I would break the laws of gravity

[hypoxic]

Who: Leo Fitz and OPEN (log is for all, some closed starters in comments)
Where: Checkerboard Hills
When: August 9th, just past midnight
Rating: PG+
Summary: Man returns to Wonderland after two months at home under heavy stress. Man throws toddler-level tantrum in public space. As adults are wont to do.
The Story:

[Apparently, the stories are true. When one leaves Wonderland, one is thrust back home without memory. There's nothing to prevent the mistakes he should know to avoid, no way to apply the emotional developments he's earned. It's just the harsh progression of time, doing what time wishes. And there's no way to stop it from bringing them back before they're ready to come back.

When Fitz arrives, it's facedown into a patch of eternally-manicured grass. The memories hit all at once, but they're not memories he wants. He doesn't need to know about a ridiculous fantasy dimension holding people hostage. He was kind of in the middle of something a little life-or-death...!

It's too much to hold, and far more than he can process. Instead of wandering back to the mansion and settling back into his personal space, he stays where he is, pulling himself up to his hands and knees and tearing at the grass in open distress, shouting out at nothing and everything all at once.]

Not now! There's no time for this!

[Some people hit pillows. Right now, he's technically landscaping. And he's definitely not tearing up. That's probably all the dirt he's dislodging.]

Comments

[ action for Jemma Simmons ]

[hypoxic]

[When he's calmed down, all he wants to know is that Jemma is here and safe and breathing. At this hour, she's most likely asleep (or already halfway awake, since she so loves to get the jump on dawn). He'll beeline to her room and let himself inside, crawling into bed with her and pulling her tightly against him. He intends for the gesture to be unobtrusive, but she's here and she's solid and she's breathing. It's not long before he's clinging to her, desperately kissing her sleeping face, for as long as it stays asleep.]

[bravejemma]

[Jemma is still asleep, though actual restful sleep has been in short supply since Fitz disappeared. For the first moment, before she's fully awake, she tenses at the intrusion of someone else in her bed. As she wakes she becomes aware that it's Fitz, back from home. Before her eyes open she's clinging back, and she sighs. For a moment, things are just as they should be.]

Oh, Fitz... I missed you.

[hypoxic]

[He kisses her neck, cheeks, and forehead, but stops short of pressing his lips against her mouth.]

I'm so happy you're safe... I've been so worried.

[ text to Daisy Johnson ]

[hypoxic]

I think you're still farther along with me and that means you know

Is Jemma still alive in your time???

[The "hello" is implied.]

[morethan084]

[It's late and Daisy is actually on the verge of falling asleep when she receives a text message. Rolling over to look at it, Daisy is fully awake in seconds. Sitting up in her bed she quickly types back to him.]

That depends. What's the last thing you remember before coming back here?

[That probably wouldn't calm him down much, but considering he could actually have gotten further into their future than she has? Who knows. It's not something she likes to think about.]

[hypoxic]

It's HYDRA

I'm helping them bring home some alien monster in exchange for Jemma's safety and I don't trust them to keep their end of it.

You said you were a year ahead before and it's not been a year yet

[ text to Klaus Mikaelson at the crack of 2am-ish]

[hypoxic]

Are you awake?

I need to talk.

I've done something.

[poppycock]

[ luckily for fitz, klaus is a bit of a night owl (or, well, vampire) so when he gets this text he is awake

thoughts klaus has reading the contents: bloody hell

he replies promptly ]

What's wrong?

[hypoxic]

Can you check one more time about Grant Ward? I know you said he's gone, but I need to know for sure.

He could just be manipulating everyone again and we can't be caught by surprise

kitchen » mid-morning???

[mucked]

[ -- crikey o'reilly, that last little foray did a number on our intrepid ssr agent. the rising undead was one thing, but to turn around and be reshaped into someone she simply never was? it settles jagged and uneasy in her bones. but, then again, what isn't jagged and uneasy in this place? she's had nothing but trouble since she'd arrived.

and not the good kind of trouble, neither.

but at least there's tea! and although she could have equally sat in the dining room and conjured cup after cup, peggy prefers the kitchen if she's making a whole thermos-full to take with her to the grounds. well, a thermos-full and a spare cuppa just for good measure.

she's leaning against the counter, mug in hand, when he enters. ]

Agent Fitz. [ of all the people who could walk in, he's perhaps one of the more palatable options. for now. ] We haven't seen you for a stint. Been busy?

YES COME TO ME

[hypoxic]

[Fitz hasn't slept yet. He's performed the action of laying in bed with his eyes closed to please Jemma, but there's just been so much to consider, he's too wired to settle down. He's on his own quest for all the tea in China, but a mid-morning brush with Peggy Carter will do as good of a job as any. He snaps to attention, giving her a wide berth to avoid getting in her way.]

Ah -- yes, Ma'am. Of course. My apologies for the lack of support. I'm told it's been almost a month since I was sent home. [He's been gone for twice that, from his perspective. Spacetime is so proud of how little sense it sometimes makes.]

I hope all have been safe while I was away.

[ group text to Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow ]

[hypoxic]

My apologies for the interruption. I have a bit of a favor to ask of you both.

[ group texts ]

[thisismadfreaky]

Fitz?
Holy shit, dude, where have you been?
Also, yeah, what's up?

action;

[persevere]

[Yes, the stories are true, and Wonderland has a sick sense of humor in it's choices of when to bring people back.

Some people hit pillows, some people tear up grass. It's still better than what Caroline did.

She'd wanted to apologize, only to find out he'd been missing. By the sounds of things, he's back, and he's not happy. This may not be the best time for this, but she at least can empathize with him about how much Wonderland can suck, about how much home can too.

Besides, she was already outside, getting some fresh air. She's already here and walking away just...isn't like her.]

It happened to you too, didn't it?

action;

[hypoxic]

[There's a long moment where he either doesn't hear her or deliberately doesn't acknowledge her. When he finally pulls himself upright, his face is red and smudged. There's a layer of sandy filth on his buttonup shirt that has nothing to do with the local soil. There's also a lack of immediate fear as he glowers at her. Parts of him yearn for the simplicity of literal monsters.]

No. Not you and not now. You don't get to make it worse.

[endingpoint]

[ Jane doesn't always wander around the grounds at night, but tonight, she can't sleep and Kurt's already out cold, so she's left him a note and wandered. The mansion isn't ever really still, especially right after an event, so she goes outside, taking a deep breath of night air.

Seeing someone arrive in Wonderland is seriously something, and her eyes widen before she takes a few steps forward. She's about to ask if whoever it is needs help, but then she recognizes the voice. He must have gone home and returned. He definitely seems to be aware of where he is because he doesn't sound confused, just royally pissed. Swallowing, Jane clears her throat a little, wetting her lips. ]

Fitz?

[hypoxic]

["Royally pissed" seems apt. It's the next emotion over from anxiety, dread and the deepest, most profound terror he's ever known. When his name is called, it's enough to make him settle himself, curled up on his haunches with trembling shoulders.]

I know... It's dark out, isn't it? Late, probably. People trying to sleep.

[So he'll need to swallow back everything and hold it in until he can compartmentalize and process it to any completion.]

for Billy, in the gym

[hypoxic]

[Fresh eyes mean that there's an opportunity for reassessment. Fitz is particularly careful as he picks around the space he understands to be Avengers-only, until he settles at one of the weight machines. They're supposed to have been designed to withstand superpowers, but there seems to have been a number of shortcuts taken in the designs. The safeties are off. It's not calibrated properly for mundane usage. And is this bit held in place by magic? Oh, that won't do at all...

Hopefully, nobody will mind if he spends the afternoon taking this one machine apart and perfecting the internal engineering. It's for everyone else's benefit, and who can say no to that?]

[actualwizard]

[ The Avengers center doesn't get as much foot traffic as it used to, people have gone, other people use the other gyms that are available but Billy still comes in everyday. He runs through routines that Natasha and Bucky had taught him years ago. Lately he's been inviting Teddy along; practicing was safe, it left them on familiar ground and able to figure things out. Today though he was alone and just coming back from a run.

He was surprised to see Fitz- mostly because he didn't think he actually ever saw Fitz in the gym. Less surprising was the fact that it looked like he had an entire weight machine on the floor around him. ]

What are you doing? [ It's not a demanding question, more curious with a hint of amusement at the edges. ]

vague time post his arrival since i'm super late? }

[deathlessness]

[Freya's been working on not spending all of her time closed up in her magic space trying to solve a problem she's probably never going to be able to truly fix. It's frustrating to feel like she's constantly spinning her wheels, but sometimes if she takes breaks and talks to other people she actually feels better and her brain starts working again.

(Surprise! Evelyn was right about her not doing this on her own. Too bad Freya has no idea where to begin when it comes to forming that apology.)

She's fixing herself tea on the communal kitchen when she sees Fitz, glancing up at the sound of his footsteps and giving a small nod in greeting.]

Klaus mentioned you returned. I take it that's going as well as it always does?

[Speaking from experience, coming back to Wonderland is never an easy thing.]

You're less late than I am on tagging your post, so there's that? 8D

[hypoxic]

[Fitz has been running at breakneck speeds since his return. There's so much to do and settle. He's brought a pad into the kitchen with him, stopping every few steps to jot down another note. He doesn't notice Freya until she speaks to him, and even then his answer is soft and distracted.]

Oh -- hello, Freya. Yes, I've been back a few days now -- everything all right with you?

[He may or may not be paying attention to her answer.]

for Caitlin

[hypoxic]

[There are more boxes than he'd thought there would be, honestly. He hadn't realized that Jemma and he had stockpiled quite this much equipment during their time spent labless. He's stayed behind while Jemma steeps some tea, fussing with the placement of things on Jemma's desk. She likes everything just so, and shouldn't have to do it on her own.

He glances up briefly, belatedly realizing that there's only one other person in the room with him.]

Well. Been a while since we were left alone unsupervised, yeah?

[trigeminalheadache]

[ In truth, Caitlin's been nervous about this whole lab-sharing idea. Not that she doesn't trust Fitz and Jemma -- far from that. But she knows that Fitz doesn't trust her. He hasn't since her trip home months ago. She can't blame him for that; she got out of control and attacked Daisy.

But she misses her friend. Even if he doesn't consider her a friend anymore. ]

I'd be lying if I said I reasonably thought this would ever happen again.

[saved]

( Peter hasn't really talked to Fitz since their last deeply painful conversation. He has a habit of making things worse for people. He saw it happen to his uncle. He saw it happen to Dr. Connors and his aunt, and it's only ever as Spider-man that he's able to help. So he pulled back so he wouldn't keep putting his foot in his mouth and upsetting people more when they're already upset enough, and recently with Mary Jane's help, he's figured out how to stop being all Spider-man, how to be some Peter again since he lost that along the way.

However, he still checked in on Fitz by asking Jemma about him or just stopping by but briefly, from a distance, which is why he knows Fitz has kind of not been around. He got sent back to his own universe, and Jemma has been worried.

It's what he's doing now at a table in the kitchen when he notices Fitz walking in.

Does he look okay after his trip back to his own universe or- ? )

[hypoxic]

["Okay" might depend on one's interpretation of the word. He's not physically harmed, and still has an appropriate number of arms and legs. There's an intensity to him that Peter might recognize, the spark of focus and rush that cancels out all other things. He's writing on the edges of schematics, following the familiar path into the kitchen without looking up for anything. Even when he sets the pad down on a counter, he doesn't look away from it, simply reaching up to grope in a cabinet with the hand that isn't writing. Sugar first, then a bog of cookies. Two boxes of cookies. And then a plate of those little scones Jemma fancies. That'll probably do.

He's thoroughly oblivious to the eyes of others, though. He doesn't acknowledge anything in his path that isn't work-or-food-related.]