Fitzsimmons

Jemma's Journey: Part Three

Jemma stood in the headmaster's office of the S.H.I.E.L.D. training academy. No one was there, of course. Most of the professors had either been Hydra or dead. But Jemma still wanted to make sure she wasn't trespassing. She did have a reputation as a good girl, after all. Even if there was nobody left to remember it.

"Jemma!" a surprised voice from behind her said. Jemma whirled around to find her old professor, Hand. Her face was bruised and eyes swollen

"What are you doing here?" she asked in shock, then ran up to the young girl and hugged her. Jemma awkwardly hugged back, then pulled away.

"I'm here on a mission of sorts. Director Coulson sent me out here to find out something about, um, a fellow agent." she finished quietly.

"Oh." Hand replied, not wishing to upset Jemma. "So, did you need a place to stay?"

Jemma nodded.

"Would your old dorm work?" Hand attempted.

"Um, I'd rather..." Jemma trailed off, hesitant to stay in a room that contained so many memories. But then she realized that she had to confront those memories to be able to truly analyze their time spent together. "Yeah, sure." The two started down the hallway to the dorms.

"Okay, no one's boarded in it since you left." Hand started talking about the size and cleanliness of the room, but Jemma only half listened, to anxious about the flood of memories she was about to walk right into.

"Here it is." Hand stopped suddenly, and Jemma kept walking, forgetting or rather not paying attention to her surroundings.

"Oh! Thanks, Hand." she told the professor. She turned and stared at the door.

"It's unlocked, Jemma." Hand startled her.

"Oh, right. Yeah." Jemma replied, but continued to stare at the door. Hand decided to awkwardly leave the scientist to her staring, turning and walking back to the office.

"Here goes nothing." Jemma whispered quietly. "Please help me, Leo."

Jemma placed her hand on the cool titanium handle, feeling the ultimate pressure awaiting her behind the door.

Then she twisted her wrist and the door swung in. Her old dorm room lay before her, covered in dust, but otherwise looking the same as it had before. Jemma was surprised that she didn't start sobbing. Instead, she saw the dorm as a comfortable place, with comfortable memories. Watching superhero movies with Leo, studying with Leo, joking with Leo. She was not upset at all. Quite on the contrary. Jemma found herself genuinely smiling for the first time since Leo's injury.

This was a nice place with warm memories that she now was tasked with picking through, finding the one moment of her past that would change everything in her future.