bravejemma | IC Inbox

Then you're entirely too married to Euclidean three-dimensional theory.

[He shakes his head, huffing.]

And you're entirely too married to your stubborn, Calvinist-inspired Scottish cultural identity to look past your own nose.

[Not the greatest comeback, but hey, if you're going to spring an argument on her you're going to have to work with what she comes up with.]

Questioning the validity of religious norms has absolutely nothing to do with acknowledging the high probability that fourth-dimensional spatial awareness is potentially validated by our very existence in this space.

[They don't question that Daisy's place in the timeline is valid. Why is this such a sticking point?]

And that doesn't have anything to do with what will or won't be. Fre will in human beings makes it much more complicated than that.

[She pauses only briefly.]

Why are you picking a fight?

I'm not picking a fight, Jemma. [It's just that his tone is getting sharper.] But do you really believe that a future like that happened because we consented to it?

[Really BECAUSE, THIS FEELS A LITTLE BIT LIKE A FIGHT...]

I don't know. I'm not prepared to say that. If it was set up against something much, much worse? Maybe we did.

[Spirited discussion between peers!]

I'dve died first.

[His mouth tightens. Perhaps he had. The other Jemma seemed particularly concerned about the possibility.]

Or maybe I did.

[It would have taken less to make him capitulate, and they both know it. She would do just about anything to keep him from death again, and she can't imagine things had changed that much.]

At any rate, that's not consent. It's extortion.

So what do we do to make sure it doesn't come to pass?

Get home. Get everyone home, to their timelines.

[It's not a GREAT plan, but it's what she has.]

If there's nobody here, that future doesn't exist.

We don't even know when it is. It could be tomorrow, and we're nowhere close to being ready.

Or it may be ten years from now. [You know, metaphorically speaking, since while time passes here it seems to be otherwise irrelevant.]

I suppose we work harder, then.

I won't let you stay trapped here that long. I promise you that.

[ he'll sell every piece of himself to the merchants if it means that it'll earn her freedom somehow. ]

[The worst part is that she knows he means it. He's let her take air out of his lungs to save herself, what else could he possibly give? In a place like this, it's really better not to ask.

And she doesn't care if it's going to be awkward, if he's going to stand there obligingly while she hugs him, or if he reciprocates. She does it, arms fitting around him and holding on good and tight.]

Just don't let me stay stuck without you.

[She's been stuck without him. She could hardly bear it.]

[He hooks his head over her shoulder, offering comfort as she seeks it. It's not for him. He knows that. She's just using Fitz to supplement for Will. It's better to be with friends than alone.

He's aware of a flush of something internal, a need to retreat to Klaus. He'll have to stop by during tea tomorrow.]

It'll be fine. I get four more.

[Such a silly pair they are.

She exhales heavily, not really a laugh, not really a show of exasperation.]

Even one more will be too many.

It'll be better.

[He closes his eyes, taking in the scent of her shampoo.]

We have more reliable acquaintances now.

[This time she does sigh. She can't really blame him, considering, but he does have a tendency to stick people up on pedestals and it makes it all the worse when they fail.

(And to be honest, she's not sure Klaus is more reliable.)]

Not everything about that world was awful.

[She admits it in a small voice; so small he could ignore it if he chose.]

[He can't ignore it when she's this close. It makes his muscles grow stiff. She's lying to herself now? Is that what this is?]

They took away the man you love. You hadn't known how awful it was.

[And she knows he means Will. She knows, and it feels like the biggest lie she's never told.]

No, Fitz, they didn't. That's what made it a temptation.

[He smiles sadly.]

Jemma, you shouldn't say things that aren't true just to spare my feelings.

You think I would have looked twice if I hadn't thought my last chance of coming home had missed the portal and smashed on the rocks? If I'd had you with me?

[Was he never going to understand he wasn't second place?]

[He studies her carefully then. This isn't a prank? There's not another event??]

...He'll be disoriented enough when we bring him back. You'll be the only one he knows.

[It wouldn't be the right thing to do, no matter how much he'd prefer to be kissing her right now.]

You aren't listening.

[Then, maybe it wasn't the listening. It was the believing. He kept himself from believing her, to protect himself -- and again, how can she blame him.]

He knows me well enough to know he was what I had. Not what I wanted.

[Klaus had wanted Fitz to talk things out with Jemma. He'd known it would be like this. He'd warned that prolonging things would just make it more complicated and hurtful.]

Jemma, I...

[There are words that come next, but he can't will them to happen. He trails off instead, pulling away just far enough to study every bit of her beautiful face.]

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