new reality but it’s too much, too big to even begin to try to talk about it. All this confusion is probably why Leo had tried to keep everything a secret and he appreciated his future self for trying to look out for him.

But the truth will out. His laughter at that thought was harsh and bitter even to his own ears. In the end he’s just rocking back and forth in the dark, listening to his heartbeat that one day is going to be callously snuffed out.

What makes his death even worse is that there’s no rhyme or reason for it. The building didn’t have any malicious intent on killing him it just failed structurally and in falling down it managed to break him in the processes, just an accident and as horrible an accident can be, was it an accident that happened at random. There’s no one to blame, except maybe himself for being there in the first place.

Unless he thought wryly to himself, in the future buildings can be evil and want kill people. Perish the thought.

The door to the storage area creaks open startling him from his reprieve, he doesn’t really want to talk to anyone so he curls himself up even smaller and shuts his eyes. When he was younger he’d wished he could be invisible but now he really wished he was.

“Fitz?” For a moment he thinks it’s his Simmons come to talk to him but it isn’t its Leo’s Simmons, Jemma. She’s five years older than him and he feels sixteen again, tongue-tied and self continuous to be around a beautiful woman. He blinks in realisation, who he’s (his future self) has had sex with, that thought makes him blush to the routes of his hair and he moves a little in shock making the crate he’s leaned up against creak.

She sits down next to him and calmly hands him a cup of tea, it’s done exactly the way he likes it something’s never change. She didn’t try to touch him just waited until he’s calm enough to come and sit next to her.

Eventually he manages to stutter out “How didn’t you find me?”

Jemma shrugged “Fitz” She cringed “Leo always comes here when things get too much for him” She looked at him affectionately over the rim of her tea “You haven’t really changed much in that respect.”

His laughter is just as bitter as before “I’m not so sure about that?”

Jemma’s smile is poignant “We all change Fitz, it’s just how life works. Its small steps but they take you in the right direction”

How can she be so sure?

“Where’s Simmons?”

Again that sad smile “Leo went to find her” She twitched “I think I make her uncomfortable, I’ve never been good with change” At least she’s honest, Simmons has never coped with change well.

“I don’t want anything to change” It sounds cowardly to admit it but once change starts it to grow exponentially until it crosses the event horizon and nothing can go back to the way it was before.

“Leo didn’t want anything to change either” Jemma is playing with her red bandanna not really looking at him either “It took years and a lot of pain for both of us to get to a place where the changes in us and in our relationship no longer frightened us.”

She reached out and gripped his fingers tenderly “You’ve had some knocks Fitz, some damages but your still the same man on the inside who make things from the genius of your mind and the goodness of your heart to help people." She paused for a moment to let it sink in “I still prefer you in cardigans though” she sends him a shaky little grin like she’s tried to make a joke.

Despite everything she’s managed to make him feel better just like Simmons always has done and as they sit there in the in the cool musty room he hears himself asking “So what happens now?”

Jemma shrugged “I don’t know, none of us remember anything like this ever happening, so maybe we’re in a new loop or we find a way to block the memories out.”

“Are you scared?”

“We both are” In his heart he knows she’s talking about herself and Leo, they’re scared that if they change their past too much, they might lose who they are now, perhaps even their relationship something they both value more than anything. Leo had admitted as much in his interrogation. He wants to comfort her but there aren’t really any words he can say that will. 

After a while a soft knock at the door jolts him out of his thoughts, Leo sticks his head around the door “Hey” He smiled softly “Look what we found.” To his delight and apprehension Simmons follows Leo into the room, she smiled softly at him and moved to sit on his other side and rested her head on his shoulder and sighed tiredly as carefully he smoothed the silky strands of hair that had escaped from her ponytail.

“We didn’t take this very well did we” She said softly still resting her head against his shoulder, he didn’t want to speak so he just pressed his cheek into her hair so she could feel him nod.

“Actually you’re both taking this better than we thought you would” Leo say crouching next to Jemma and handing her the box he’s carrying.

If it had come from anyone else he would have thought it would be an insult but since its Leo there’s no condemnation in it just stating a simple fact. Jemma has moved slightly so Leo can more comfortably sit next to each other, one hand resting on his thigh. They’re so comfortable together, blissfully happy just to be in each other’s company and maybe that all that needs to change in their relationship to move friendship into love, it’s still overwhelming though.

Leo must have guessed his train of thought; otherwise he’s a mind reader now “Don’t worry Fitz, you haven’t had that Holy Crap! I love her; I’ve always loved her moment yet.” His smile isn’t mocking more like he finds it funny now.

“You got married?” Simmons asks in a small voice.

This time its Jemma that answers “Technically I got married twice” the memory of what happened to that other Fitz sobers them all up for a moment.

Wanting to break the tension he tries to make a joke “Did you go on a honeymoon or did you guys just spend it in the lab?” It’s old, weak joke yelled at them by their classmates at the Academy. Leo shook his head exasperated but Jemma tilted her head to the side eyes glazed in dreamy remembrance.

“We saved England from Killer Robots” Her response is so strange that he has to grope around for another topic. The only one he can think of is “What’ve you got it that box?”

“Oh this” Leo wiggles his fingers like a show magician “This is the memory inhibitor created by Dr Samberly and perfected by Howard Stark, it can erase up to 72 hours of memories. Simmons found it and suggested it to me”

That makes perfect sense considering how Leo and Jemma have no memories of this taking place and it would also mean that Jemma and Fitz wouldn’t have to worry about changes in the timeline. Eyes sparkling Jemma leans forward and kisses Leo again. Both he and Simmons had to turn and look away, checks flushed pink, embarrassed by the show of emotion.

As Jemma and Simmons take a closer look at the Mind Inhibitor he takes the opportunity to explore a little, he’s always hated sitting still for too long. Most of the crates are boring, although some are filled with food which he quickly takes advantage of.

Its only when he get to the far side of the room does he find a several crates covered in tarps. One of the tarps flutter like there’s a breeze even though there are no drafts in the room. Curiously he gathers the rough cloth in one hand and with a gently tug the fabric slides off the box.

The crate is not like the other boxes for one thing it’s made of clear Plexiglas with tough grey plastic corners. Inside is a big grey rock, taller than he is and covered in odd spiral like symbols. He’s never been one to believe in the mystic but this… well rock radiates power. Reminds him of the time he visited Stonehenge but this is stranger almost tangible.

The crates door is ajar.

Absentmindedly he goes to close the close the door properly, still examining the strange rock, wondering why anyone would want to examine it so closely let alone hide it in an underground base that no one knew about. He’s so busy running through the possibilities that he jumps when Jemma’s hand grabs him by his upper arm and pulls him roughly away from it.

When He turns to argue with that she’s over reacting and he’s not breaking any hazmat rules the words die on his tongue. Her eyes are dark and wide with fear and her expression is beyond terrified, body coiled readiness to run at a moment’s notice. Still clutching him and grabbing hold of Simmons as they go, she pulls them away from it towards the door.  

Leo is as equally terrified as Jemma is, but holding a broom handle he slowly advances on the open container with the big rock inside. Balanced on the balls of his feet and ready to spring at a moment’s notice very slowly he extends the broom handle over and after a moment paused to gather his courage, in one sharp movement he jabs the door shut with the end of his broom handle while simultaneously leaping backward like he was trying to avoid the strike of a snake. It would have been comical if Leo and Jemma weren’t so frightened.

They all hold their breath until the door clicks shut softly and a green light confirms that the door has indeed locked. Breathing hard, Leo raced back over to Jemma’s side and wrapped his arms around her again and she ran her hands up and down his spine soothingly. From their reaction Fitz suspected that they felt he had had a luck escape from something terrible.

Before either he or Simmons can ask about what that thing was or why it frightened their Future Selves so much the door opened and May entered into the room. Her dark eyes slowly around taking in the weird rock, their bewildered expressions and Jemma and Leo embracing tightly their fear still etched on their faces. Being May her expression didn’t change and she didn’t ask for an explanation she merely said.

“Hunter called, they’ve got the Gravitonium and are on their way back.”

Chapter Text

As he stood with Leo, Jemma and Simmons he reflected that this would have been lovely place just to stand and stare at the scenery, if only they hadn’t been waiting for a risk taking mercenary and one of the most effective agents in SHIELD to arrive in a rickety (borrowed) helicopter with a most likely stolen crate of one of the most dangerous known substances on the planet.

Sometimes he wondered what it must be like to have a normal life.

Still it could be worse, he’d thought Lake Ontario was beautiful in daylight, it turned out that it was even more stunning at sunset. The setting sun, a slowly descending white-hot sphere, stained the sky orange, red and a variety of pinks while clouds stood out in navy blue ink stains streaked across the sky. Scientifically, he knew that the stunning pinks and oranges where created by the light having to travel further through the atmosphere, becoming more refracted and scattering the red light. On the other hand the gentle warm orange light turned everything into a water coloured canvas and painted everything in an otherworldly romantic light.

His older self seemed to be as entranced has he was as he and Jemma stood, arms slung around each other in casual affection, faces bathed in the orange light. Jemma was leaning her head, eyes closed against Leo’s shoulder, a picture of peace and tranquillity. Leo looked like he’d never seen anything so beautiful. And as he watch Leo press a kiss to the top of Jemma’s head he couldn’t help but wonder what Leo found more beautiful.

Looking at them stirred up uncomfortable emotions and truth’s he wasn’t ready to admit to himself.

A small mountain of fire extinguishers, enough to equip an entire fire engine, stood between him and Simmons and their future selves. Evidently Leo had not been joking about needing fire extinguishers; apparently he’d had a negative experience with Hunter and helicopters.

“It’s a long story” Leo had said as they followed him around in search of fire extinguishers, Jemma had disappeared up to the control room “Hunter likes to do things on the fly and rarely thinks things through properly and he doesn’t have the best taste in friends” He blinked owlishly “I guess it’s not really a long story after all”

A sudden faint thrumming sound jolted him from his reflections. Gradually the steady juddering roar of a helicopter engine became audible and a dark silhouette appeared above the horizon. As it came closer like a hulking angry wasp the downdraft buffeted him until all of them were forced to crouch and the roar filled his ears and was so loud it made his teeth rattle with the vibration. Despite the small flames flickering cheerfully around the rear engine it still landed relatively smoothly, a testament more to the pilot’s skill than the helicopter’s airworthiness.

The hold door slide open and a roguishly handsome man with an overly large grin poked his head out and yelled “Oi Fitzy you got a fire extinguisher? Otherwise this birds gonna go up like a…” A stream of extinguisher spray hit him in the face cutting him off.

A pokerfaced Leo holstered his fire extinguish “Whoops” was all he said. The man, Hunter didn’t look annoyed at all as he all but bounced over to Leo and almost knocked him over with a bear hug which Leo readily returned.

The pilot stuck her blonde head of the cockpit and bellowed at them “Hunter fight the potentially deadly engine fires first, hug later!”

So pushing the potentially fatal consequences of being dangerously close to an on fire, highly flammable machine, he grabbed another one of the fire extinguishers and joined the others in fighting the thankfully small fire. With an final defiant flicker the fire died leaving only the twisted blackened metal of the now ruined engine and they all stood back to survey the damage.

Bobbi tilted her head to one side in contemplation “You don’t think this is why in the future Rusty’s always reluctant to let you hire one?” Hunter put on a comically outraged look.

Jemma gave him a sidewise glance “Probably”

He elbowed her and then enveloped her in a rough hug “I’m glad you’re ok Simmons” he let go of her to playfully pull Leo into a headlock. Bobbi rolled her eyes at her partner’s antics and launched into an animated explanation on what went wrong in on the mission and how it was all Hunter’s fault.

Watching them all together, the unwelcome, unwanted familiar feeling of being once again left out of the group welled up inside of him. For so long he and Simmons had been on the periphery of the group, always too young or too smart to fit in properly, the downside of being teen genii. Yes, technically they are his friend’s too but at this point of his life he’s never met them and therefore he’d never had those experiences which bonded them together into a friendship. It’s the absent of that experience and bond is what he feels most keenly. Simmons’s gave his and a squeeze and a quick glance at her slightly sad expression told him she felt the same longing almost as much as he does.

Footsteps broke him from his thoughts, Leo and Hunter where lugging a big grey box between them, at the sight of them Hunter dropped the box on Leo’s foot, who hoped around with a muffled yelp and Jemma beamed at them “Fitz, Simmons this is Hunter and Bobbi, guys you know” She paused briefly confused over then correct tenses “…Fitz and Simmons”

Bobbi clapped her hands over her mouth in delight, blue eyes shining while Hunter bounced over to them like an excited terrier “Oh my god!” He exclaimed “You’re both so cute!”

 He had to draw back slightly, unused to so much unsolicited physical contact after Hunter roughly rumpled his hair and then whirled around excitedly back to Leo who was still holding his foot “You have curls Fitz!” Hunter’s eyes where gleaming joyfully “You never told me you had curls”

Leo had most likely never told Hunter precisely to avoid this reaction.

“And Simmons” His hackles rose as Hunter’s eyes slid appreciatively up and down Simmons “Not that I don’t love your style now but man” He grinned “You were rocking the chic nerd look” Simmons smiled uneasily at him and took a half step away from him.

Bobbi grabbed her partner and pulled him away from them, smiling calmingly at them “Sorry, he’s a bit thoughtless sometimes” a bit of an understatement, she continued compassionately “This must be weird for you.”

Damn right it was, so many unexpected this had happened over the last few days he’d have thought he surely must have gotten used to the weirdness by now like slowly putting acclimatising a goldfish in a tank but no.

She glanced over at Leo and Jemma “For all of you”

While providing a leaning post for Leo as he examined his bashed foot, Jemma just shrugged “At this point I’m just glad that there isn’t a World War Two solider Fitz running around”

What must it have taken for that scenario to be considered possible? He’d know that they’d been though a lot, up to an including multiply unwilling separations, a severe brain injury and his death.

 What was the bench mark of improbability?

Leo grimaced as he put weight on his foot “Can we please get the Gravitonium inside first and have discussions about the how much we’ve changed one we’re inside?” He said sharply “It is the reason we’re all in this mess in the first place after all.”

Half-heartedly he grabbed one of the other handles of the box and helped Leo and Hunter carry the Gravitonium over to great bunker doors while Jemma input the code into the door. Glancing over his shoulder he took one last look at the setting sun before he followed them down into the hard grey concrete walls of the Lighthouse.

Just before they reached to control room where the others were waiting for them Leo ground to a halt, horrified realisation flooding across his face. The sudden stop nearly made the slippery plastic handle slip from his fingers and annoyance flooded through him, the box was heavy, the handle was digging into his hand and he didn’t want to be close to one of the most dangerous substances on this earth for any longer than he had to

Wide eyed Leo whirled toward the rest of them “I forgot…” Out of the corner of his eye he could see Jemma’s face go pale at the same sudden realisation as her husband. One hand going up to her mouth, the other reaching out to grab Hunter’s shirt “Hunter” she spoke urgently “You have to stay calm”

Unfortunately Ward chose that moment to slide the door open, Hunter’s shocked expression was quickly replaced by a cool icy calm look of pure rage and before anyone had a chance to stop him, threw himself at Ward with a bellow. Vaguely behind him he could hear Leo and Jemma trying to restrain Bobbi from either joining the fray or going to drag Hunter off Ward, He wasn’t really sure, as the chaos in front of them unfolded.

Fear for his friend pounded through his veins as Hunter pinned Ward to the floor, forearm against his throat. “You” Hunter snarled, panting and tightening his grip “You keep on showing up like a bad penny” Ward looked slightly offended to be compared to such a low amount of currency and managed to knee Hunter in the stomach and rolled on to his feet. He grabbed Hunter and bodily threw him onto the table which promptly collapsed under the sudden weight. 

“Stand down” Ward said warningly “I’m not in the mood”

Hunter clambered to his feet “What are you in the mood for then Ward?” A sneer contorted his face “We all know what a twisted son of a bitch you really are. Tried to kill anyone’s significant other recently?”

The two men continued to exchange brutal blows, he wished he still had one of the fire extinguishers so he could separate them, a fact he could hazily remember as advice for separating fighting dogs, but they had all been used up putting out the fire in the engine.

Why did their future selves hate Ward so much? He’d known that they’d deliberately tried to keep future event’s from them to prevent the timeline from being contaminated, the success of that varied but one thing none of them could completely hide was how much they didn’t want Ward around them. Hunter was currently trying to kill him, Bobbi was apparently trying to help him if not restrained by Leo and Jemma, Leo and Jemma eyed him with him with a combination of utter fear and anger, resorting to actual physical violence when provoked and Daisy treated with what was at best contempt.

What must have happened between them for them to hate him so much?

The fight was reaching fever pitch when May, Coulson, Skye and Daisy raced into the control room attracted by the noise. Skye’s eyes were round with shock and she sidled over to the corner where he and Jemma were sheltering from the sudden violence, the three of them huddled together against the madness. May looked like she was just about the enter the fray and forcibly separate the two of them when a out of nowhere Hunter and Ward were knocked of their feet by a sudden powerful vibration which made the wall shudder and dust cascade down from the ceiling. The vibrations pinned them against the far wall and suddenly everything was quiet except to the steady rumble of the vibrations still pinning the two men to the wall. 

Confused and bewildered he looked wildly around for the source of this madness a piece of masonry caught him on his cheekbone making him yelp with pain. At the epicentre of the vibrations… no that was the wrong word quake maybe? Stood Daisy, one arm outstretched, her gauntlet catching the light. Her expression was composed, her dark brown eyes were hard she hadn’t moved from the door but her power radiated from her, godly, inhuman. Unease trickled up his spin, earlier Leo had said that Daisy could open the bunker doors with ease.

Is this what he had meant?

He caught himself glancing apprehensively at Skye who fortunately hadn’t noticed, she was too caught up in her future self. Did this power lurk inside of her already from her mysterious past or was it something technological that had been made for her? His mind spun with the possibilities.

“Now” Daisy looked almost bored “Hunter we need him, I know you hate him but if we get rid of him now we might mess up the future” Hunter’s face tightened with understanding and Daisy raised her voice so Bobbi, currently pinned by Leo and Jemma could hear her “I want no more fighting, I want to get what we need and get back, understood?”

Another shower of dust fell from the ceiling and the columns shuddered. 

“Daisy!” Jemma yelled over, white face and quivering “Tone it down you’ll bring the building down on us.” As abruptly as it had started the vibrations stopped and Daisy lowered her arm, Hunter and Ward slid down the wall with a thud. Daisy winced and gripped her forearm. Jemma released Bobbi and dashed over to help her.

“Sorry Jemma” Daisy’s crooked smile was so much like Skye’s “I guess I’m still getting used to the power boost”

Scrambling to his feet he tuned out the rest of their conversation in favour of checking on Simmons. To his relief she was also climbing to her feet and he felt her cool hands tracing over his sore cheek and eyes closed he leaned into her touch. It felt so nice, just to be close to her that the world faded away and Skye’s voice made him jump

“Wait!” Skye had also gotten to her feet and was staring in amazement at her future self “I have super powers?”

Daisy and Jemma both started, so busy checking her for injuries they’d forgotten everyone else. Leo had also made his way quietly over to them and he winced.

“I guess the cats out of the food sack now” He said quietly.

*

It’s funny how the steady rasp of a metal file smoothing the rough edge of what looks like a metal football can be both soothing and set him on edge. Leo examined the edge he was smoothing, running his slightly trembling fingers over the edge of it. Satisfied with its smoothness he began the process again on another edge. He wished he had something to do with his hands to distract himself from the revelation that Skye has… will? Develop superpowers.

For the last hour Skye has been harassing Daisy, Leo and Jemma about how she got her powers. Daisy with lips pressed tightly together had refused to speak about it rightfully pointing out that there was no point telling her as she was going to get her memory wiped as soon as they went home. Skye had argued back that if she was getting wiped then it didn’t matter if Daisy told her what was going to happen.

And thus round and round the argument continued.

Next to him heard Simmons snort with mirth as Skye went off onto a particularly confusing yet logical argument to try to wheedle an answer out of an increasingly annoyed looking Skye. Ward sucked in his breath with a hiss as she smoothed antiseptic paste over the broken skin of his knuckles. Across the room in almost a mirror image, Jemma was patching up Hunter dabbing gently at a cut above his eye. Unlike Ward he didn’t move at the sting of the antiseptic and shot ward a triumphant look.

I didn’t make a sound even though it hurt He mentally put the words to Hunter’s thought process I’m more of a man that you Ward.

 Honestly big macho hero men always trying to one up each other.

There was a loud thump that made everyone jump of Leo putting down his metal file he grinned guilty at them all “Sorry” he said and he picked up the other half of the metal football.

He and Jemma had been working on it for the last with no explanation of what it was until Simmons had spotted Ward’s knuckles were still bleeding and offered medical attention, which in turn had brought attention to Hunter’s still weeping cuts. They had refused to be treated together so Jemma had left Leo to finish the device while she patched up Hunter and Simmons patched up Ward.

With a glance at Jemma Leo carefully aligned the two halves together, the pressure was evident on his face “I hope this works” They all watched with bated breath as with a loud click the two halves slide together, Leo, Jemma and Daisy all let out a shaky sigh of relief. “Ta-da one Gravity puck”

“I’ll be damned” Leo muttered “The specs work, Deke was right”

Daisy chuckled “He may act dumb but he’s smarter than you give him credit for” A sly grin crept over her face “He had to inherit it from somewhere”

Grinning Leo turned away muttering something under his breath which sounded like “Moronic space goon” while Jemma gave him a vaguely reproachful look,

Who was this Deke chap and why did Leo keep on referring to him as a space goon? And whoever he was it was apparent Jemma was very fond of him.

May leaned forward on her perch bracing her forearms on her knees “What exactly does this thing do?” Her calm modulated voice made everyone jump, May had that nerve-racking ability to fade into the background whenever she felt like it and he’s began to think that their future selves had forgotten she was there.

Both Leo and Jemma, leaning against the metal railing, answered in tandem

“We don’t need all of the Gravitonium…”

“…But we do need it to be compressed…”

“…So this device helps contain it” They finished brightly as one. It’s nice despite all of the change in their relationship they still are able to finish each other’s sentences.

A thought niggles in the back of his mind, at this point in his life he’s hasn’t studied Gravitonium in any great detail but Dr Franklin Hall was his chemical kinetic’s advisor and he had talked about his work with them. “But” he can hear the confusion in his own voice “Dr Hall theorised it couldn’t be manipulated due to it gravity manipulating properties”

Still next to Ward Simmons nods in agreement seeing Coulson, Ward, May, Skye and Hunter’s confused faces “You know how mercury moves away from you when try to touch it, like that but multiply it by about a thousand time”

He can see the horrified realisation dawn on their faces, but Leo and Jemma are remarkable calm at this set back.

“Its OK” Leo said roughly kneading at his forehead “We might not be able to manipulate it but we don’t have to” He waved one handedly at Daisy “Turns out powerful enough vibrations can move and compress the Gravitonium”

He flinched, hand fisting at his temple and Jemma with a concerned expression lay her hand gently on his forearm “Are you alright?” she asked him tenderly. He flashed her what was apparently meant to be a reassuring grin but it came out as more of a pained grimace. Jemma’s expression tightened with concern.

Leo had seen her brief change in expression “I’ll Okay Jemma” He caught Daisy’s dubious expression “I am really, it’s just a headache, I promise”

Jemma and Sky exchanged hesitant looks “Really?”

Leo gave them a sideways annoyed glance “Yes, come on Daisy let’s this over and done with”

As Daisy strode over to Plexiglas box containing the Gravitonium he couldn’t help lean forward eager to witness his friend’s amazing new power, he caught Simmons’s eye which sparkled with the same excitement his probably did.

Behind him he just heard Jemma whisper to Leo “If it gets worse, please tell me”

Just as quietly he heard Leo whisper back “I won’t let it”

Jemma let out a frustrated sigh.

Daisy stood one hand extended; eye’s closed like she was listening to something when her eye’s snapped open she grinned impishly at her little group of spectators and arches one eyebrow in a look that’s so Skye “Ready for show time everyone”. Now he’s aware of her power’s he can feel the subtle vibrations in the air slowly increasing in frequency and power as Daisy as she put it “tunes” herself to the room.

The sound of slapping footstep’s breaks through the hush as Bobbi raced into the room, she’s unperturbed by the spectacle in front of her “Guys! We got a problem”

“What?” Daisy is no longer impish Skye but a fully in command agent 

Bobbi grimaces “Ian Quinn must really want that Gravitonium back because he’s sent a goon squad of Centipede soldiers to get it back”

Daisy whirls round to Skye “Set up a block on all incoming and outgoing frequencies!” She barks at Skye sounding remarkable like Agent May

“Wha??”

“Just do it” She glance over at Jemma and Leo “Ready” He’ surprised to see that both of them are snapping clips into their ICERs. They both nod “Ready”

Coulson stepped forward “Everyone get ready” Daisy shot him a look of reassurance, her icy May expression defrosting slightly relieved at Coulson’s support. He glanced at their future selves “You better find something to disguise yourselves”

Daisy flips her deep black hood up, instantly shadowing her features; most likely that was what it was designed for. Jemma eased her red bandanna up over the lower half of her face, in a different situation it would have been funny, like she was playing cowboy but it isn’t this time when combined with the seriousness in her brown eyes. Leo rummages around in a crate murmuring “I know Enoch left it somewhere” before drawing on a mask.

“Hunter” Leo’s voice is altered by the mask “Don’t kill anyone”

Outside of the Lighthouse there still just enough light to see by although all of the wonderful colours have faded away leaving only a thin red-orange line on the horizon and the shadows are longer and darker. Smaller shadows scuttle between the shadows the centipede soldier’s advancing.

His heart is in his throat and fear is strangling him and he’s not in the line of fire he’s pressed being one of the bunker’s pillars with Skye and Daisy watching them approach. Bobbi had rightly pointed out “You guys aren’t trained yet, try to stay out of it ok” squeezing Simmons hand reassuringly before running off to take her position by the others.

He can just see Leo who in contrast to him looks while not calm but steely determined, he can’t see his face but the set of his shoulders tells him that.

"I wish we had the shotgun axe" He could just hear Leo say to Jemma.

“Skye” Coulson’s voice broke through his fear “Are you ready to initiate the comms blackout?”

Skye twitched typing furiously “I need a minute”

“Slow them down” Coulson ordered “We can’t stop them until they can’t communicate what they see to their commanders”

Immediately the air is filled with shots and the shadowy figures dive for cover before returning fire. Skye was typing fiercely, brows drawn with concentration. He’s too busy marvelling at Leo and Jemma, he’s only been in a few fire fights so he’s amazed to see them in action so smooth ducking in and out of each other’s way, squeezing off shots with ease and actually hitting their targets.

Apparently they did have some inborn fighting skills, take that any agent who ever failed them on their field tests.

“Got it” Skye bellowed over the noise and hit a key.

Daisy grinned “Good”

Like a mad woman she step out from behind her cover with her arms raised, the centipede soldier was so close now that he could see the confused looks on their faces at the sight of this single unarmed woman in a hoodie.

A warm strong body grabbed him and forced him to the ground. Leo pressed him into the concrete, curling over him protectively. The ground shook and there was a horrific sound a roar combined with nails being drawn down a blackboard and metal buckling. He screwed his eyes shut, that inborn instinct to close your eyes went your hiding, until the shuddering stopped. He met Leo’s blue eyes, his eyes as he was slowly released from his protective cocoon. Behind him he could see Jemma releasing Simmons, as Daisy released that shockwave they must have dived to protect them at the same time.

For some reason he’s touched that his older self tried to protect him, the younger self. Maybe it was some kind of weird self preservation maybe Leo and Jemma are trying to protect them/themselves from the horrors they will face for just a little bit longer. No matter the motive he’s strangely grateful, especially that Simmons is OK.

He held Leo’s blue gaze for a moment longer before turning to marvel at the damage one reasonable short super powered woman can do.

The damage was impressive the Centipede were all blown off their feet, head over heels, lying unconscious on the grass. The quake was so powerful it had pulverised the nearest trees turning them into matchsticks and crushed Rusty’s blackened helicopter like a tin can.

Hunter stood there with his mouth hanging open “YOU’RE THE REASON!!!!” He exclaimed

Daisy doesn’t spare him a glance as she dashes over to the nearest soldier and starts to tie him up “Shut up Hunter!” She bellowed back at him “and help me get these guys tied up and inside before their implants come back online”

*

Night has fallen properly by the time they get the last Centipede Soldier secured, tied up like a row of sardines in the far side of the control room. An almost celebratory mood has taken over the group, everyone is chatting more freely. Ward, Coulson and Skye were marvelling excitedly over Daisy’s power’s, who is taking their hero worship with good grace while Bobbi and Jemma are double checking the gravity puck while Hunter regales them with his greatest moments from his fight.

He’s feeling happy for the first time since he got dragged out of bed this morning and wondering if they could order some food. There’s a soft brush on his shoulder and Simmon’s scent fills the air and contentedly they go over the examine the gravity puck, Jemma gives them a quick run through on how it works and he has to admit this Deke fellow is a genius, Jemma finds that hilarious for some reason.

All he can see of Leo is his back as he stood over the Centipede captives, his hands were smoothing over his hair.

Hunter’s wrapped his arm around his neck and it doesn’t feel uncomfortable “…and then” he says “I got him right in the chest and knocked him off his feet”

Ward turned to look at Hunter “No, that was Leo, you missed by a mile didn’t he Leo?”

Leo was now standing over an unconscious Centipede solider

“Leo?”

“It’s Doctor” Leo’s voice was icy calm and silky, each word clipped and precise. Something about his tone made the hair on the back of his neck rise up

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the blood drain from Jemma’s face and Daisy freeze before he was sucked back down into a memory he’s tried desperately hard to forget.

He’s eight years old and Dad has taken him to the park. Supposedly to have a kick around with his new ball but all Dad wants to do is sit on the bench, smoke, drink and complain loudly to Leopold about work and how no one respects his genius. He’s the best one there and still they don’t give him the deference that is rightfully his.

He’s gotten tired of listening to Dad complain and has climbed the tree next to the bench. He’s not up too high cos he’s too short reach the next branch but he can sit up here and pretend to be a monkey and make the branch bounce. He like’s pretending to be a monkey, monkey’s have fun, monkey’s can do whatever they like, monkey’s can bite people who hurt them.

Dad’s finally noticed where he is “Leopold Get Down!” All he does is shake his head and hide his face in the leaves. Dad’s using his angry quiet voice that means he’s really angry. A hard hand grabs him by the ankle and yanks him from his safe perch.

He lands hard, then is spent spinning from a backhanded blow to his right cheek after that he can only lay there in shock. He can’t help the tears of pain and fear trickling down his face.

Dad’s voice is silky smooth and icy calm like his just put on his coat not pulled his son out of a tree and then made him see stars “You will listen to me Leopold” He hate being called that “And or God’s sake be a man and stop your whimpering”

He tries

“Hey Mister” A kind faced stranger’s asks “Is your kid alright?”

“Yes he’s fine” His Dad replied “And its Doctor”

“Fitz” Jemma’s firm yet fearful voice cut through the bad memory and promptly dropped him into a nightmare, she took a deep breath “Put the scalpel down!”

Leo was crouched over one of the centipede soldiers, a scalpel held loosely in him hand. He slowly moved the silvery blade up and down, a conductor with a baton. His hair is smoothed over to the left like he’d started to do in the interrogation room, his face is remote, stern just like Dad’s was and somehow his eye’s look darker, less blue.

“I finally figured it out” Leo spoke conversationally in that horrible cold echo of Alistair Fitz’s voice “I finally figured it out Jemma, how to save Coulson.”

“Fitz” Jemma’s voice and hands are shaking “If you remove the centipede implant that man will die” She’s still on the same page as Leo is, even though this has turned into a horror show.

Leo blinked slowly, unperturbed “So?” He’s so unconcerned about the prospect of killing someone it make him feel sick. “I’m only doing what needs to be done, I’ve done the math’s Jemma, I’ve looked at the research, we have Jaiying’s DNA all we need is the Centipede serum and we can save Coulson.”

He lays it out so reasonably, that he can almost see where he’s coming from, to save the man who is more of a father to him than his own dad is to sacrifice this one unknown man.

Only it involves murdering a man.

No Ward, you have no idea what I am capable off Leo’s word’s echo through his head, is this, what he’s meant? He’s always been afraid that something lurking somewhere inside of him, a part of his Father germinating inside of him getting to burst out and make him like his Dad. Before his Dad had left he’d tried to mould him into his view of being a man and beat anything he deemed ‘womanly weakness’ aka morals out of him. It made his blood run like ice in his veins to see exactly the man that his Dad would have been proud off.

There are black spots swimming in front of his eye and while his chest is heaving it he’s not getting enough oxygen. He can feel Simmons fingers digging into his shoulders and he can see that her lips are but the sound is muffled like he’s underwater.  Vaguely he recognises the symptoms of a panic attack but there’s a disconnect between his brain and his body, so it doesn’t feel like it’s really happening to him he’s so focused on the horrific solution to a problem that his future self is trying to complete.

“Why are you doing this?” Jemma was insistent, never taking her eyes off of Leo’s face even as the scalpel twitched between his fingers “You know how much pain Mace and Angus caused you. I can’t watch you do this to yourself.”

Leo looked thoughtful for a moment “I am doing because HE” he flinched at the sudden change in volume, Leo gestured wildly, Jemma was still like a rock “He lacks the conviction to do this, so I need to do it”

Jemma took a single step forward, hands raised pleadingly “That is because you are a much better man Fitz than…” whatever she was about to say was cut off by Leo’s roar.

“HE IS WEAK!” Leo bellowed, the scalpel blade dangerously close to the soldier’s skin “He lack the conviction to what needs to be done!” Leo’s face twitch and the hand holding the scalpel began to tremble, his voice caught suddenly full of emotion again. “Its my fault, Its all my fault he’s dying! If I hadn’t helped Radcliffe, If I hadn’t helped Ophelia…”

Both Leo and Jemma flinched

“…If I hadn’t helped AIDA none of this would have happened” Leo looked broken. The blue was returning to his eyes as a tear ran down his face he brushed it away angrily.

Jemma took another slow step forward “It wasn’t your fault Fitz” she reached up to cup his face “Your good nature and brilliance was manipulated, no one blames you and you shouldn’t blame yourself” her hands slid down to the junction between his neck and shoulders “We will figure this out Fitz, as we always do together.”

Simmons has always been able to see something in him that other people overlook, he’s never really know what it is. So is that really how she sees him? Someone kind and brave, full of goodness and brilliance? Someone who make things that help people is always what he’s strived to do but he’s never related that to any other than that.

One hand stayed on Leo’s neck while the other travelled back up to his cheek and petted away another tear; with a shaky smile she said softly “This is not the way”

Leo gave a great shuddery gasp, blinked several times like he’d just woken up from a nightmare and dropped the scalpel which landed on the concrete floor with a clatter. His eye’s bounced confusedly around the room, taking in the scalpel, the unconscious man at his feet, Jemma’s tears and his and Simmons’s taken aback expressions.

Leo’s face crumpled and Jemma pulled him into an embrace as he started to sob “Jemma?” He gasped between sobs “What would I be without you?”

Daisy was white faced and frozen behind Coulson took a slow step forward “A sadistic psychopath with a dangerously intense romantic side?” she made a forced smile.

It’s not very funny; in fact it’s not funny at all. But Leo, his face hidden against Jemma’s chest, starts to chuckle.

Coulson turned to Ward “Take Fitzsimmons and Skye back to the Bus” It’s an order, something he obeys gladly because he can’t be here anymore.

As he goes his last sight of Leo is of him sitting tiredly back to the wall against staring straight ahead with a thousand yard stare. Jemma her arms still around him leaning her head on his shoulder a look of stark terror on her face, not fear of him but of fear for him.

*

They’ve been sitting there for hours. Simmons is still keeping a tight hold of him as they sit on the sofas in the Bus’s common area. Her touch, something that usually makes him so happy, but right now the feeling of her skin on his makes his skin crawl. There’s a part of him lurking deep inside that is so ruthless cruel and downright scary and it is inside of him he can’t deny it not when he’s see it out in the open and it makes him feels unclean, contaminated like a sample from Simmons side of the lab.

He doesn’t want dirty her with his badness and he’s afraid, so so afraid that he’ll hurt her like his Dad hurt his Mum. Tear’s prick behind his eyelids, he’s never wanted that.

Subtly he tries to shrug out of her grip but instead her grip tightens so much it hurts like she’s afraid that if she lets go of him, she’ll loose him.

 You have no idea what I’m capable off

That’s the worst part of it, he’s really had no idea he was capable of clinically deciding to attempt to kill an innocent man, well an almost entirely innocent man he had attack the Lighthouse earlier. Until today it had never even have crossed his mind that he was capable of killing someone in cold blood, purely for a chance.

If he’s capable of that then he’s capable of doing the very worst. Whatever that may be.

“I’m a bad person” The words are out of his mouth, breaking the silence, before he’s even realised he’s said them aloud, they taste wrong in his mouth.

He can hear the others especially Simmons vehemently deny that he is but he’s seen it with his own eyes he’s bad.

“You’re not Fitz” Daisy’s voice breaks through the din, somehow shes managed to slip inside the Bus unnoticed while they all lost in their own thoughts. She flopped down on the sofa next to him and sighed in contentment, “Man I’ve missed this couch”

She sat there with her eyes shut contentedly for a moment before turning to look at him and Simmons. Her expression is stern but her dark eyes and very kind. “You’re not a bad person Fitz” She repeated “The amount of stress he’s been under for the last few days, the battle combined with his pre-existing brain injury can sometimes make you” she twitched and corrected herself “makes Leo disassociate and those memories of the person he was in that world can take over. Something happened, to all of us really but someone messed around with our head’s putting us into this virtual world to try to fix out greatest regrets” She sighed “Kinda like the Matrix only by fixing our regrets they twisted the virtual world into a nightmare”

She gazed absentmindly at Skye, who fidgeted nervously “What happens to us affect’s the person we become, sometimes the right influence turn’s us into heroes” Her eyes lingered on Ward for a moment “and sometimes it makes us the worse possible version of ourselves”

Daisy’s eyes become clouded with memories good or bad he can’t tell and muttered almost to herself “Hunter say’s every light needs a shadow, you just need to control it. I believe that” His mind spun remember what Jemma had said “Your goodness and brilliance” Maybe in this virtual world Daisy was describing the brighter the light the darker the shadow

Her fingers laced themselves together all she was saying was just making him feel even worse before “But there was one thing about us the virtual world just couldn’t change about you, Fitz.” Daisy broke into a smile

“You’re a romantic Fitz; you’ll do absolutely anything for the people you love” Her eyes were kind “And that’s not a bad thing overall”

Chapter Text

His room’s ceiling is depressingly familiar to him now after an almost sleepless night; unable to relax he had frustratedly tossing and turning all night. Watching the luminous green hand’s of his clock go round and round and when he had finally nodded off out of pure exhaustion he was chased from one nightmare to the next by something sinister and dressed in a nice suit.

Despite what Simmons and Daisy had both tried to impress on him last night he can’t escape it, he’s a bad person, who will do bad things. The cacophony of negative thoughts constantly going round and round in his head, cannibalising his mind and deafening him to anything positive, the imagined images of what might happen a relentless stream like a horror film.

 In comparison the terrible nightmares were almost a relief.

Now he lay wide awake on his on his back, arm resting behind his head watching the soft, fuzzy grey light of dawn throw shadows across the ceiling, a symbol of another night’s failure to reach the pleasant oblivion of sleep. Slowly his heavy eyes creep down and for a heartbeat he’s blissfully calm and relaxed, hopefully he’ll be able to get a few hours sleep before he’d forced to face everyone.

That hope is shattered when Leo’s face twisted in a snarl floats across his mind’s eye and the echo of “YOU ARE WEAK!” reverberates in his ears. With disgust Fitz threw his duvet off him and swung himself upright and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands and let out a rough sigh. It’s no good he can’t stay locked up here alone anymore, very quietly he slipped out in the corridor and padded barefoot down toward the lab. The cold of morning air cut through his thin t-shirt and pyjama bottoms chased away the last bit of his tiredness and belatedly he remembered that he really should have put on a jumper or fixed the Buses insulation problem so it wasn’t so bloody cold in the morning, so it was a relief when he reached the carpeted floor of the Bus’s common area.

His face flushed when he saw the room was already occupied.

On one sofa, Daisy was sprawled across the sofa, arms and legs bent into interesting if mostly likely uncomfortable angles, face smushed adorably into the pillow, her hair an impressive birds nest and she was snoring softly. In her sleep with her expression relaxed and drooling slightly she looked so much younger and much more like Skye. The reason probably was that all of her formidable energy and drive were banked. Her gauntlets rested carelessly on the floor next to her. Another time if he weren’t so tired and a maelstrom of emotions he would have sneaked them away to have a closer look at them. 

On the other sofa, and he had couldn’t suppress the blush, curled up together were Leo and Jemma. Jemma’s head was resting on Leo’s chest, knee hooked over his leg, her long brown hair lose and curling slightly, one hand resting gentle on his sternum. Leo’s brow was drawn into a frown but he was holding Jemma tightly in the circle of his arms. That uncomfortable feeling welled up in his chest again and he rubbed his own sternum in a vain attempt to relieve the ache. It wasn’t like he and Simmons hadn’t fallen asleep together before usually after a movie marathon but now he had to confront that maybe it meant more to him than just friends dozing off together.

Flushed with embarrassment, he crab walked sideways fumbling for the door to the lab, belatedly wondering why Bobbi and Hunter weren’t taking part in this impromptu sleep over until it occurred to him that they were probably keeping an eye on the Centipede soldiers still locked up in a storeroom on the Lighthouse.

He really should have been paying attention to where he was going.

In the darkness he couldn’t quite see where exactly he was putting his feet or if there were any unexpected obstacles left lying around. To his surprise and horror on his next step his foot landed on something unstable, felt like a walking boot actually, probably Jemma’s she always left things lying around like that cat’s liver for instance, for a moment it rocked under his foot and he prayed any higher powers there may or may not be that it would stay upright. But the boot maliciously decided to roll onto its side and he lost his balance, arms flailing madly he landed on the ground with a thud.

Great

He had to bite his tongue to prevent the little surprised yelp escaping from him and mentally he unleashed a volley of expletives which would have turned the air blue if spoken aloud.  Holding his breath and staying frozen where he’d fallen he hoped desperately that he hadn’t woken them up. After a full minute of listening to the soft sound of his future team-mates breathing he gradually hauled himself to his feet, dusting off his knees.

Hell’s Teeth, he was going to have shins like a school boy tomorrow.

In the dim light of the room he could see Daisy still contorted into a sleeping pretzel, one leg was now resting vertically, wiffling away peacefully. Jemma stirred slightly in her sleep, rubbing her face against Leo’s rumpled shirt before settling down again, which was a relief like him she was light sleeper. The sigh of relief that he hadn’t woken any of them was halted suddenly when he saw the gleam of Leo’s eyes open a slit.

In the silence they regarded each other for a full minute until Leo made a little gesture with his chin, disinclination swelled up inside of him he didn’t want to have a talk with Leo but it was best to go forward with a clearer picture of the future. So begrudgingly he waited and as quietly Leo extracted himself from Jemma’s embrace, she made a little whimpering sound and Leo ran his fingers soothingly through her hair and she settled back down with a unintelligible murmur once she was settled, he untangled himself quietly and reluctantly Fitz let Leo follow him down to the lab.

Leo leaned; arms crossed against the holo table and regarded him expressionlessly, blue eyes tracking him as distressed he couldn’t help but pace the width of the room repeatedly to release the relentless press of energy.

The similarities between them struck him anew as well as their differences, struck him as deeply then as they had the first time he’d first seen Leo back in that interrogation room.

Had it really been less than forty-eight hours since his world had been turned upside down?

“I’m sorry” Leo broke the silence and the misery in his voice forced him to pause in his pacing to really look at Leo. He was curled in on himself looking so much younger and more vulnerable “I...I didn’t want you to see him”

Fitz’s voice sounded wild even to his own ears “Is that what you meant? When you said to Ward that we had no idea what we were capable off?” He wants to beg Leo to tell him he’s wrong that he’s not capable of that sort of ruthlessness but at the same time he knows he is.

Self loathing clouded Leo’s expression and he nodded slowly “I think it’s always been there” The unspoken memories of Dad hung in the air between them. “I was doing ruthless thing before I got put in the framework” He trailed off thoughtfully “The Doctor, I hate him but at the same time…he’s can be very useful”

He felt his throat close up at Leo’s rationale. “You can’t mean that?”

Leo played with a pen, hands trembling, “So much has happened to me, Fitz” He continued “to us that maybe…” His face twisted, like it pained him to admit it and sighed “I don’t think he isn’t evil, not really, I mean he’s capable of anything and he has absolutely no morals but I don’t think he likes to do it, it’s more like only his only motive to do absolutely anything for the person he loves”

Black spots danced in front of his eyes again and desperately he beat back the panic attack “I don’t want to be like that, I don’t want to be capable of that sort of ends justify the means” he whispered brokenly finally pushing the words past the stranglehold on his throat. 

Leo’s hand gripped his shoulder tightly and forced him to meet his eyes; surprisingly they were set and determined “And that is what makes us different from him, I might accept that he’s part of me but I will not let him win. He’s a product of a terrible abusive father and a woman who manipulated his longing for love and his whole life to further her own agenda.”

Compassion for The Doctor suddenly welled up inside of him, he’d never been shown kindness or care by someone who’d hadn’t had an additional agenda for showing it to him, no wonder he’d turned out so twisted.

 Leo struck his own chest, blue eye’s electric and blazing “WE are not like that, Dad ditched us when we were ten and that was the best thing for us cos Mum raised us to be a good man and we met Jemma” His smile was brilliant and full of love “It’s because of them that it took becoming The Doctor for it to occur to me to kill that to that centipede solider as a solution, maybe we would have tried to extract the serum without it killing him but it would have never crossed my mind to just kill him and be done with it, without exploring all of the options first.”

Fitz felt himself be drawn into a rough hug and felt the vibration of Leo’s voice reverberate through his chest as he murmured “That’s the difference between him and us, Fitz. The Doctor he’s not part of us, not naturally anyway”

The little late night talk with Leo had if not banished his fear’s, it had at least had quietened them enough so he could finally drift off. Still it felt like it had only been moments before a soft rap on his door propelled him from sleep; through gummy eyes he fumbled for his alarm clock, half past eight great, two hours sleep at best. His muscles aches from the rigidity he’d held them and his mind was taking longer to boot up than dial up internet.

The knock came again this time followed by Simmons’s voice “Fitz?” She poked her head cautiously around the door and offering of tea and toast held out in front of her “How are you feeling?”

The sight of breakfast quickly sped up his thought process “Better now” He told her, reaching for his tea, she passed it to him and sat on the edge of his bed next to him. “Leo and I had a chat last night”

Simmons winced slightly at the mention of his future self “And?” she prompted him.

He took a big bite of toast to give himself time to think over what to say to her, he wasn’t ready for her to know what Leo had told him. He should have taken a bigger bite of toast. “You’re right, you and Daisy” and Hunter now he thought about it, He took a swig of tea “I’m not a bad person. He… I’m a good person who had a lot of bad things happen or will happen too”

Her smile was radiant and he felt the familiar warmth bloom in his chest “You must be feeling better if you’re quoting Harry Potter” she stole some of his toast “especially Order of the Phoenix” 

He chuckled “Yeah”

As he finished his breakfast, uncertainty crept up on him “Jemma” A rare use of her first name, at least for them not their future selves, it felt weird in his mouth now. “We’re ok right?”

She reached out and squeezed his hand “Come on” she said “everyone’s over at the Lighthouse already” It’s not really an answer, but it is a return to normalcy and that in itself is a relief. She tugged at his duvet, brown eyes twinkling with mischief “Don’t you want to see an Inhuman manipulate the world’s most dangerous substance into futuristic device and then time travel to the distant future?”

If she’s with him hell yeah he does.

*

Fifteen minutes later, it would have been five but Simmons had made him shower. They’d joined the others crowded around the crate containing the Gravitonium. The shining mercury like metal was in a constant state for flux forever swirling and moulded itself into fantastic impossible shapes and then remoulded itself into something equally amazing. There was something hypnotic about it but he could help but notice that their future selves’ kept an uneasy eye on it.

Daisy face was set and determined “Right let’s get this done” and extended both of her arms and frowned, apparently she’d forgotten that she wasn’t wearing her gauntlets and began looking around wildly for them.

The rest of the team scrambled around looking for them and he caught Leo, Jemma and Hunter individually give the Gravitonium a suspicious look, like it was possibly that it had the sentience to have stolen the gauntlets.

Note: Yes they really thought the Gravitonium might have stolen Daisy’s Gauntlets to prevent her from taking some of it.

It was a ridiculous thought but so many crazy thing had happened to them and to him that just to be safe he started giving it a wide berth too.

 Just in case.

Guiltily Coulson produced them from where he’d been examining them, at their astounded looks he shrugged sheepishly “Sorry couldn’t resist getting a closer look” It was nice to know that Coulson, even at his age and after meeting the Avenger’s was still fascinated by gadgets.

And by the fond yet exasperated looks on their future selves’ face’s it wasn’t something that was going to change anytime soon. 

Daisy’s face creased into a nostalgic smile as she slid the gauntlet’s onto her arms. She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly and then nodded at Leo and Jemma who simultaneously broke the seal on the crate and opened the lid. The room throbbed with vibrations as Daisy unleashed her power, making the ceiling rattle and dust to fall like a shower of snow.

 To his amazement the vibrations forced the Gravitonium in two. The Gravitonium withered and thin tendrils spilt from the two halves desperately reached out for each other only to be forced back by constant vibrations.

“Now compress it” Leo shouted over the noise, the vibration’s making him sound distorted. Daisy nodded absently as she focused on carefully moving her arms so it was more like she was holding half the Gravitonium in one hand. Jemma slammed the lid down on the other half. Gradually the Gravitonium became smaller and denser and slowly face filled with concentration she forced it into the Gravity puck. It slid shut with a light click and started hover steadily. Daisy let out a shaky tired breath and as suddenly as they’d started the vibration’s stopped.

For about a minute the room was silent with everyone holding their breath waiting for something to go horribly wrong.  Very slowly, hesitating like it might bite him Hunter reached out and scoped the ball out of mid air “Well” he said cheerfully “Mission accomplished: One floating football just what I’ve always wanted”  He tossed it in the air and was promptly scolded for his recklessness by Bobbi. Hunter just shrugged but he did hold it a bit more carefully until he gestured at both him and Leo with an impish twinkle in his eyes “Do either of you two Fitz’s fancy a kick about?”

That earned him derision from multiply people both past and future but still he kept on “Oh come on I know your both rubbish and I’m brilliant but two on one that makes it a lot fairer”

Leo gave him a mock shove but the mood in the room was jubilant.

Massaging the back of her neck Daisy leaned heavily against the nearest chair. As powerful as she was the amount of concentration she must have needed to delicately manipulate the Gravitonium must have been phenomenal. Pinching the bridge of her nose to ease the tension she muttered almost to herself “That was easier than last time”

Jemma, who’d wrestled the Gravitonium from Hunter chuckled “Yeah, you didn’t have the added pressure of have a gun pointed at me and Deke this time”

At hearing that Skye paled “Someone held you at gun point? Because of me?” She looked distraught, she hadn’t been with them long but he suspected she already felt that they were the family she’d never had.

Jemma shrugged “It could have been far worse, we could have been stuck on an alien death planet with an ancient inhuman parasite with delusions to rule the world” a pained distant look crept across her face “Or trapped at the bottom of the ocean”

Shaking her head to dislodge whatever memories she was trapped in she and Daisy exchanged mischievous glances at May “Or dancing?” Daisy grinned cheekily at her.

May dancing? He’d have to see it to believe it.

May didn’t dignify their teasing with a response only glared at them. Which they ignored!

Impressive on itself, he couldn’t wait to for the time when he would no long crumple like a tin can before the petrifying glower of the Cavalry.

“That settle’s it” Coulson shook his head despairingly at them “When you guys get back to the future, I’m ordering you to take a vacation”

There was a sardonic snort from the Gravitonium crate where Leo was double checking the locks.

“Yeah a holiday would be great” His voice rang with sarcasm “Hey Simmon’s where do you want to go? Narnia? Pandora? Atlantis?” He let out a mocking laugh.

Jemma glared sharply at him and Leo had the grace to look a little chagrined by it “I know you’re joking” She said casually “But I really wouldn’t mind going back to Bucharest at some point” 

Her response made Leo fumbled with the lock “Really” He sounded a little shocked and very touched “After last time?” He shifted uncomfortably “I…I mean last time we were there things didn’t go so well”

That sounded like Leo was drastically understating how poorly that trip went.

Supporting Daisy around the waist Jemma hauled her upright and guided her over to the kitchenette door. At the threshold she glanced back over her shoulder at them and gave a little shrug “True it wasn’t the easiest mission we’d ever been on but it had some amazing sights” She gazed flirtingly at Leo who was rapidly turning a rather interesting shade of crimson “and sounds” Her grin turned Cheshire went she saw Leo’s reaction “Thing’s I’d definitely like to repeat” Her eyebrow quirked teasingly “and maybe try something new as well”

Leo gave a little cough and turned back to fiddle with the crate’s locks again, still flushed. “Just make sure you wear your gloves, your hands get cold so easily… like little icicles”

Jemma sniggered and next to her, arm slung around her neck Daisy rolled her eyes.

As Jemma left the room dragging Daisy with her towards the kitchenette to give her a once her, Fitz made a mental note to look up Bucharest for tourism tips. It must be an amazing city for his future self to want to go back there, usually he wasn’t one for history or culture but this sounded too good to miss.

Still pink Leo gesture at him “Give us a hand would you?” to his relief both Ward and Coulson came forward to help life the heavy crate, for something that created its own gravity the Gravitonium still weighted a tonne. Together they dragged it out into an empty room off the main corridor. Coulson stood staring at it in fascination.

“It’s amazing isn’t it?” His expression schoolboy ish and he shook his head in astounded delight “Even after all this time in SHIELD the things we come across still have the ability to amaze me”

“Trust me Sir” Leo said fondly, sadly “Things only get more amazing”

Coulson grinned cheerfully at him and clapped Leo on the arm, unperturbed by Leo’s gloominess “I nearly died once Fitz…Leo. Things are never as certain as they seem” Turning away he completely missed Leo’s massive grimace as he sauntered across the room. At the threshold he turned to look at them “I’m going up top to get an ETA on Fury’s team they should be here within a couple of hours” and with that he strode off.

Leo shook his head wonderingly after him “All this time I’ve known him and still manages to impress me” he said mostly to himself.

The door clicked shut softly and immediately the atmosphere in the room crackled with tension between Leo and Ward. Cursing mentally Fitz shrank back against the wall not wanting to be caught up in Leo vs Ward no holds barred beat down Round 2.

He could almost hear the ring bell dinging.

Ward cleared his throat while Leo seemed to be attempting to drill through the ground to China purely with the force of his stare. Ward rubbed his hands on the front of his trousers and cleared his throat again. Abruptly it occurred to him that Ward was nervous maybe even afraid of Leo, which was slightly unsettling to see.

“Leo?” His voice was tentative “For what its worth, whatever I did, I’m sorry”

For a long time Leo didn’t look at him only glared at the ground, the silence became awkward and just as he thought Leo wasn’t going to reply he said softly, so softly and calmly for a moment he thought The Doctor had made a reappearance.

“There’s part of me that understands what and why, you know?” Leo spoke softly without inflection “And another part of me that can forgive you just a little bit” Fitz watched as the muscles in his jaw clenched and bunched up betraying Leo’s emotions as his voice dropped several octaves “but what you did Ward, everything you did?” Leo’s knuckles turned white and Fitz just knew that his fingernails were leaving little crescent shape makings in his palms, using the pain to distract him from his churning rage and he shook his head “I can’t condone you for any off it”

Stony-faced Leo stalked out of the room, leaving a dejected looking Ward in his wake he sat down heavily on the Gravitonium crate, the Gravitonium within swirled and quivered irritated manner apparently their future selves’ distrust towards it was contagious and rubbing off on him. He let out a loud sigh and rubbed at the cheek Hunter had bruised in their punch up. He looked so woebegone for a moment that it made Fitz shift uncomfortably from foot to foot.

“Don’t worry Ward it might never happen” He said in a vain attempt to cheer him up.

Ward sighed and got to his feet, looking conflicted “Maybe Fitz” He shrugged rolling his huge shoulders ”I’m gonna check in with Coulson and stay out of the way I’m fed up of being punched by people, especially mercenaries I don’t know.” And with that he jogged off up towards the surface.

Troubled Fitz wandered out into the corridor taking care to lock the door behind him, it wouldn’t do to have someone just come in and take it or worse for the stupid thing to decide to float off by itself.

Ok, their future selves’ paranoia about the Gravitonium had officially spread to him now.

Still disquieted he let his feet carry him towards the kitchenette under the vague notion to bring Ward a cup of tea to cheer him up, all the while pondering what Ward could possibly had done? Surely it must have been an accident? Or maybe he’d been mind controlled? Could it be changed if they knew about it or would the future roll itself out in some self fulfilling prophecy?

He was so preoccupied considering all of the variables that he almost walked straight into Simmons and Skye, luckily Simmons was able to grab him before he face planted into the floor for the second time that day. She looked at him with concern.

“Are you alright?” She asked him, looking over his face carefully “I just saw Leo with a face like thunder and I thought maybe he’d had another go at Ward so I thought I’d better check and see if you and Ward were alright?”

For her sake he gave her a faint smile “No nothing like that’s” he remembered Leo’s clenched jaw muscles “He didn’t really say anything either, just ripped Ward a new one and walked off”

Together they strolled down towards the kitchenette both lost in their own thoughts on the future. Just before they could enter they heard Jemma and Daisy talking in low voices. He’d forgotten Jemma had helped Daisy off to recover, quietly he and Simmons turned as one to give them some privacy they were just about to slip away when Skye grabbed them by their arms and jerked them to a halt.

“Come on you guys” She whispered “This is the perfect chance to learn more about the future.”

He felt his eyebrows climb up towards his hair “By eavesdropping?”

Skye gave him a blank look, No Dur. “Well we are supposed to be spies”

Simmons shifted uncomfortable “I don’t think we should Skye” Ah Simmons always trying to be good.

Skye’s eyes glittered naughtily “Don’t you want to know about the future?” She cut through their protests “I mean as scientists aren’t you curious?”

Bugger she’d played the scientist card and tapped into their insatiably curious natures, both of them were unable to resist studying something. Reluctantly and knowing they’d been played they joined Skye in crouching next to the door to the kitchenette and into the morally grey area of overhearing the private conversations of others.

Daisy was sat precariously on the edge of the counter sipping a cup of coffee and inattentively nibbling on a Twinkie. He wasn’t especially fond of Twinkies but he still made a mental note to go on a Twinkie hunt later, junk food is junk food after all. Jemma leaned next to her sipping at her tea. She wrinkled her nose “Yuck, you’d think I’d be used to the powdered milk by now still…” she looked mournfully into the depths of her tea “But that is appalling” she chucked the rest of her tea down the sink and sighed.

Daisy took another sip of her coffee “I think it’s growing on me” She gave a theatrically shudder and they both started chuckling.

Eventually they sobered up from their giggling fit and she took another sip of coffee and sighed “How’s Fitz? After what happened last night?”

He jolted for a moment he thought that Jemma and Daisy had spotted them, until he heard Jemma let out a long sigh. They were talking about Leo, it amazed him that after over ten years of friendship and them getting married Jemma still called him Fitz, a warm glow of happiness balled up in his chest.

“He takes it quite philosophically most of the time” Jemma played with her empty mug “But then he has an “episode” like last night and he tries not to show it but I can see that it hurts him” Her grip on the cup was so hard he was afraid she might break it.

Daisy slung her arm around her and gave her a squeeze “I’m just glad we found him” There was a very long silence, both of them lost in unhappy memories. “Even if I have to listen to you guys flirt for the rest of time” She said clearly trying to brighten the mood.

Flirting when had Leo and Jemma been flirting? The confusion must have shown on his face because Skye gave him a disgusted look and mouthed “Bucharest” at him. He shook his head at her that hadn’t been flirting had it? Skye’s expression told him that she thought that he was dense. He and Simmons didn’t flirt, banter yes, flirt no. Skye mouthed “Poor deluded fool” at him or it could have been “Pour de loo fuel” his lip reading wasn’t the best.

Daisy took another bite of Twinkie and muffled spoke through her full mouth “Speaking of flirting I’d forgotten how much I used to flirt with Ward.” She considered her Twinkie for a moment before taking another bite “Touching him all the time and hanging on to every word he said” her expression was disgusted and he didn’t think it was the overwhelming sweetness of the Twinkie.

Even he could see that Ward had a bit of a thing for Skye and it made him a bit sad for him to see that for Daisy treat him with contempt. Opposite him Jemma had wrapped a hand around Skye wrist to prevent her from leaping to Ward’s defence. “It’s weird isn’t it, like we’re back in the framework?”

 Jemma put her mug in the sink to rinse it out “This isn’t the past, this is hell.” They both dissolved into giggles again at the inside joke. As Jemma put her mug on the draining board as Daisy spoke up sadly  “Seeing him reminds me of what happened to…” she trailed off and started worrying her Twinkie into pieces. “I could find him now and bring him back with us but it wouldn’t be us again not really. She….I won’t even meet him for another year.”

Jemma looked stricken and drew her into another hug “I wish you’d talk about him a bit more” she stroked Daisy’s hair “I think it would help you” Daisy nodded it her chest. “To let it out instead of keeping it all bottled up inside”

She withdrew from Jemma’s hug “It felt good to tell Deke about him” she said quietly “When someone left all of those lemons on my bed. I’m still not sure who did that.”

Jemma quirked her eyebrow “He’s grown on you hasn’t he? You no longer want to strangle him when he sleeps do you?” 

“Like an slightly aggravating if harmless fungus She paused taking in Jemma comically over the top hurt expression “Sorry Jemma I don’t know how it happened, one minute he’s blithering on about visiting the bottom of the ocean and the next he’s all supportive and sweet, he’s a good friend”

Jemma smiled and turned on the tap to wash up “Well you know that’s how it starts?”

Daisy looked ridiculously confused by Jemma’s sudden cheeriness. “What?” She said cautiously.

Elbows deep in bubbles Jemma grinned up at her “In five to ten years and several hair raising adventures, you’re going to get married” She said is a singsong way.

“Jemma!” Looking half amused half annoyed Daisy scoped up a handful of bubbles and threw at Jemma “Just because your relationships start like that doesn’t mean mine will and stop trying to ship me with people.”

Jemma threw bubbles back at her “Yes it does, Deke is like his Gramps” another volley of bubbles were launched at her she dodged still in a singsong voice “He’s reeling you in” Daisy shrieked with laughed. Barely able to get the words out for laugher Jemma managed “It’s only a matter of time!”

The sound of the water fight eclipsed every sound so the eavesdroppers nearly jumped out of their skins when Agent May materialised beside them “Coulson wants everyone in the storage area with the monoliths whatever they are, to help with setting up for them to get home” She was expressionless and immediately he couldn’t help but wonder if she was going to exposed them spying to Jemma and Skye or worse Coulson. All three of them huddled together slightly for protection.

She tilted her head slightly to one side and he could swear that he could see a conspiratory gleam in her eye. “I’ll give you a minute before going to get them” She paused and he could definitely see a faint impish expression on her face

Maybe Agent May wasn’t as stern and terrifying as she appeared, he tried to picture May laughing and it was so outlandish he immediately discarded the idea

It took several wrong turns, an brief argument between him and Jemma over the whole right mean left not go to go right and a heart stopping moment where he was certain they were lost forever for them to find the storage area where he’s found refuge when he found out that he’d (a future him) died. In his defence he had been very upset at the time. But finally they found their way into the storage area more by luck than guile and the chance hearing of Hunter’s loud voice cheerfully singing.

The room had changed greatly since last he’d been in there Hunter and Fitz had been very busy, all but the largest crates had been stacked and moved to the sides of the room creating a large clear space in the centre of the room. In the very centre of the room stood a large white rock, shining with an almost otherworldly light from the yellow glow of the large spot lights humming in the corner of the room, sharply contrasted with its three blood red horizontal strips. The white monolith was attached to several mechanisms which he couldn’t make head or tails off, humming with anbaric energy and occasional the dials on the machines twitched and jerk taking readings of some unknown forces.

On his knees Leo was concentrating are on what was apparently an exclusion zone an equal circumference around the monolith out of duct tape. With a final definite tear he slapped down the final strip of duct tape and nodded in satisfaction. He noticed them looking at him “That should be enough distance so no one is sucked in accidently” it sounded like he was speaking from experience.

Simmons eyed it nervously “Are you sure?”

Leo looked at her softly “Yes, I’m sure as long as we stay outside of the taped of area we’ll be fine”

It made him uncomfortable to see himself looking at Simmons with so much affection on his face. Luckily he was distracted from having to dissect exactly what that emotion was and why he felt that way, by the arrival of the rest of the team. Jemma nervously crossed over to Leo, she had her strange blank professional expression on her face that meant she was deeply anxious about something.

“Are you sure that’s far enough?” She asked Leo wrapping her arms around herself. He didn’t look annoyed that he’d been asked the same question twice by the same person he just hugged her and pressed a light kiss into her temple.

“Yes” He said calmly “No one is going through this Monolith unless they want to” She rested her head in the dip of his collarbone and sighed.

“I think I’m developing Monolithosphobia* because every time we come into contract with a Monolith something goes horribly wrong”

Leo chuckled darkly “Well hopefully not this time and we finally go and get some peace and quiet, maybe go up to Perthshire?”

It occurred to him when he saw Jemma’s faint blush that he was absentmindedly eavesdropping on something very private. Embarrassed he busied himself by intensely examining one of the dials trying to decipher what on earth (or outside of earth if the case maybe) it was trying to detect.

When he looked up again, Leo and Jemma were working on the main machine which looked like it was the one to activate the Monolith. As impressive it had been to watch Leo on the Bus making his calculations it was even more amazing to watch himself and Jemma working together. He’d always felt completely in sink with Simmons when both of their considerable brain power was focused intently on a project, their minds following each other’s from step to step without needing to consult with each other to much. But watching from the outside, watching them work seamlessly together was mind blowing, no wonder people has started to refer to them as one organism.

Simmons looked similarly mind blow and wordlessly squeezed his hand. Skye and Daisy didn’t even look up from their computers, used to them acting like that. Hunter perched next to them on the crate swinging his legs to his heels gently tapped against the wood, watching them watch themselves. May and Coulson occasionally returning to the room to give them updates of Fury’s ETA and in Coulson’s case to ask questions on how the machine would work. It was rather peaceful actually.

As he watch Leo starting thoughtfully at one of the machine interiors, marveling at how deft he was with his hands even after his traumatic brain injury, frowning slightly Leo stripped and spliced two wires together, the machine began to hum even louder.

He nodded in satisfaction and then swore loudly as the machine electrocuted his fingers, nursing his injured hand he grumble “Why must it be so bloody difficult?”

Hunter clapped him on the shoulder “At least we’re not going back the slow way eh?” A naughtily gleam  entered Hunter’s eyes “Hey Leo, Solo bolkubok-u-chala?” And then laughed in a deep voice “Ho Ho Ho”

Why? Fitz wonder was Hunter imitating Jabba the Hutt?

Leo didn’t even look up from his wire splicing “Will you stop calling me Han Solo!” he sounded annoyed.

Hunter grinned cheerfully and kicked his heels again “Why not? I mean you’re basically him, you’re a lovable space scoundrel going on adventures, fighting against evil and getting frozen for a couple of months, especially with Princess Leia over there.” He pointed at both Jemma and Simmons and then elbowed Fitz playfully addressing him next “Come on you can’t say you’ve never pictured Simmons in a gold bikini.”

He felt his face suffuse with mortification, back when they were in the academy after they’d watched Star Wars together for the first time he had had a few moments of fantasy staring her as Princess Leia which he had immediately tried to banish from his head, cursing the internal working of his mind and repeatedly telling himself that they were just friends.

Leo caught his uncomfortable look and turned to engage Hunter in banter to deflect any attention from him until he felt less embarrassed. He quirked an eyebrow and said teasingly “And who does that make you then Hunter?”

This quickly degenerated into who would be who in Star Wars, apparently Hunter thought that Daisy should be Luke Skywalker due to her having an “awesome father figure mentor and amazing abilities while the rest of them didn’t” and that Fury should be either Mace Windu or Yoda.

Coulson said with a slight smile creasing his dace “You guys have been thinking about this a lot haven’t you?”

Jemma shrugged, not looking up from her wiring “At least its not the great scrabble debate again?” She put on an uncanny Ward impression “Aglet isn’t a word Simmons”

Daisy and Leo dissolved into puddles of laughter, He was glad to see the rest of them looked as bewildered as he felt.  

Still chuckling Leo pushed the newly spliced wires and improved connections back inside the machine and screwed the panel back into place. When he turned to look at them, the laugher had disappeared leaving only a grim determination.

Fitz felt his stomach drop into his shoes, mirroring when Leo said harshly “It’s ready”

They stood there in semi awe at the machine, a real time machine.

 “I thought it would look cooler” Coulson was the first to break the silence and he had agree with his boss, he’d always imagined time machines looking sleek and futuristic made of fantastical materials and plasma balls. Not a giant space rock sounded in a rough circle by cobbled together bits of machinery like they were doing a satanic ritual.

And he was pretty sure that the machinery was held together with nothing more that solder, prayers and duct tape.

Coulson plucked at a lose bit of duct tape “I was expecting something more along the lines of a Delorean from the two of you,”

Leo winced.

Jemma was apparently on the same line of though as he was “Yeah it less Delorean, more Tardis.”

“Now what?” He heard Skye mutter behind him.

Coulson looked at them all firmly “Now we wait for the Director to arrive so we can proceed without altering the timeline to much, this needs to only be accessed by the people with the highest clearance possible”

*

Director Fury arrived and took charge of the situation with his usual combination of efficiency and bombastic-ness.

After everything that had happened over the last few days everything was set up and prepared almost inhumanly fast. The siphoned Gravitonium in its football container was attached securely to Daisy, The rest of the Gravitonium was safely secured in the hold of Fury’s plane ready to be returned to where-ever Bobbi and Hunter had, to use Hunter’s words “liberated it from”, More of Fury’s trusted agents were wiping the Centipede soldiers using the Memory Inhibitor that they had found yesterday. 

That would shortly be used on the rest of them.

He swallowed harshly. Intellectually he knew that it was the best thing they could do at such short notice, in such bad circumstances in order to preserve the future. But still he didn’t like the thought of someone altering his memories, especially now he’d seen the consequences of someone messing with his mind.

Simmons turned to him and put her hand on his knee, the weight was comforting and he reached out to give it a little squeeze. “Don’t worry Fitz” She said brightly putting on a game face in attempt to sooth his shattered nerves. “The Memory Inhibitor a lot more sophisticated that when it was first used by the SSR. Back then it only wiped the entirety of a memory of the last thirty minutes but Dr Samberly and Dr Wilkes improved upon it so it’s perfectly safe now.” She must have seen the lack of belief on his face because she continued “Now it can wipe the last few days from a person’s memory and your mind automatically fills in the blanks with something mundane, boring even. There are some side effect but I don’t think there that bad….”

It was a bit too much Men In Black for his taste but he appreciated the her effort to calm him down, to make it less frightening for her as much as for him as the more knowledge they had the less they had to fear. As Simmons continued relating the various specs and modifications of the Memory Inhibitor he tuned out her words and just let the sound of her voice sooth him.

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned to see Fury and Jemma, a little island of calm and stillness, standing in the middle of the organised chaos heads bent in a serious discussion. With narrowed eyes he and Simmons watched the exchange Jemma speaking urgently to the Director interspersed with Fury nodding calmly and asking the odd question here and there.

Abruptly they both nodded in agreement and then shook hands, he couldn’t be sure but he caught a flash of blue vial slip from Fury’s hand into Jemma’s, but when she turned her hands were empty so his eyes must have been seeing things.

She re-joined Leo, who was intently appraising the read out monitoring the Portal and gently ran her hand up his spine. He turned to her, face lighting up and kissed her passionately almost desperately, stroking her long dark hair. Heads pressed tenderly together they were murmuring softly to each other.

Uncomfortable he shifted slightly so that Simmons hand slid of his knee and tired to ignore her slightly hurt expression and his own churning emotions. Lost in his own thought he watched absently as his hands wringed at each other. His inside twisted and shrank leaving him feeling small, to endure what they’d been through, was he strong enough? He didn’t think so.

So lost in his own recriminations and self doubt he started violently when Fury announced “We’re ready”

 Jemma’s hand landed carefully on his shoulder. Leo looked at him sadly, like he knew exactly where his head was at. “We wanted to say goodbye properly” Jemma said her expression strained she was trying to look cheerful and not quite managing it.

Leo shrugged “I know it’s silly, you’re us and we’re you so it’s not really a goodbye but...” he kicked the ground and gave a little embarrassed cough “It was really good to see you again”. Unexpectedly he was pulled into a colossal hug and Leo’s head thumbed down on his shoulder. Surprised by Leo’s sudden show of affection it took a moment for him to hesitantly lift his lead heavy arms and lightly wrap them around Leo’s strong back.

Seriously how much had he worked out in the future?

He pressed his face into Leo’s warm shirt and tired to absorb some of his reassuring presence, Leo has lived (more or less) into the future, that should give him some confidence to him, he’s gonna survive that long at least.

It doesn’t really help.

Leo withdrew just enough to look him in the eye and again he is struck by how blue his eyes are. They crease upwards slightly in a brief smile before Leo relinquishes him. Leaving him standing awkwardly before Jemma as she also relinquished her hold on Simmons. She wiped her damp eyes still looking at Simmons.

He can see the worry in Simmons “Are you scared?” she asks Leo and Jemma shakily “that whatever separate Leo from the rest of you the last time you travelled through the time will happen again?” That thought hadn’t occurred to him, they knew so little about travelling through time and the monoliths in general. And the idea of Leo and Jemma being separate again, after seeing both of their distress the last time it had happened turned his stomach.

Especially when they seemed to be cosmic playthings.

Leo chuckled slightly and stepped forward and embraced her, for a moment he forgot that he was looking at Leo and Simmons and that Leo and Jemma where holding each other again they looked so natural together.

“The only thing I fear” Cheek resting on her dark hair Leo spoke carefully “Is a life without you in it” He drew back slightly and pressed a feather light kiss onto her forehead and used his thumb to wipe a tear from her cheek. Before stepping back and taking Jemma’s hand and grinned at their shell shocked faces “And that will never, ever happen” at that he was looking at Jemma, both of them radiating confidence and love as palpable as heat.

“Guys” Daisy interrupted whatever Jemma was going to say next, next to her stood Skye they’d been bent in their own private goodbyes and what he was sure was an inspiring pep talk “Fury wants to get this show on the road” She sniffed and strode over to Coulson and threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him over with her enthusiasm.

Jemma enveloped him into her warm embrace and for a moment he had everything he’d ever wanted or hadn’t know he wanted until then. Overcome by this sudden emotion he dug his fingers into the back of her shirt, so hard he thought his knuckles must have gone white and he was very reluctant to relinquish his hold on her. Afraid that he’d never have this chance again.

“What’s wrong?” She whispered in his ear, he felt like sobbing she’s always known him so well. It took a great deal of effort to voice his fear, his doubts, and his own feelings of inadequacy.

“Jemma I’m not….” He’s stuttering to much barely understandable to his own ears “What if “ He found himself whispering looking into her warm hazel eyes “What if I’m not strong enough?” He could barely bring himself to say it “To be him?” He gestured at Leo with his head.

Wonderingly Jemma slowly shook her head and wiped his tears away “You are Fitz, you always have been” Desperately he looked at her for evidence to back up her conclusion and she regarded him lovingly “I know because we’ve already survived it, we can do it again” and with that she pressed a kiss to his cheek, before striding over to join her husband, leaving him standing there dumbstruck holding his cheek where she’d kissed him.

In a dreamlike state he wandered over to the rest of his team garnering a very strange look from Ward. She’s kissed him! Only on his cheek but it was something! It was ludicrous to be so happy over such a small thing, but he was.

“Thank you” Daisy spoke, voice catching slightly “For all your help” Her eyes wandered over to Coulson and lingered for a moment “for everything” She wiped her hand on the back of her gauntlet and cleared her throat.

Fury gestured at one of the scientist and for a mad moment he felt like shouting “Pull the lever!” and laughing like a mad scientist as the machine’s surrounded the monolith hummed and blinked into life. The thrumming of the machines was so loud it was nearly unbearable, he could feel the vibrations pressing against his skin. For a long moment he thought it wouldn’t work, that this was all an elaborate hoax when with a faint groan the White Monolith dissolved and waterfalled into a pool of vibrating liquid inside the duct tape circle. The thrumming decreased in intensity slightly.

Blinking with surprise he couldn’t quite convince his brain that he’d just seen solid stone turn into a liquid, looking around at his companions just to confirm he wasn’t hallucinating. They also looked like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing, so he probably wasn’t hallucinating. Their future selves radiated with tension, he couldn’t blame them they were about to jump through a portal to who knows where.

Bobbi squared her shoulders and grinned nervously her companions “Once into the breach then?” But made no move to jump through the hold in space-time, they all seemed frozen.

Hunter suddenly clutched at Daisy’s hand, the one not holding the Gravitonium “Let me go and punch Ward again” He pleaded “Just one more time for old times’ sake” Seeing that argument had failed he grinned madly “for luck!”

His antics, exactly as he had wanted to, had broken them out of their frozen indecision and they relaxed ever so slightly. “Come on you” Bobbi scoffed and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and threw him into the pool and shaking her head in fond despair plunged in after him.

Leo and Jemma stepped forward, gripping each other’s forearms tightly. Heart in his throat he desperately hoped nothing would go wrong for them again. For a long moment they just looked at each other and then at the portal and Leo fretfully squared his shoulder and nodded at Jemma. She smiled at him “Allons-y” and together they jumped, disappearing impossibly through the liquid stone.

It was amazing really.

The last of them, Daisy stepped forward and smiled sadly at them before giving them a jaunty little one handed salute, the other was clutching the Gravitonium tightly and then she dived backwards through the portal and disappeared.

Travelling through time and space it was amazing really. If he hadn’t seen it he wouldn’t have believed it.

Dust was starting to fall from the ceiling and he was hastily reminded that most buildings can only cope with vibrations up to a certain point. Luckily machines decided at that moment to fail completely, the thrumming coming to an unexpected halt and the machinery to exploding in a shower of sparks causing them all to duck. The pool of white liquid monolith shivered and them reformed into solid rock.

In that moment of deafening silence he feverously hoped that they’d all made it home safely.

“We’re ready for you Agent Fitz, Agent Simmons” Fury’s deep voice pulls him away from his thoughts and back into harsh reality. Right the Memory Inhibitor.

“Come on Simmons” He’s trying to make it into a joke, to make it better for them both that they don’t remember that their future relationship and the pain and joy that that gives them. “Let go down the rabbit hole”

*

Epilogue

The Bus, the same day,

 Around dinner time.

Fitz was jolted from his sleep by his radio switching on, the dulcet tones of the Proclaimers stating that they would walk 500 miles, sending a spike of pain through his frontal lobe. Groaning he rolled over and batted ineffectively at the snooze button. Failing that completely he forced himself upright and grabbed for his radio, with his eyes all bleary he relied more on feel that sight to fiddle around for the off button. Finally, finally his fingers found the off button and blessed silence filled the room, soothing his pounding head.

Squinting he focused on the red numbers on the face of his radio to attempt to make out the time, the last time he’d tried it had felt like his retinas’ were  being set on face so he’d given up and retreated back to the comfort of sleep. Fortunately his eyes had decided to work a little better this time and he was able to figure out the time.

Five pm, damn he’d slept all day.

 Not that he was surprised the whole team had gone down with the same symptoms three days ago with what Simmons thought was the flu but what he suspected was those dodgy noodles Skye had insisted them all to try.

Almost definitely the last time he would let Skye pick where they got dinner. Almost.

There was a light knock on the door and Simmons poked her head around the door and smiled at him. She was wearing her lavender pyjamas and a cardigan. She looked slightly further up the scale of health less death warmed up more chilled healthy.

“You still alive?” she asked him

“No” He flopped back onto the bed like a petulant child “You?” 

“Mmmm” she settled down next to him on the bed tucking one foot under her knee and passing him a cup of tea “Only just, but I can’t lie around in bed anymore or I’ll go mad so I thought I’d come and see you”

He took a gulp of his tea, it was slightly to hot but he didn’t care it was liquid for his parched mouth. “I feel like something crawled into my mouth and died. Are your ears still ringing mine are?”

She nodded thoughtfully “Like someone’s been playing cymbals behind me for a week straight” her lips twisted “or that time in Professor Vaughn’s lecture when you blew up all the lab equipment”

In his defence Professor Vaughn’s class had been begging to be livened up a little. Knowing that argument would ever fly with her he settled himself by taking another gulp of tea and muttering “I’m never letting Skye pick where we eat dinner ever again”

“Oh yeah” She quirked an eyebrow at him “I didn’t notice you complaining when you slurped them all down and then stole all my dumplings”

She had him there.

Dramatically he clutched at his stomach and rolled around a little “That was before I knew it was crawling with alien parasites”

Laughing she biffed him lightly on the shoulder and tucked her hair behind her ears “Speaking of aliens, do you want to watch Dr Who before we try to get something to eat?” It was their go to feel good show to watch.

“Sure” He shifted sideways up against the wall of the bus so she could stretch out properly next to him rather than sit perched on the edge of the his bed and she settle next to him with a sigh of relief using his shoulder to prop her head up. It was something they did all the time sit curled up next to each other watching TV or films.

It was a shock when she twisted away to grope for his tv remote her hair shifted slightly exposing the curve of her neck and he suddenly found himself transfixed by the smooth pale skin there and the equally surprising urge to kiss her there. The image was so real, so strong that he could see himself doing it in his mind’s eye.

He screwed his eyes up and fought to push the image and impulse to act on it away by reciting the numbers of Pi. They were friends, best friends he told himself it’s just that silly crush you had rearing up its ugly head up again because you’re feeling vulnerable and she’s taking care of you.

Her hand was warm on his shoulder and made his skin under his shirt tingle a little as she looked at him with concern “Are you alright Fitz? Is your head hurting any worse?”

Not wanting to worry her he carefully pulled the remote from her hand and pressed the power button. “I’m fine Simmons” It wasn’t really a lie. Quickly, to set her worries to rest he selected their favourite episode; his stupid feeling would back to normal in a minute they always did.

He smiled down at her “Allons-y” He said as he pressed play and with a smile she leaned against his shoulder as the familiar theme music filled the room.

The Lighthouse, In the Future, Same Day,

 Around lunchtime.

As the white of the Monolith closed over his head, Leo caught one last look of the shocked pale faces their younger selves watching them disappear into a hole in space and time. He could feel Jemma gripping his wrists painfully hard and he must have been digging into hers equally hard because his bad hand was aching but nothing in the universe would incite him to loosen his grip on her.

Fervently he prayed to any higher powers that might be out there that nothing would go wrong this time. That they wouldn’t be separated, he couldn’t go through that again. Before the monolith spat them out on the concrete floor of the Lighthouse, sending them sprawling and he suspected he might have skinned his shins from knee to ankle.

Although if he came out of this with only road rash and a minor appearance of his alter ego he’d consider this trip a success.

Blearily he groped around for Jemma and panic set in the moment he couldn’t find her. For a horrible moment he was back in the Sandbox, confused, scared and alone. Although his body protested, travelling through a monolith portal twice in 72 hours was tough on the body he forced himself upright to look for her.

Pure sweet relief flooded through him when he saw her look around wildly for him just out of arms length. He could see his relief reflected back at him when she spotted him.

Frantically they threw their arms around each other. He could feel the regular rise and fall of her chest and the steady beat of her heart. He drew back just enough to kiss her desperately, the feel of her; the taste of her on his lips was so overwhelmingly good he felt dizzy. When they were together everything was right in his world.

Then Daisy belly flopped on them, knocking them over again. Sometimes he wished that Daisy’s super power was phasing. “Sorry” Daisy gasped at him, the wind knocked out of her as it served her right for jumping through portals backwards.

He helped Jemma to her feet and it took both of them to haul a breathless Daisy to her feet. A huge hand reached out and helped prop Daisy up. His face felt like it was going to split into his grin was so huge “Mackhammer!” he shouted out in delight and clapped Mack’s free hand with his own.

Mack grinned back at him “Hey Turbo” he rumbled the weight of being the Director lifted from his shoulders for a moment as his relief that they were back safely. Yo-Yo waved at them from where she was helping Bobbi and Hunter sip some water, Bobbi looked a little worse for wear clearly time travel didn’t agree with her, Hunter sat next to her whispering what was probably comforting words into her honey coloured hair. That or he was gently ribbing her.

Out of nowhere Deke pounced and wrapped them both in a hug, thunking his head on his shoulder just has Fitz had done back in the past, he’d come to realise that he and his grandson from another timeline did have some of his traits “I’m so glad you’re both back” He said happily “I was worried you might Marty Mcfly me out of existence”

He felt his brow crease in confusion, since when had Deke watched Back to the Future. He was slowly catching on with 21^st century pop culture, but between missions and some heart stoppingly scary moments, his education had taken a bit of backseat. He grinned boyishly at them and for a moment he missed the daughter he’d never seen grow up, “Yo-Yo and Mack kept yelling at each other “Road’s we don’t need no road where we’re going” and then they got frustrated with me for not getting it, so we watched it while we waited for you guys”

He just heard Yo-Yo call Deke an uncultured moron in Spanish behind him. He didn’t care he was just happy everything was back to what passed for their normality, even their grandson from an alternate timeline.

He wondered what Past Fitzsimmons would have made of Deke?

Daisy made a face as she realised something “Is this the reason you guy’s never let me pick where we eat, because of time travel and a mind wipe?” her voice rose incredulously.

He exchanged a guilty look with Jemma as Mack bent down and scooped up the slightly battered foot ball of Gravitonium. “Come on” He said, the mantle of the Director settling on his shoulders again “We’ve got work to do”

 As the others dispersed he turned to look Jemma and she beamed at him, her warm hazel shining with relief and she held her hand out to him

Jemma lightly cupped his cheek and unable to resist he leaned into the warmth of her hand. A strand of her hair had escaped and he reached out to tuck it behind her ear, savouring the silkiness of her hair. “I can call you Fitz again” She said softly and drew him into proper kiss and he wanted nothing more that go back to their room and maybe if they had time watch Dr Who.

She must have seen it in his eyes because she grinned and pulled back “Come on Fitz, work to do”

Maybe later then he promised himself and her as he smiled ruefully at her as they started off after the rest of their team “Work to do” He agreed.