Chapter Text
A loud knock pulled Leo Fitz from his sleep, the last clutches of his dream slipping away like water through his fingers. It was dark in his cabin; he blinked his eyes rapidly trying to adjust. When they took off from France it was twilight, so Fitz figured they were still over the Atlantic.
The knock sounded again, this time louder than before.
“Fitz? Are you awake?” Skye’s voice was slow and gritty, making her usually sharp words sound muddled and tired. “Fitz… I know you’re awake now, come on, get up. I know it sucks.”
Fitz sighed and closed his eyes, fighting the urge to give in to the tendrils of sleep creeping their way into this head.
“Go away…” He mumbled, the words running together.
Another knock rang out from the door, much louder and sharper than the previous times.
“Get up. There’s a mission.” Melinda May sounded the way she always did: curt and annoyed. Fitz knew there was no going back to sleep now, if she was knocking at his door it was for a reason.
“Fine fine, I’m getting up, jeez.” He grumbled and slid out of bed, almost forgetting to put on his pajamas as he left his cabin.
As soon as he opened the door Fitz immediately knew something was wrong. All the lights were off except the emergency lights along the floor and ceiling, something that under normal circumstances would never happen. The faint glow of a cell phone flash light illuminated part of the Lounge, revealing Skye and Jemma huddled next to each other on the couch.
“What’s going on?” He asked quietly, taking a seat in the chair across from Jemma. May and Coulson were standing at the front of the Lounge, in their uniform and suit respectively. If the situation weren’t so ominous he might have joked about that, but it didn’t seem right.
“We’ll brief you once we’re all here.” Coulson said, his voice normal, which reassured Fitz a little bit.
“I wonder what’s taking Ward so long, I knocked on his door a while ago…” Jemma sounded anxious, like she always did in tense situations.
“Are you sure he heard you?” May said, narrowing her eyes.
“I-I think so, he did mumble something at least, though I’m not quite sure what it-”
“I’m here I’m here, sorry.” Ward’s deep voice interrupted as he lumbered into the Lounge, standing between Fitz’s chair and Coulson. His hair was sticking out in every direction, and he was only wearing a pair of loose fitting pajama pants. Fitz felt his gaze get stuck on his tight, muscular chest for several seconds before hastily looking away. Luckily Jemma and Skye were too busy ogling Ward to notice, and for a split second he could have sworn May was staring at him too. But that was ridiculous, the only reason May would stare at Ward’s chest was if he happened to walk in front of where she was staring. Fitz pushed the thought away.
“Alright, good, we’re all here.” Coulson said, pausing for a second to look at Skye and Jemma expectantly. They quickly looked away from Ward, Jemma turning slightly red. “We have a mission, as I’m sure you’ve all guessed. One that requires a great deal of stealth, hence the lights.”
“A stealth mission? Why?” Skye asked, sounding too excited for her own good.
“Because if we’re discovered we’ll be shot down without a second thought.” May stated matter-of-factly. Skye gulped.
“We’re heading to Labrador in northern Canada, we’ve gotten reports of a possible Chitauri artifact in the area. We need to extract it before it falls into the wrong hands.” Coulson said.
“Wrong hands? You mean… Centipede?” Jemma asked, her voice timid. Coulson shook his head.
“No. We have intel that there’s a violent extremist group currently in the area; according to our agents on the ground this group believes that the Chitauri are our natural rulers and are trying to gather as many pieces of Chitauri technology as possible.” Coulson said, checking his watch.
“And they’re operating out of… Labrador?” Ward asked, his eyebrows raised. Fitz laughed, causing May to look at him disapprovingly.
“We think they just moved into the area. Romanoff and Barton recently shut down the group’s primary cell in Belarus. They were thought to all be in custody, but it seems some escaped.” Coulson said, waving his hand as if swatting a fly, “But that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we have a mission.”
“Understood. So we land, take the artifact, and leave, all while undetected. Sounds easy.” Ward said, looking relieved.
“Not quite. “ Coulson responded, “The artifact is being held in some sort of vault. The agent that was tracking them reported some sort of adaptive encryption software. Skye, that’s where you come in.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem.” She said confidently. This was just another mission to her, and she had grown to look forward to missions. Fitz couldn’t help but smile at that, her eagerness was refreshing.
“That’s not all. We have reason to believe the artifact is biological in nature.” May added.
“Biological?” All traces of anxiety were gone from Simmons’ voice. “It’s alive?”
“Possibly. Regardless, we need you with us.” Coulson told her gently. Simmons wasn’t used to going into the field, especially not for dangerous missions. Fitz had no doubt he’d have to assuage her fears multiple times before they landed.
“We’re wheels-down in less than an hour. Until then you should all rest, everyone needs to be alert for this mission.” May said.
Ward nodded, already mentally preparing for the mission. “Alright. Let me see a map of the area and I’ll begin planning our approach. At this time of year Labrador should be-”
“That won’t be necessary.” Coulson interrupted. “May and I will lead the mission, you’ll stay on the plane with Fitz.”
Skye, Jemma, and Fitz all looked up surprised. Ward usually led the field missions, May preferred to stay with the plane if possible.
“Sir… may I ask why?” Ward was gritting his teeth.
“You may. The fact is, May has twice as much experience as you in stealth ops, something we’ll need.” Coulson sounded unfazed, and May locked eyes with Ward.
“I understand sir, but I think my place is with you-” Ward was obviously holding back with his words, but Coulson cut him off.
“Tonight it isn’t. You’ve barely had any rest the past twenty-four hours, in your state you’d be more of a risk than an asset. May’s leading the mission.” Coulson’s voice was as calm as always, but firmness had taken ahold; everyone knew it was the final word. After a brief moment May wordlessly left the Lounge in the direction of the cockpit, Coulson not far behind. The four others sat in silence, exchanging looks of mixed emotions.
“I should put together a kit, I won’t know what I need until I’m there.” Jemma said eventually, getting to her feet.
“I’ll help.” Skye said, jumping up to follow.
“I’m not sure how much help you’ll be, but I appreciate the company.” Jemma's voice trailed away as she and Skye made their way towards the lab, taking the light from the cell phone with them.
It was almost completely dark in the Lounge now; only the dull glow of the sparse emergency lights and the pale shine of the stars outside the window illuminated the room. Fitz placed his head in his hands, running his fingers through his hair. His heart was racing and he finally let himself take a deep breath. Ever since his mission with Ward to South Ossetia he had been wary of stealth missions.
“What’s wrong with you Fitz?” He muttered to himself, “It’s just a stealth op, you’ll be fine. After all, if they catch us they’re only going to shoot us out of the sky.” The cabin suddenly seemed far too bright. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.
“Don’t worry Fitz, May knows what she’s doing.” Fitz jumped at the sound of Ward’s voice, he had forgotten he was still in the Lounge. He felt colour rise to his cheeks as he looked up to find Ward watching him, a slight crease between his brows.
“Right, yeah, I know she does. I’m just being stupid.” Fitz forced a laugh.
The corner of Ward’s mouth began to rise, “It’s not stupid to be on guard. It could save your life one day.”
“Oh well that’s reassuring.” Fitz muttered before he could think. Ward opened his mouth but then closed it, looking cast down. “Sorry, I’m just used to talking to Simmons you know, pretty much always actually, and that’s how we talk to each other, you know, sarcasm… I’ll shut up now.”
His cheeks were on fire and he couldn’t bare to look at Ward, especially not in his… undressed state. Oh Fitz what’s wrong with you? He thought, He probably thinks you’re the lamest human being ever let into S.H.I.E.L.D. now. Just keep looking down until he leaves.
But he didn’t have to. After a brief moment, one that felt much longer than it was, Ward laughed. It was a soft, throaty laugh that seemed to bubble up from inside him, Fitz peeked up through his fingers; Ward was still looking at him, his eyes crinkled around the edges. Relief began to wash over Fitz and he offered a smile. Maybe he hadn’t stuck his foot in his mouth after all.
“Don’t change, Leo.” Ward said after a few more moments of laughing. Startled, Fitz looked up at him; nobody called him Leo, not even Simmons. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that, should he call him Grant now? Ward was technically his superior officer, calling him by his first name could get him in trouble. But would continuing to call him Ward offend him? It was times like these Fitz wished he could disappear into his lab and not come out until his expertise was needed; dealing with machines was much easier than dealing with humans.
After a long pause he opened mouth, trying to think of something to say. “I- I’ll try not to…er,” he sputtered, looking up at the ceiling.
Oh to hell with it.
“Grant.”
But Ward was already walking out of the Lounge, and it fell on deaf ears.