[Open] an equation of variables

[hypoxic]

Who: Leo Fitz and/or Jemma Simmons AND YOU?
Where: All over -- Hopefully not around the dinosaurs? (but maybe around the dinosaurs)
When: Feb. 9th - 11th
Rating: Will mark if anything goes above PG13.
Summary: Jemma and Fitz are revisiting a near-death experience they had together. They’re slightly less than okay, but that seems to be going around right now.
The Story:

[ early event ]

[Ten days ago, they’d both been trapped underwater. There’d been an incident. Friends betrayed friends. They’d narrowly avoided death. Twelve hours ago, they’d been coping with the longterm repercussions of that, when a moment of sacrifice has the potential to turn into something much more permanent. Ten minutes ago, they were in the med bay. He’d been sitting up. She’d been trying to help him speak full sentences.

And now they’re here. Wherever “here” even is. They stay together for a lack of other options. And though they’re both easily recognizable by those who know them from Wonderland, there’s a particular sort of freshness to their faces. They’re substantially less weathered, even in their open discomfort. They’ll be cautious and curious both as they explore, though when approaching others, Jemma might be the one who does most of the talking.]

[ Jemma ]

[And there is quite a bit to talk about -- where the hell are they, who are these people, why are they here -- the questions are dizzying and almost endless and fade into the background almost immediately.

Fitz becomes her first priority, and she can sense that this grates on his nerves. Though they were told both the aphasia and nerve damage to his hand could improve with time and therapy, it’s still very fresh and frustrating. She wants to help, but that help seems to do little and less to improve matters. Still, in this strange place, she’s not going to lose track of her best friend and let him shove her away completely.

There is a lab that has traces of her and Fitz inside. She’s never seen it before, but if she could dream up a lab space, this looked very close to what she might come up with. There’s a library, a nice quiet space to sort through thoughts and find lots of books, which have given her comfort since she was a child. A girl’s gotta eat, so look, a kitchen (it gives you whatever you want! It’s almost too good to be true). And -- are those dinosaurs outside? Jemma’s not going to go out there to check (she’s had quite enough adventure for a while, thank you very much) but she’ll definitely be looking out windows and might venture up to higher floors to get a better look at them from the top. If she has to go looking for Fitz, she could end up just about anywhere.]

[ Fitz ]

[Sometimes when Jemma is absorbed with everything, Fitz sneaks off for space. He’s fully aware that he’s a liability like this. He’s holding her back, and possibly keeping her from solving the problem of getting them all home. She’s wasting her time taking care of him instead of handling the situation. So he’ll stay by himself as well, holing up in a lab that has his name everywhere (even though he can’t remember ever being here before), or sneaking down to the kitchen for snacks. He might even peek outside to check on the dinosaur issue for himself. He’d like to be helpful, if he can manage it.]


[OOC: Liz and I will both be tagging this post. Please specify if you’d like to thread with Jemma, Fitz, or both. (respective plotting comments linked) Our schedules tend to clash, so the “both” option will probably result in a slower thread. Sorry in advance!]

Comments

[mucked]

[ although peg does listen, it's hard to know whether to care or not when she can't quite understand the circumstances. has no what? her attention narrows, briefly, before she focuses it on jemma instead.

something has certainly happened. a mild worry knits itself into a larger concern. ]

I've never known a scientist to complain about a lab space being too big before. Ordinarily, I only hear the opposite.

[bravejemma]

No privacy, I know, but we've picked up so many others, Fitz, it needs to fit everyone, not just two of us.

[Although she admittedly would miss that part -- the part where they could just to a lab and work without interruption. Maybe they could kit out one of the empty store rooms, the Playground certainly had a share of those. She files the thought away from now before she turns back to Peggy Carter.]

We're used to having our own space, but our circumstances have recently changed.

[And boy is that putting it mildly.]

[hypoxic]

They stare.

[ he barks back, finding the complaints easier to field than just about anything else that's happening around them. ]

[mucked]

I know a thing or two about stares. [ both at home and here, unfortunately. if it's a quiet dig at the pair of agents ahead of her then she at least delivers it with grace. ] They can be bewildering no matter what the reason.

Still, it can be a good thing -- working with more people. Bringing more of them into the fold. [ ... ] Why did circumstances change?

[bravejemma]

... It's a bit of a long story.

[Does she want to be the one to tell Peggy Carter that Hydra had been inside SHIELD the whole time? Certainly not. But it's looking it might have to be her.]

There's been a little bit of an overhaul in SHIELD. And we're just doing our best to recover from it.

[And other things.]

[hypoxic]

"Recover"...

[ he scoffs derisively, but doesn't contribute beyond that. ]

[mucked]

[ -- the hydra uprising. oh, it's not said out loud. but peggy can put a piece or two together. it's all in that slight explanation: an overhaul. more importantly, it gives her something of a timeline to consider. ]

Pessimistic, are we? [ she directs her question towards fitz. ]

[bravejemma]

[Though Jemma has given Fitz a mild look at his dismissive gesture, and she's pretty sure Peggy is talking to Fitz, she goes ahead and answers.]

I suppose we have enough reason to be.

[hypoxic]

[He'll lift his shoulders in an absent shrug, but doesn't fuss about Jemma answering for him. He's been getting used to people having conversations over him as if he can't hear just because he doesn't answer. It's natural.]

[mucked]

And now you're here. [ the lie is getting tedious; her patience won't last much longer. she can feel it eroding around the truth. ] Misfortune piled upon misfortune.

Figured out the devices yet?

[bravejemma]

Rudimentary cellular device, not unlike the ones we have at home.

[Or like the ones they had at home five years ago, but she was sure given time Fitz could improve it.]

They won't dial out, though.

[She tried 999 and 911, both to no avail.]

[hypoxic]

Wholly different. [It comes out almost surly.] None of the wiring is close to similar.

[It's offensive that she'd find any similarities.]

[mucked]

'Rudimentary' is relative, I'm afraid.

[ even now, months in, she can't quite profess to understand precisely how they work. oh, there's a gist to be followed -- but unlike a rifle or a field radio, peggy would be hard-pressed to strip one of these devices down to its constituent parts and put it back together again. ]

But if you say they're wholly different, [ she glances at fitz, ] then wholly different they must be.

[bravejemma]

[Jemma understands that Fitz has been in a terrible mood basically since he woke up, and it's not completely unwarranted, but do you have to pick a fight in front of Peggy Carter, Leopold Fitz???

Jemma doesn't answer for a moment, not until she could trust herself to not snipe in return.]

Of course. Plenty different.

[hypoxic]

[He isn't picking a fight, Jemma Simmons. He's simply stating the obvious.

But now they the argument has died down, so does his willingness to vocalize. He looks away from them both. As you were, ladies. He'll start fussing again when you decide to be Wrong next.]

[mucked]

Of course, [ she hedges, ] there is someone here who can do quite a lot with one of these. He's put an encryption on mine.

[ although she doubts it does anything more than simply keeps out other captives -- if there is some mastermind to this place, she suspects they aren't kept out by tony's codes. that would be too easy. ]

[bravejemma]

Well, that's handy. Security seems hard to find here, I suppose we should take it where we can find it.

[Fitz could probably manage that but it doesn't seem tactful to bring up.]

[hypoxic]

[ well if course there's someone who can do a lot with them. They're obviously talking about him. He'll fiddle with the device quietly, only with his good hand. It'll certainly be difficult to work a screwdriver to get the casing open, it a messy project is better than no project. ]

[mucked]

Tony Stark. His help rarely comes without a heaping pile of attitude. But once you know how to rein him in...

[ -- she trails off. mostly, she's waiting to see how the name lands. they're so young. so different. she needs to sort this timeline out for herself before she proceeds. ]

[bravejemma]

Ah, yes. We've... met.

[That seems like the most polite way to phrase that.]

[hypoxic]

[Jemma might be polite about it, but Fitz's head shoots up, interest piqued. He might have been a full-blown git, but it was still Tony Stark.]

[mucked]

-- Was he dreadful? [ god, he was dreadful wasn't he? and young right now. ] Does he need a good bollocking?

[bravejemma]

Well...

[Dreadful wasn't the word she would have used, but it was a pretty close cousin.]

I suspect it wouldn't do much, Agent Carter, young hotheads being what they are.

[hypoxic]

[ maybe a bit dreadful, but why should that matter??? He's Tony Stark! Iron Man!! ]

I like him.

[ he idolized him. ]

[mucked]

I'm not in the habit of excusing anyone simply because they're young and their heads or hot. Or, in this case, about five times too big and double that as hard.

[ -- but then fitz pipes up with his first bit of something positive since this run-in began. her mouth quirks and she addresses him directly once again: ]

But I like him too.