X marks the spot

What We're Fighting For

"I'm just glad to see you all in once piece," Fitz said.

"'One piece'?" Daisy fired back at Fitz, "Simmons' mind is in shambles."

"Give her time," Fitz argued, "hopefully no serious damage has been done."

"Bit late there, brother," Simon added. His hopes and prayers may have been somewhat answered, with them being alive – if not exactly well – but something had to not be right, didn't it?

"What do you mean, 'no damage'?" May said, actual anger coating her words. Maybe it was just the general vibe of the room, but it still cut through the pair from...wherever the fuck they came from like a knife.

Aaron approached Lisa as voices started to overlap. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"The Chronicom fleet destroyed SHIELD," Coulson said.

"That won't matter," Fitz declared.

"Starting to sound a whole lot like me there, buddy," Aaron quipped.

"Maybe in terms of big picture, sure, sometimes," Fitz agreed, "we can still get back to our original timeline and save it."

"We can go back?" Mack asked, some hope entering his tone.

They had moved into the main bar area, Fitz being surrounded by his friends that he missed so much; so very, very much. He missed the banter, and sometimes the awkwardness that would come with it; he missed their quirks, both individual and as a group. He missed it, he truly did.

But he deserved to be happy. At least for a little bit. Time machines allowed for that to be possible.

It was funny, something which Simon had brought up before he became so jaded from his loops, that Fitzsimmons for ages loved Doctor Who so much and wanted to be companions, that now they were almost playing those god like roles together. A mix of doctor and companion.

Jemma's nickname was changed from 'Hermione' to 'Doctor Donna' for a bit before the loops started.

When Simon returned, and they saw their brother looking healthier and less tense, they knew it had worked, at least somewhat.

They allowed himself time to rest as well. Before...well, before this moment here and now.

Fitz, in this moment, however, looked exasperated, as much as he tried to hide it; Simon forgot how much the obvious questions were sometimes asked – even by himself, he'd always admit. Though, he supposed that clarification was better than being left in the dark and confused, as he himself had been both literally and metaphorically so many times before.

His eyes went to his younger self, who was currently focused more on Lisa, but Simon could still see a part of him listening in on all of this himself.

"Yes," Fitz said, gesturing to the machine himself and Simon had come through, "that's where we just came from."

"It's not been easy," Simon said, "we understand that - more so me than him," Fitz hit him on the arm for that – but Simon just continued as if it hadn't happened, "we've all sacrificed something for this...trust us, we didn't want to on either side....but..." Simon only now saw how awful everyone looked. So tired. So drained. Not exactly hopeless like last when they found themselves in a situation like this; more so just tired. Willing to fight, but tired.

"There really was no other way. And for that, I'm sorry."

"Not 'we'?" Simon asked.

"No, I'm taking responsibilities for the faults of this plan and what it's done," he looked to Daisy for a moment; despite their talk, Daisy felt something move in her at Fitz apologising once again. Actions spoke louder, she knew that, but that had been going mostly ok before he disappeared – some loyalty had been brought back. She was glad it was.