This is a sudden plot bunny. I realised that Simmons was clearly taken by discovering the drug and very focused on it. I wanted to explore this a bit since I noticed that ever since ep. 14-15, Fitzsimmons are not really in sync outside as they are in the lab. It sort of comes back a bit in episode 17 but their synchronization isn't like it was in the first episodes.

Thanks to my Beta StarryDreamer01 who helped me edit this.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN AGENTS OF SHIELD.

-:-

"Our thoughts create our reality -where we put our focus is the direction we tend to go."

-Peter McWilliams-

-:-

Jemma didn't notice it immediately. She hadn't realised that her focus had drifted subtly. Thinking back, she should have known: the hints had been there.

She was too concerned over Skye and then the GH325 to really see how Fitz's attitude was different. Her concern over her new friend and the impasse in not understanding the drug, its components and eventual side effects were occupying her mind.

To not be able to understand the drug and assure herself that it wasn't dangerous was plaguing her thoughts: it was the first time in her entire life that she didn't comprehend something thoroughly.

And that had made her overlook the fact that her partner was becoming a bit more broody and more dedicated to field operations.

She got a hint that something was shifting in him when they were talking about the GH325 after she had taken yet another sample of Skye's blood. Jemma had vented about not having other drug samples and ignored Fitz's snarky remark of not taking his time to collect more vials and getting blown apart in the bomb explosion.

He was taking this too personally. She hadn't meant it that way..

She complained about Coulson and his evasiveness. Wondered loudly about him not wanting her to send the blood samples to HQ and have them tested in a fully equipped lab but keep everything in house.

If this drug was truly safe, it could be a major breakthrough in every medical field: it would save countless lives. And yet Coulson didn't want it out.

She had asked Fitz about this, asked if he had seen something peculiar in the bunker while he had been there with Coulson. She thought that he might have noticed something that explained their commanding officer's attitude.

Fitz didn't look at her, just stared at a spot on the ground, his mind far away as though reliving some event that she didn't know of.

"Everything was peculiar," he replied softly and turned around to go back to his workspace, leaving her puzzled. A hint of concern bloomed inside her and she made a mental note to talk to Fitz when they had a free moment. She suddenly realised that ever since their return from Italy, they never had a free moment and she talked to Fitz only in the lab.

Her good intentions were washed away by their encounter with Lady Sif and Lorelai who ensnared Ward and then Fitz with her charm.

Having her partner brainwashed to Lorelai's bidding and chase her to stop her from tampering with the Asgardian's plan had worried Jemma: she had been concerned for Fitz and his mind. Her concern diminished when she saw that he wasn't behaving as badly as Ward did. At the end, Fitz ended with a black eye that, as painful as it was, was a small injury.

Once the Asgardian threat was defeated (and Fitz and Ward were back to their usual selves), Jemma's focus turned back to the drug.

-:-

"Why, don't you seem awfully chipper to pack up and leave me by my lonesome?"

"Do I?"

"Yes."

Jemma didn't even glance at Fitz as she put the vials of blood back into their container and hid them in her bag. She hid a smile as she heard the condescending hint to his voice.

Of course, he would know why she was so eager to stay at the HUB and be debriefed about Deathlock by Agent Hand. It wasn't just to give information about the new Cybertech soldier who had injured a senior SHIELD agent...

"And I wonder," he said, approaching her. "Could it be because the HUB's lab facilities are much more comprehensive than ours?

Fitz would understand her right away as usual...

"In case I'd like to run a molecular breakdown of Skye's blood?" she asked, looking up from her notes and then shutting the file close and smiling up at him. "Brilliant deduction, Dr. Watson."

She smiled as she went to put away the file in her bag.

"I've always pictured you as Watson." Jemma stared at him bewilderment. Was he even serious?

"Either way, if you're going to do this, you're going to need my help," he claimed. "At some point... One way or the other... Eventually." He was rambling all of a sudden and she inwardly rolled her eyes. He was worrying too much...

Yes, she was going to run some unauthorized test behind the back of Agent Coulson... but she honestly didn't think that she was going to do any harm. If she was careful enough to not leave traces of her testing and samples, no one in the HUB would know what she was doing. She just had to find a way to be in one of the lab facilities alone after giving Agent Hand all the information she wanted from her.

Being considered one of the two experts of the Deathlock program might have its perks, after all...

"Well, I won't go that far..." she commented, packing the last of her things and attempting to lighten his mood. She was going to stay at the HUB, a SHIELD headquarter. Whatever could happen to her there?

"I'll jerry up an encrypted hardline so that we can stay in touch." Fitz didn't seem to hear her. "Don't want the rest of the Bus to overhear what we're saying."

Jemma turned and nodded at him with a smile. That wouldn't be a bad idea. She still thought that he was worrying too much but having a way to speak to him while they were separated did give her some tranquillity. And it would calm Fitz as well.

When Agent Triplett approached them and asked if she was ready, she stared in surprise but managed, somehow, to keep a calm façade.

She hadn't thought that the specialist would be there with her. That complicated things a bit...

When she openly said that she didn't mind his company, Jemma's gaze landed on Fitz's face for a moment. He hadn't said a word while she talked with the other man and had just been looking at her.

Something twitched in her chest at the look of surprise mingled with something close to hurt that was on his face. She didn't want to mull over it too much: not now.

Her thoughts would drift, going from his concern for her as he wondered how she would get away from Triplett to do the testing, to his thoughts about her being alone with the specialist who seemed a bit too keen to be with her. Maybe that was just some wishful thinking on her part that Fitz might notice that..

When she left the Bus, moments later, she was planning a way to get into one of the HUB's lab facilities, keeping her face as neutral as possible.

Her goodbye to Fitz was quick. She noticed the look on his face, but didn't linger on it.

Again.

Her focus was still on her small personal mission: finding the truth about the drug.

It was only when the Bus took off, leaving her on the ground that she suddenly realised that this was the first time since they'd joined the Team, that she and Fitz were separated.

It was an order -yes- and not a mission that kept them apart this time but Jemma had eagerly accepted.

She had accepted to be separated from him.

The thought made her heart clench and she wondered if Fitz had been thinking about that... That would explain the look on his face.

For the first time, Jemma wondered when she had stopped focusing on Fitz. In all these years, despite the missions and assignments, Fitz and his thoughts were her first thought.

It was what allowed her to understand him.

What made them FitzSimmons in and out the lab.

She suddenly realised that they were still in sync in the lab and work-wise but they were slowly unravelling outside.

It occurred to her that she still didn't know what was worrying Fitz since he got back from the mission at the guest house.

Jemma swallowed dryly, feeling something heavy in her stomach, and followed Agent Triplett to the room where Agent Hand waited for them for debrief.

She shoved the thoughts to a corner of her mind, forcing herself to clear her head.

She couldn't think of that now...

-:-

"Hang on now..." Fitz's voice sounded distant and metallic through the phone. "I think I've found the problem."

Jemma pressed her phone tighter to her ear as she walked restlessly inside the lone lab facility next to the operations room.

She was still frazzled by the events of the day. She would have never thought that Ward, of all people, would go and shoot the Clairvoyant once they found him.

She wondered what was occurring on the Bus, imagining the scenarios and longed to be there with them. She wanted to be there so that they could overcome the difficult moment together. As a Team.

As the family they were slowly becoming.

But she wasn't there. She was here at the HUB, alone.

Hearing Fitz's voice, his soft and familiar brogue, soothed her nerves and calmed her.

"Looks like... someone else is tapping the hardline." Jemma could hear the slight confusion in his voice. She was just as puzzled too.

Why would someone be tapping the hardline?

A sudden movement caught her eye. She turned and walked to the glass windows and saw many agents -specialists and senior agents mostly- rushing into the room where she knew Agent Hand usually briefed.

"Wait, Fitz, I think something's happening," she said, peering into the hallway. "There are agents rushing into the situation's room.."

She didn't hear him answer: he had said that he didn't hear her clearly. She hung up, knowing that he would call her once he fixed the hardline problem.

Her thoughts were now riveted to the commotion coming from the situation's room.

What was going on?

-:-

HYDRA.

HYDRA inside SHIELD.

The only thought was terrifying.

How was that even possible? HYDRA had been defeated after World War II! There couldn't be the possibility that it had-

SHIELD had started after HYDRA's demise.

But Agent Weaver had been clear and the usually calm and stoic woman had looked terrified. Jemma stared at the space where the holocom had projected her former teacher's frantic face.

Her words had planted a seed of doubt and distrust in Jemma's mind.

How could this have happened?

How didn't they notice?

Agents Weaver's words replayed in Jemma's suddenly numb brain.

"Are you still with the Team?"

No. She wasn't. She was here at the HUB. Alone.

"The Academy is under siege!"

Why attack the Academy? There were only students there! Cadets that weren't even trained to defend themselves. What were the attackers after? The Professors who were SHIELD's assets? Or the inventions, the multitude of prototypes that cadets like she once was, had created.

The Academy. SHIELD had recruited her because they believed that she could do some good for the world. They believed in her intelligence and capabilities more than she had.

The Academy... It was the place where she met Fitz. The place where they became friends. The place where they became FitzSimmons.

Fitz.

Oh, God...Fitz.

Could he be in danger? The Team in danger?

They were not in a protected facility like she was. They were on their own, on the Bus.

She recalled him saying about someone tapping the hardline and a shiver ran down her spine as dread coursed through her veins.

The thought that someone from the outside might have tampered with the Bus's communication system, sent Jemma in a whirlwind of doubts and confusion.

Could it be real then? HYDRA…?

The sudden sound of the door locking made Jemma turn sharply. She watched as Agent Triplett turned around after closing the only way out from the room.

Agent Weaver's last advice came to her mind.

"Jemma, don't trust anyone!"

She stared at the man -the trained specialist- in front of her. She didn't even know him.

The people she knew were on the Bus.

She asked to let her out and he retorted that staying there was the best option. A tingle of dread ran down her spine.

"How do I... know I can trust you?" she asked, weighing her options. She wouldn't have a chance against him in a fight...

"Because I'm trustworthy," he replied. And then, he whipped out a knife.

Jemma gasped softly, dread running deeper through her now along with fear.

Her thoughts flew to her Team and to Fitz as Triplett approached her. Her eyes couldn't leave the knife's blade.

When Agent Triplett twisted the knife and handed it to her, giving her his trust along with it, she sighed in relief and took the weapon.

She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she took in all the information she had been thrown in the past minutes.

Yes, she understood that she shouldn't trust everyone.

HYDRA agents could be anywhere. She still couldn't believe that this was happening…

She had to trust her common sense. Her instincts.

She had to trust her Team.

And she would always trust Fitz.

Nothing would change that.

Her mind was suddenly focused on her partner. Concern, raw and bone deep, flooded her body.

All she could think of now was Fitz.

She had to talk to him. Assure herself that he was alright.

He had to be alright.

Her mind was tuned to him again now.

She just hoped -prayed- that she wasn't too late.

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