to boldly go...

[bravejemma]

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[bravejemma]

Am I?

[She supposed she probably took for granted how much people with actual bodies moved, even when they were being still. Even so, she's not sure she can dredge up the energy to move too much if she doesn't have to.]

[hypoxic]

... it doesn't matter. [She's Jemma. That's the only thing that matters.]

Are you all right, Jemma? How do you feel?

[bravejemma]

[She opens her mouth to answer, but nothing is coming. She feels dreadful. She used to have a program telling her what to do and now there's nothing but dead air.]

I don't know.

[hypoxic]

[He gives her hand light, gentle pressure.]

It's -- it's all right. You've been through a lot. You can move round at your own pace... I'll be right here with you the whole time.

[bravejemma]

[It seems daunting -- and slow. She's used to going from one thing to the next in the microsecond it takes to process. But she sinks back on the bed, still dazed. But there's one question she has.

How did you find me?

[hypoxic]

Daisy heard you. We figured out the rest from there.

[He's oversimplifying. Ever since that incident when Skye was swept up in that hivemind-cult, converted into Unit D4I5Y and subsequently recovered, she's had an odd relationship with aspects of technology that they couldn't begin to unpack. Borg. Let's just go Borg. When they were poring over the broken functionality for the five billionth time, Daisy came down with a migraine, insisting that she could hear Jemma screaming. It broke his heart. He hasn't tried to sleep in a week.]

[bravejemma]

Who?

[Daisy feels familiar, like she knows who or what that is but not the same way he does. It's difficult to explain.]

[hypoxic]

[Something tightens in his throat.]

Daisy. ... Our friend.

[Her memory's been damaged. He only recovered incomplete data. Something else. There are a million Something Else-s potentially. He's already flooded with followup theories.]

[bravejemma]

Oh.

She... Skye. She used to be Skye.

[She remembers that part. The unexpected integration and change. It comes back, but slowly.]

[hypoxic]

Y-yes...

[It's a bit oversimplified, but she's not wrong. ]

..She used to be Skye. You remember her?

[bravejemma]

Yes.

[She remembers her friend, dark eyes shining, daring, always at the ready to help. She remembers Daisy now.

But Fitz was the one she had clung to, refused to forget.]

[hypoxic]

Do you feel that you're missing very much time, Jemma?

[bravejemma]

I don't know...

[It wasn't hours, or even days, likely. Probably not several years, even Fitz would have to have given up after that long. Months? A year?]

How long have I missed?

[hypoxic]

You've been gone about six months.

[He frowns. He's gotten very good at making frowning work.]

[bravejemma]

[Six months. Six months. It feels unbearably long, but it also felt like no time at all. She opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. In her shock, it barely registers when she starts to cry. This is too real. It hurts. She wants the ones and zeroes back.]

[hypoxic]

Are... is there something you'd like to talk about?

[Does she want to talk at all? Should he let her rest? She's still not even sitting up... this is terrible. ]

[bravejemma]

[She can't answer, she's sobbing too hard and soon enough, finds that she can't breathe, hyperventilating.]

[hypoxic]

Jemma...

[He settles down beside her in bed and slowly, carefully, pulls her abdomen against him.]

I'm here.

[He wraps his arms around her, saddened by the thought that he can't provide her with supportive warmth.]

[bravejemma]

[By instinct -- she's not sure that she could have managed it otherwise -- she curls up around him. Her breath comes quick and shallow, then more slowly, before eventually evening out. She still feels sick and dizzy, so it's honestly nice to just be held by him before it evens out. She's almost afraid to lift her head or let him retreat. What if it's a program run by the virus again?]

[hypoxic]

[The movement is encouraging for him. She's proving that the muscles work. He strokes her hair softly, cradling her as she cuddles close.]

I'm not going anywhere. You're safe now.

[bravejemma]

[She holds on, the crying jag had exhausted her.]

I'll tell you more, but... I don't know if... If...

[If he'll believe it? If she can bring herself to believe it was unreality and she wasn't there any longer? She doesn't know. But he's there now, and it's a comforting presence.]

[hypoxic]

Whatever you're comfortable with telling me. Whenever you're comfortable saying it.

[bravejemma]

[For now, it's too much. She closes her eyes and lets him hold her, smoothing her hair down while she goes into sleep mode.

Or falls asleep.

She dreams about cascading numbers, and being drawn to her death in the tentacle sea. Will bleeding in front of her -- except it turns into Fitz, and his heart beats more and more slowly, until it stops completely. She wakes suddenly, and he's still there, worried, but none the worse for it.]

I became part of the ship's computer, Fitz.

[hypoxic]

[She announces it, but Fitz doesn't reply. He's still there with her, but he's still and solid. Ironically enough, he's slipped into his actual sleep mode. He hasn't been charging himself properly these days.]

[bravejemma]

[But she doesn't lift her head to notice.]

I thought I was dead, I thought...

And some of those scenarios are really just awful. We should have a tighter policies around what can be --

We could feel pain.

[But he doesn't answer. He's not even moving.]

Fitz?

[He hasn't taken care of himself. She gently strokes his cheek.]

You haven't taken care, have you?

[She frowns, hating being the cause of such a thing.]