❝THIS COULD BE PARADISE.❞
In which Jenna Rivers always thought working for S.H.I.E.L.D would be her paradise, only to find out that it was merely a path towards one.
[AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D AU - SEASON 4]
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"I KILLED HIM." Jenna's words were eerily breaking the silence that had landed into the cold house once Simmons had caught her breath and the choked gasps had faded into nothingness, leaving room for the haunting sentence that slipped from the blonde's lips. "We lost Fitz", her voice cracked as the gun dropped from her shaky hands — and she wasn't talking about Alistair, who was lying motionless on the floor, surrounded by a puddle of his own thick blood. She was talking about Leopold, the gravity of her actions only now settling in entirely — she had shot his father, why would he ever trust her after this? Why would he ever come with them willingly?
How could she ever look herself in the mirror, with her heart drenched in guilt of killing the father of the man she loved?
Sighing out heavily, Simmons shook her head and rushed to Jenna with her arms open and ready to pull the girl into a warm hug. "Shh, no, it's okay. You—you were trying—no, you saved my life, Jenna. He would have killed me otherwise, and then gone after you. Besides, he—he was never real, just twisted piece of imagination, okay?", she rambled, her own voice on the edge as she held Jenna in her arms and caressed her back comfortingly, letting the girl cry against her shoulder. Simmons did have a point, but Jenna was unable to wrap her mind around that, so instead, she just trembled and let the guilt sink in deeper, as if it hadn't already torn through her heart.
Eventually, though, Jemma pulled away and looked her best friend in her eyes. "We should go, before anyone comes here. We'll figure this out back at the base, alright? Trust me, Jenna, you did nothing wrong", she reassured, and offering a gentle nod, the blonde agreed to Simmons' plan. And although she did feel that she had done plenty wrong, she chose to focus on the positive, and that was her friend still being by her side — indeed, if she hadn't pulled the trigger, then Simmons would be dead.
And God only knew she couldn't handle losing both of her best friends, especially with whatever shreds of hope she had with Fitz were slowly being set to fire, with a match that her own hand had lit.
—————
THE FIRST THING that Jenna did when they arrived back at the headquarters, was stumble into Evan's arms as the man met the two scientists with Daisy by his side. Swallowing thickly to avoid the tears, which ended up burning her eyes nevertheless, Jenna buried her face against Evan's chest and let her brother comfort her by wrapping his strong arms around her smaller, shorter body. Worried, obviously, Evan looked over to Simmons, who simply looked down to avoid his questioning gaze, but it was enough to convince him that something serious had happened.
He started to walk Jenna away while Simmons stayed behind to talk to her Inhuman friend, and although Jenna was unable to explain anything to Evan, he was there for her with nothing but love and the strong instinct to protect. That was always his number one priority — although he loved what he did, the good work that he put out daily to help S.H.I.E.L.D, and keeping those people safe was something he was willing to sacrifice his life for, none of it mattered compared to Jenna. She was his family, and as long as there was air in his lungs, he was going to serve as her guardian angel, whether or not she could tell why she needed it. Whether or not she wanted it.
