Hourglass

Would

"Melinda," he says softly, placing his briefcase on the ground. "Long time, no see."

I step back from the punching bag, my arms feeling heavy by my sides. "What are you doing here?"

"I received a call from Coulson this morning. He wanted me to come and perform an evaluation on one of your team members and talk to you," he states, then takes my hands in his. "Aren't you supposed to tape these up?"

"Normally, but I'm not exactly in a good mood right now and it slipped my mind," I say, only then noticing the blood dripping from my knuckles. It doesn't hurt at all, but when I come down from my adrenaline rush it probably will.

"I have a job to do, but when I'm done I'll come back for you. Look after yourself, okay?" he says and I nod, allowing the smallest hint of a smile to tug at my lips. He drops my hands and I head to the lab alone.

Coulson probably wanted him to perform an evaluation on Simmons to make sure that she'd be okay to go back into the field. I'm still incredibly angry with him, but I mustn't take it out on Andrew - he's done nothing to deserve that.

And I can't ignore the way my heart raced when he held my hands in his. Granted, I have just been working out in a way, but exercise doesn't ever make it skip beats.

✈

Simmons looks up from where she lies on her bed to see an unfamiliar face staring back at her. She yelps, alarmed, but the person standing in her doorway makes no attempt to do anything at all.

"Are you Jemma Simmons?" he asks and she nods, her eyes large and wary. "I'm Doctor Andrew Garner and I'm here to talk to you."

She sits up, intrigued. "Andrew Garner? May's ex husband?"

"That's the one. May I take a seat?"

"Certainly," she replies. He sits down on the bed beside her, ignoring the bomb site that is her room - covered in clothes, medical equipment and books. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Coulson has requested that I perform a psych evaluation on you, seeing as I'm here anyway. I don't know if he's told you yet but he's considering putting you back in the field," Andrew says and she looks at him in alarm.

"Back in the field?" she asks, her voice small.

He smoothes out the blanket underneath him. "I will let him tell you the details, but he wanted me to make sure that you are up for it before any plans go ahead. Do you mind if I ask  you some questions?"

She frowns but nods, dread filling her stomach. "Sure."

"I understand that you had a very close relationship with another member of your team, Agent Leopold Fitz."

At the mention of his name all of the colour drains from her face. "Yes."

"And that he died on a mission around six weeks ago. In your files it says that you were best friends since the Academy. Losing someone that close to you must have been difficult," he says, watching her carefully.

"Yes, it was."

"I understand if you don't want to talk in depth about him. However, it sounds like you've had a pretty rough time since his death, with the mission going wrong and you ending up in hospital again. Can you describe how you felt inside that compound?"

Simmons bites her lip. "I was terrified, in pain and alone. When they tortured me, I wanted to die."

"And yet, you managed to fight your way out of there and survive. Why?" he asks and she looks away.