The patient knows that the wilting flower routine doesn't work on this one. Now hold still.
[She finishes with the sutures -- three, all told, just to be safe -- and after putting a bandage on the spot. She degloves and kisses him on the head, her fingers tangling in his hair.]
[When she announces that it's over, he finally dares to open his eyes. She's quite close, but now is probably not the time to comment on that. He's seen a mirror. He knows what a mess he is right now.]
[In a way, it's a relief. This is behavior you'd expect from the average mirror, and it means that the residents from this side haven't completely devolved into violence. But she doesn't feel any of the relief.]
If it's any comfort, I'm sure your mirror deserves it.
Fitz, look at me, I'm fine. It scared me, that's all.
[Whatever injury the encounter may have caused her was nothing in comparison to his death that had devastated them both so completely, and was gone in due time anyway.]
I met him in the stairwell. I didn't know about the mirrors at the time, but I knew it wasn't you.
[She and anyone with eyes in their head to see. Those probably weren't required, either, really. She cradles his head in one hand, even as they're still held together.]
[There's an extra piece that he hasn't yet admitted to the people who've approached him for accountability. It can only be uttered here, softly, when Jemma is holding him this tightly.]
It was too dependent on Cisco's powers. It was an amplifier primarily. I can't make it run a retrieval.
And there's a very good chance that Cisco's been permanently killed because of this.
[She's sure she doesn't have the whole story, and she's not sure she would get it if she could Chinese water torture the lot of them. But Fitz is here in front of her, with his best intentions sacrificed on the altar of scapegoating, so that is all she can deal with at the moment.]
[She huffs a little. So, that's it. Truthfully, in her insecure and irrational moments, she'd wondered if their relationship changing outside of the lab had changed it inside as well, without meaning to.]
I'm sure I don't know, but that is not a decision you get to make for me, Leo Fitz, do you hear me?
[She's trying not to be angry, but the almost-fullname slips in there.]
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[THE MOST INJURED. He practically lost an arm.]
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[She finishes with the sutures -- three, all told, just to be safe -- and after putting a bandage on the spot. She degloves and kisses him on the head, her fingers tangling in his hair.]
There. It'll hardly make a scar.
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It should. I wouldn't want it to just go away.
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Fitz, what happened?
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The article was right about why the mirrors came here.
[It's just become very clear that his mirror was extremely involved. Just something else to feel responsible about.]
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[Yes she does. But it's not her primary concern at this very second.]
Is that it? Did a mirror find you?
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They thought they'd find my mirror on this side. She was upset that I'm not the one they're looking for.
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If it's any comfort, I'm sure your mirror deserves it.
[It's not, and she knows that it's not.]
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[Of course it isn't. But it's kind of her to try.]
It's my fault he exists. He was at the root of all of this.
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[If he's not going to straighten up and talk to her, she'll come down to where she is. She loops an arm through his and settles in close.]
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[He doesn't move closer to her, though he'll reach across to give her arm a gentle pat.]
It's just that mine is so evil that even the other mirrors want to kill him. That must mean something.
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[She pauses, remembering the hand tight around her throat, both familiar and foreign.]
And he is terrible.
idr if they had this talk yet but couldn't find it in a log. Let me know if I forgot something?
Why do you sound like you know that for sure? Have you met him?
[When? Wouldn't he have been sent to the other side if an exchange was made?]
noooo they have not
When the mirrors came across, ages ago, after I first got here. I mistook him for you, and... well, there's no mistaking it now.
I should have said something, it just -- you died, and there were so many other important things. I wasn't purposely keeping it secret or anything.
OH well then
Jemma. What happened?? Are you all right? What did he do to you??
[The last time the mirrors were out, Jane was hurt. Was she not the only one??]
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[Whatever injury the encounter may have caused her was nothing in comparison to his death that had devastated them both so completely, and was gone in due time anyway.]
I met him in the stairwell. I didn't know about the mirrors at the time, but I knew it wasn't you.
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Did he touch you, Jemma?
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Yes, of course he did. Fitz, I'm fine.
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I'm not.
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[She and anyone with eyes in their head to see. Those probably weren't required, either, really. She cradles his head in one hand, even as they're still held together.]
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[There's an extra piece that he hasn't yet admitted to the people who've approached him for accountability. It can only be uttered here, softly, when Jemma is holding him this tightly.]
It was too dependent on Cisco's powers. It was an amplifier primarily. I can't make it run a retrieval.
And there's a very good chance that Cisco's been permanently killed because of this.
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[She's sure she doesn't have the whole story, and she's not sure she would get it if she could Chinese water torture the lot of them. But Fitz is here in front of her, with his best intentions sacrificed on the altar of scapegoating, so that is all she can deal with at the moment.]
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We were counting on Wonderland bringing us back if anything went that wrong.
Jemma, why else would I shove you out of the lab during an experiment?
[They thought it was a controlled sacrifice, if it would demand a life in the first place.
He's miscalculated. It's his fault.]
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I'm sure I don't know, but that is not a decision you get to make for me, Leo Fitz, do you hear me?
[She's trying not to be angry, but the almost-fullname slips in there.]
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[It wasn't very long ago that he held her corpse in his arms. It can't happen again.]
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