First, she wanted to get all the data. Like a proper scientist.
But, this was not the first time.
He had betrayed them.
Left them at the bottom of the ocean.
Because he wanted to get Garrett. And Ward.
All for some petty revenge, and now...
Just look at him.
Jemma was trying not tear up again, her hand on Fitz's.
His eyes were awake, but was his mind?
She drew his hand to her mouth and kissed it. There was no response, not even a flicker across his face.
And that look he'd given her. That was the last straw.
It was too late for his fatherly attentions.
Skye could fall for that all she wanted.
She was having none of it.
****
They were in the lab, Skye was treating the skin on her hand as Simmons analyzed the compound that had numbed it.
"The cytotoxicity is very similar to something you would find in cobra venom," she said enthusiastically. "But much stronger. Normally, it wouldn't have that effect on the epidermis. Now, get it in your eyes, and that, that!"
"No thanks," said Skye, looking icked out. "This kid, he was really fast, too. He kind of moved like a snake."
"Do you think he's a gifted?" Simmons asked cheerfully.
"Hard to tell these days," Skye said. "What with HYDRA out in the world and people like Raina who will experiment on anyone."
"So, he just slithered away?" asked Simmons.
"Har har," Skye said.
"Like Ward," she added, dolefully.
"Yeah, like Ward," Skye answered.
Jemma watched the twitch in her face. Maybe she was developing a tic? Since they discovered Ward had escaped from the Army transport that was taking him to maximum security. He'd gone off the grid. They knew he had safehouses everywhere.
"I can't help but think," Simmons said, putting down the instrument, preparing the compound for storage, "If we had just waited, we could have contained Ward ourselves. Brought him here."
"What are you saying?" Skye asked.
"Just that if Coulson wasn't taking orders from Fury," she began, "Who, we were all told was dead, we might still have Ward."
Skye didn't have a quick answer. Jemma knew why.
"Fury saved you and Fitz," she said.
"Fury was looking for Coulson," Simmons said bitterly.
She walked to the storage and placed the carefully-labelled tube into refrigeration.
"This isn't the first time you and Coulson have disagreed on something," Skye started.
"This isn't the first time," Simmons shot back, "That Coulson has kept something from the rest of us."
Skye jumped a little at the force of her voice. Her face softened.
"What you are feeling," she said, putting her hand on Simmons' arm. "I know you need to blame someone. But Ward..."
"Ward didn't kill us," she fired back. "He removed us from the equation. Coulson," Simmons continued.
"Coulson left us at the bottom of the ocean."
Skye was staring back at her with her jaw open. That had pushed a button.
"He said that we lost contact with you, that you had made it possible for us to track Garrett," she said, meeting Simmons' eyes, searching them.
"Is that what he said?" she replied coldly.
****
Trip put his arm around her, she breathed deeply and looked up at the night sky. All of the stars. What did you become, when you were just something in between? Not a part of a circle, just a broken link. Waiting. For life again. Maybe, it was time...
"You're thinking about Fitz," he said.
Jemma smiled. He was quite good at reading her. This had been good. It had been a lovely distraction.
"Would that signal from your quarter, would it have been strong enough, under 90 feet of water..." she started.
"Jemma, we've been through this. There's no point in thinking about that. Fitz did the best he could, and it worked. He saved you," he said, looking down at her. "And that's something."
Not Fury. But Fitz. Fury had just been there. Looking for Coulson.
"Fury was alive all this time," she said.
"Hard man to kill," Trip added.
"He was alive and we were fighting HYDRA," she paused and looked into his eyes, put her hand over his heart. "With vintage spycraft."
Trip looked disturbed. Good.
"And now we're here," she said, tearing up, "...and look at all these wonderful things!" It was hard to hide the bitter edge on it.
"Where are you going with this, Jemma?" he asked. There was a hint of fear in his voice.
"Coulson knew Fury was alive," she said. "And he went after Garrett anyway."
"We all went after Garrett. And Ward."
"We were lead there, believing that we had run out of resources."
Trip stood up. "I think that's the wrong way of looking at it, Jemma."
Getting to her feet, she crossed her arms and looked over at him.
"This is not the first time, I've known him longer than you. He keeps secrets from us," she said.
"Jemma, we are *spies*," he threw his hands up.
"I see," she said, "Are you full of secrets, Antoine?"
"Sure, I have some," he said directly. She flinched a bit, when he put his hands on her arms. "Hey, they will come out in time. There's a difference between having a secret and hiding it."
That did sound a bit better. She let him hug her.
"What are the other secrets he's been keeping?" he asked. It had blunt edge to it.
Jemma smiled. She didn't think he'd go there with her. A feeling of relief hit her. Like she could breathe again.
"The GH-325 and Project TAHITI. He knows something he's not sharing. Frankly, it baffles me, since he put that in Skye, and I'm her physician..."
"Yeah, and what's up with their *thing*?" Trip added.
"Yes. That."
"Has that always been the case?"
"Pretty much from the moment she came on the Bus."
"Mmm...his reaction, when he saw her leaving Providence with Ward..."
"How so?"
"It was just a little thing. He kept it under control, but I could tell that he was on an edge."
"He does care about her," she replied. "I do think he cares."
"No, that edge is something else. I'm not saying it's *that*, but it's just not *that*."
"The whole thing with Garrett, maybe it was about Ward," she said.
"Maybe."
****
"I'm having another objection," May said, looking over at Coulson.
Jemma just stood in front of them in silence.
"Objection noted," Coulson said, "But we need her in the field. She's familiar with Mr. Voorhees biology and they also are both former students of Dr. Shecktor, I think it would be a mistake to leave her out."
"Yes," Simmons said brightly, "And I'm just itching to get out of the Playground. Literally," she added, running her hands up and down her arms.
Coulson smiled. Nodded. And left the room.
May clenched her jaw and turned to leave.
"May, if I may," Simmons said chuckling.
"What?" May replied dryly, turning back towards her.
"Have a word?"
May walked back towards her.
"You don't normally disagree with the Director in front of people."
She didn't say anything, so Simmons continued.
"Why this time?"
"It's happened before," she said, "I objected when he sent you and Fitz to track Garrett and Ward. And look how well that turned out."
"Agreed."
May raised an eyebrow.
"So, was all of that a show for him just now?"
"No," Simmons replied. "I do want back in the field. I just. Understand. Your objection."
"Are you angry at him for what happened to Fitz?" she pried.
"No," Jemma lied. "I don't know what I think, to be honest."
"It's natural to want to place the blame for something like that. But, Coulson didn't put you at the bottom of the ocean. Ward did."
Yes, she wanted Ward, too. If Coulson could structure their lives around revenge, so could she. She would just be more careful, more patient.
"You're right," she said. "Thanks."
She smiled and walked past May. And it didn't have to look *that* way. Revenge was such an ugly word. She preferred *enlightened*. Yes, it would be good for them to be enlightened.
****
"Burning the midnight oil?"
She looked up from her research to see Coulson looking over at her. End of the day, a little less crisp, less fresh than usual.
"Quarles."
"I'm sorry?" he said.
"Quarels. 1635. He was an Englishman.
We spend our mid-day sweat, or midnight oil; We tire the night in thought; the day in toil."
He smiled at her. "Thanks for the history lesson. And, the assist with Voorhees. I just wished that Fit..."
"Don't," she said, looking away from him. Staring ahead.
Coulson's brow furrowed.
"I've been meaning to talk to you," he said.
"Have you?"
"Yes. May I?" he gestured to the seat across from her. She nodded and he sat down.
"I know you don't like the way I do things, sometimes. And I've made some bad calls."
Simmons narrowed her eyes. He'd obviously been talking with May.
"Why haven't you let me work out the GH-325?" she asked, getting right to it. "When it's in Skye. If not for yourself, sir..."
"My reason for that was because I didn't want HYDRA getting access to it. I have no objection to you doing research on it here. But, it stays here, Jemma."
"It saved her life!" she said.
"You need to trust me, we don't understand what it does," he said calmly.
"Oh, but *you* know," she said getting to her feet and leaning across the table. "Just one more little secret, Director Coulson?"
"It made Garrett go insane," he shot back at her. "Doesn't that give you pause?"
"You haven't gone insane," she said. "Or, have you, and you're just hiding that, too?"
That struck a nerve. Hard. He ground his jaw and his hands tensed. She just watched him. Pathetic.
"I went through a series of operations that were designed to offset those side effects," he began.
"And what about Skye? What happens to her?"
"I don't know," he said.
"You certainly went to a lot of trouble to save her. And you *certainly* pulled out all the stops to get Ward. But when it comes to this, for some reason..."
Coulson stood up from the table.
"We needed to stop Garrett. And Ward. CENTIPEDE, Deathlok, Raina...HYDRA is still out there. The world is not safe!"
"You mean SKYE is not safe!" she yelled, slamming her hands down on the table.
"That's just not true, Simmons," he said. However, his face was suggesting otherwise. His face was, in fact, suggesting that he was thinking about this for the first time. Chew on that, *Phil*.
"Research the drug, use whatever resources you have. If you need my blood, it's yours. You have my blessing. But, it doesn't leave here. That stands."
He left the lab with his fists clenched.
Good. She had a lot more where that came from. She would save it for later.
****
"Oh, Fitz," she said, smiling at him. "You won't believe what happened yesterday," she leaned over and whispered in his ear, "I told Coulson off."
She sat down in the chair next to him, giddy. Took the bag off her shoulder. "And I have permission to research the GH-325, so there might be something in that for you. Get you fixed right up, we will."
She was feeling very cheerful today, was looking forward to starting on the GH-325 again. Pity they'd wasted the pure formula on Garrett, but she still had Coulson's blood, and Skye's, and all of her research recovered from the drive.
"Speaking of Coulson," she said aloud, "He reminded me of Quarels. So, I brought some of that to share," she said, pulling a book from her tote and flopping it on his legs. "Didn't think you'd mind that."
She dipped back into the bag and pulled out a carefully wrapped sandwich, "And one of these," she went on, "I bet you can guess what it is, and if you promise to wake up," she said, starting to choke a little, "I'll share it with you."
Would he want this? Fitz? Would he want her to hold on to hope that she could restore his mind? Or, she glanced for a moment at the breathing apparatus plugged into the wall, would he want to join the universe. Become something new?
That's where her mind had been drifting over the last few days, but now, she felt renewed.
"And, Fitz. I started my own project," she said, "But I can't tell you just yet. It's a secret."
She picked up the book and began:
"MY soul, sit thou a patient looker-on;
Judge not the play before the play is done:
Her plot hath many changes; every day
Speaks a new scene; the last act crowns the play.