It’s Okay, Beautiful [AOS]
AN ~ This episode was beautiful and the Skye/Simmons, however you see it, was beautiful, and I have this idea about Simmons getting wings, and this is one of (probably many) things I’ll write about it.
“No,” Skye whispers, shrinking back from the wall.
Coulson lets his eyes drop. May purses her lip. Fitz notices that he can no longer hear his heart beating. He counts the spaces.
He wonders what her face looked like – suddenly it’s everywhere, every memory of her trying to make one face, and it’s like a mosaic, it’s like shattered glass. It hurts his head, but he grabs at the pieces anyway. He can’t have lost her, he can’t, not now. Trembling, he sinks to the floor.
They wait in silence. Eventually, something will happen. Hunter will get back from the Bus with the C4. Maybe the walls will just have to re-open, if for no other reason than to let another super have a chance. Or maybe they’ll just have to wait until any of them can stand the thought of leaving her.
As it happens, it is none of those things.
What happens, starts with the slightest sound.
Fitz looks up. Skye looks over.
Then, there’s a moan, and a shriek, and a scream.
“Jemma!” Skye flies back to the wall, and hammers on it. Then – “Get back!” The others duck away and cover their faces, and she channels her grief through her fingertips, feels the stone particles moving, demands they move apart.
The wall disintegrates. Pieces fly. Skye runs straight through the debris, and skids to a stop on the other side.
The first things she notices are the shreds of clothing – dark blue and purple, and glistening with blood. That’s not the only blood. There are small patches and pools of it everywhere. And tiny pieces of white fluff.
“Don’t come in.” Simmons’ voice is choked with tears. Skye glances back at Fitz, May and Coulson. They nod in agreement and stay back, letting her advance around the corner. There she finally sees Jemma, hugging her knees, with her head in her hands. Simmons groans, and it turns into a sob, and then heavy breathing when the sobs sting too much.
The light in here is bad. Skye doesn’t see them at first. When she does, her eyes widen. She steps forward and kneels down.
Simmons looks up. Her eyes are red, her face shining with tears.
“Is this how it felt?” There’s a whimpering groan on each breath. Skye notices from here that she’s not hugging her knees, but her torso, with her knees drawn up for extra protection. Down her neck, and in the patches of skin she can see, are purple-black blotches that remind Skye of the time she’d crushed her own hands. She swallows the memory, and keeps her tone gentle.
“You’re okay. The Diviner chose you. It wants to protect you.”
Simmons snorts. “It broke all my ribs. Dislocated both my shoulders. I’m lucky I don’t have spinal damage.”
“It…only did those things to make room.”
Skye’s not exactly sure why - perhaps it’s the disbelief, perhaps it’s anticipation of the realisation to come, or perhaps a desire that Jemma Simmons should never have to cry – but she puts a hand on Simmons’ cheek and wipes away some of the tears that have come to rest there. Skye smiles, and Simmons smiles back. Skye gestures with her head to the large wing that protrudes from Simmons’ shoulder. She can almost feel Jemma’s heart stop in shock. Then it softens with awe.
“Help me up,” she whispers.
Cringing through the pain, she pulls herself up with Skye’s assistance. She feels her wings stretch – she can feel where the new muscles are. She might have laughed, if her ribcage had recovered from its brutal realignment. Crossing her arms over her chest, she experiments with gently lifting and tilting her wings. It brings new tears to her eyes, but she’s sufficiently distracted not to notice more of many.
Skye bites her smile as her own eyes start to well up.
“It’s okay, beautiful,” she murmurs, “I’ll show you the way.”
