Fitzsimmons

Awake

Quick Note: Hey shippers!  Sorry for my long hiatus, but I just needed to see some new content to be able to write this part.  So here's the second-to-last installation of Stars, thanks to the recently released season three promo. :)

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It was midnight at HQ, but Fitz was awake, screwdriver in hand, marching the halls quietly to find the room the stone was hidden in. Coulson and the rest of the team were asleep, so it was the prime time to break rules. He knelt down to the screws holding the door in place and began working, hoping the clink of a dropped screwdriver wouldn't wake anyone.

"Fitz?" someone asked at the end of the hallway, and Fitz threw his tool down angrily. Skye trotted over to him, face twisted in confusion and sleep warring with worry for her friend. "What are you doing?"

"I have," Fitz stopped, emotion cluttering his mind and making it difficult to speak. "I have to get to Jemma. And this door's the only thing in the way of that."

"Well, that door, and a monolith portal no one has any idea how to work," Skye commented, then rubbed at her eyes. "Fitz, you could be transported somewhere completely different. You could end up light years away, with no way back."

"I have to try," Fitz grumbled quietly, then clawed weakly at the door in front of him. He heard Skye sigh exasperatedly and softly.

"It's been a month since this door was boarded up. Why now?" she asked quietly, still deciding whether this cause was worthy.

"I miss her," Fitz replied even quieter. He touched a hand to the cold metal, and leaned a forehead against it, finally letting everything inside him burst. His throat tightened with shaking anger as he added, "And I can't accept that she's dead."

Silence hung in the early morning darkness of the hallway, and Fitz thought of the possibility that he might never see Jemma again, actually considering it instead of pushing it away like he usually did. His vision blurred with tears he would never let fall.

"Fine," Skye interrupted, then turned back towards the bunks. Fitz stayed silent as he leaned forward and processed her single syllable.

"Wait, fine what?" Fitz managed before Skye turned the corner.

"I'm getting the team together. We're gonna find Jemma."

"Really?!" Fitz sprung to his feet unconsciously and darted down the hallway until he was close to Skye.

"It's called the Secret Warriors for a reason, right?"

"Thank you so much, Skye!"  Fitz wrapped his arms around her, not caring whether she returned the embrace. He hoped that, amidst the tears and shaking, she would understand his gratitude.

"No problem," Skye whispered, then pressed a grinning kiss to the top of his head. "Simmons is important to me, too, you know."

"Yeah, I know.  It's just..."

"Different," Skye laughed, then pulled away.  "I get it.  Let me pull together the Warriors."

As soon as the groggy team had assembled in the rock room (which they had accessed thanks to Skye's quaking of the bolts in the door), Fitz stared at the monolith, not quite sure what the next step was.  He circled the solid black mass, looking for something that would activate its liquid powers.  Then he remembered the hand prints, still etched in the side.

Fitz unlocked the clear container, flinching at the sound, before swinging the door open cautiously.  The rock stayed steady, so he brought a hand up to trace the edges of the marks.  The handprints glowed slightly, and the rock warmed under his touch.

"Um, so I think we've got to touch our hands to the prints," Fitz explained to the waiting inhuman team.  Lincoln stated hesitantly at the monolith.

"Jiaying always said this stone was dangerous to inhumans," he murmured nervously, shuffling back from the obsidian.  Skye looked irritated at the mention of her mother, and turned to Lincoln.

"Listen, Static, my mom told you all a lot of bull.  She lied about S.H.I.E.L.D., she lied about my father, and she lied about her plans for the inhumans.  How do we know she was telling the truth on this?"

The other inhumans stayed quiet, shifting from side to side and biting their lips.  Fitz sensed he was losing the battle, and stepped forward, bouncing nervously and letting his worry overtake his face.  "Listen, I am in love with a girl on the other side of the rock, and I've spent far too much time going after her to give up now.  It just... I hurt so much right now."  He felt himself begin shaking, but this was his only chance at winning them over.

"I really, really need your help to find her again.  I don't know how much longer I can live without her."

Before he knew what was happening, Lincoln was hugging his forcibly still form, and Fitz only now noticed the tears falling from his face.  He didn't know if crying would make him seem weak or strong to these people, but Lincoln's support was reassuring.  He pulled back and smiled at Fitz, and Fitz tried a smile back.

"So, can we do this?  For Fitz?" Skye asked the group, and her question was met with nods and more smiles.  "Great.  Secret Warriors on their first mission together.  We should get a cool catchphrase!"

"Secret Warriors, assemble inconspicuously?" Lincoln suggested, and the group, including Fitz, fell into nervous laughter.

"We'll come up with a better one later," Skye offered, then gestured for the team to close into a circle.  "Until then, let's turn this thing around.  For Jemma!"

"For Jemma!" the inhumans repeated, and for the first time Fitz felt completely confident in this mismatched assembly of super powered dorks.  And he trusted them to get him to Jemma.