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Fitz and Deke left the rest of the team and got back to work on the possible solutions for the rift situation. The tension seemed to have relaxed a bit after the team’s success on the flying boat mission, and Fitz seemed to tolerate him a bit more thanks to his help with the whole situation. And even though he thought it was nice, Deke couldn’t help but think about how this random guy was his grandpa.
Ever since he got to the past he had been constantly surprised by the trees, pubs, Zima, pawn shops, Twinkies. He thought he had seen it all, but he was so wrong.
“Deke, are you listening to me?” Fitz’s voice forced him out of his thoughts. He was looking at him, clearly confused.
“Yeah, I was just…” He looked around trying to find some clue that gave him context of the conversation he had not been listening. “What were you saying?” Fitz sighed and rolled his eyes.
“I said we need to find more connections. Gravitonium, the rift, these Hale lady and what she’s trying to do with it. Also, we need to find alternatives because if we don’t seal that damn thing all that creepy stuff is going to keep getting here.” After pacing around and clicking buttons, Fitz turned to Deke and gave him a questioning look, as if waiting for an obvious answer to come out of his mouth. “Any ideas so far?”
“Well… we could…” The thing is, Deke had no idea how to help or what to say and it frustrated him. How come he wasn’t smart like his genius grandparents? Why wasn’t he half as clever as his mother or reckless as his father?
“Let’s just try and see if there’s a leak we missed.” Fitz might have seen his frustration, so he came up with this temporary task to keep them busy. “Simmons told me you saw something earlier, what was it?” He casually asked as he started to type in one of the computers.
“Uh… just another Kree,” he lied. “this one was armed.”
“Now, Krees make sense, you know? As a fear, I mean.” He started. “But a forest? How can that scare you?” He could see he was teasing him, and he didn’t know why but he liked it.
“Hey, in my defence, some trees are scary! Besides, for what I know, anything can kill you out there.”
“Is not like nature is trying to constantly kill us. It’s otherwise, actually. I think.”
“Weren’t you afraid of the ocean?” He tried to keep up the conversation, but it was too late when he realized that he had hit a sensitive spot when Fitz tensed a little.
“For entirely different reasons.” He simply said, not smiling anymore. Everything was now awkward, of course he had to ruin it.
Just when he was trying to come up with something else to say, Simmons walked in with a big smile on her face. Deke couldn’t help but notice that as soon as Fitz saw her every thought vanished and the smile appeared on his face again.
“Hey there, I hope I’m not interrupting.” She said as she gently rested her hands on her husband’s shoulders.
“No, you’re not. We are trying to find out if there’s something funny with the rift.” He put his hand on her left hand and started to gently stroke the ring on her finger. Deke didn’t really know why, but seeing them there with their rings have him chills.
“Have you found something yet?”
“Nothing unusual. The behaviour is just as expected.”
“Good. Coulson said we should pack it up for today, and that means you as well.” She said and Deke swore he saw her mother’s eyes in the way she was looking at Fitz. How could he had been so stupid? The resemblance was uncanny. There was a bit of her in them. The way he scrunched his nose or tilted his head, even the way he laughed. Her smile, her eyes, the way she’s looking at him with so much love. He could see it in both of them, and wondered if they could see it in him too. Unfortunately, he had been staring long enough for them to notice. He felt his face going hot and red.
“Everything alright, Deke?” Jemma asked, clearly amused. Fitz however didn’t seem to have enjoyed the intrusion.
“Yeah, I was just… the thing here, the rift… It seems, well… normal.” He cleared his throat and avoided their looks, pretending to look at the screen with fake interest.
“Well, I better let you finish that.” She said more to Fitz than to him. “I’ll go and check if Yo-yo needs something. See you in the dorm, alright?”
“Yeah, I’ll catch you there.” Fitz stood up to give his wife a quick peck before she left. And as if nothing had happened, he resumed his notes on the rift’s activity. Deke didn’t quite know how to help him with that, so he thought conversation was a good option. He wanted to know more about his grandparents, he wanted to know everything, actually.
“So… you and Jemma, how did you guys meet?” He asked as casually as he could.
“Uh… Simmons and I?” It seemed like Fitz wanted to make sure he knew he was not allowed to call her Jemma. “The Academy. SHIELD.” He said, his eyes still fixed on the screen.
“Did you know back then? That you were going to marry her, I mean.”
“No way,” Fitz was smiling again, as if the thought was totally ridiculous.
“Why? Was she ugly? I mean, not as pretty as she is now… ‘Cause she is pretty, you know.”
“Yes, Deke, I know she’s pretty.”
“Good,” He didn’t know why, but it was exciting for him to hear that. “What do you like the most about her? Is it her smile or her eyes?”
Fitz turned but Deke couldn’t quite figure his expression. There was a kind of smirk on his face, he was also frowning, as if he wasn’t sure Deke was joking or not.
“Do you like my wife, Deke?” It was clear to Deke that Fitz wasn’t joking.
“No! Gross!” Wrong answer. He could see Fitz was now confused and offended. “I mean, she’s not gross, she’s gorgeous, really! And no, I do not like her, I was just pointing the obvious-” He was starting to panic.
“The obvious?”
“Well, yes, as I already said she’s pretty and uh… You are pretty, too, I mean! Pretty intelligent! You are pretty cool, too.” Fitz didn’t say anything, he just stared at him for a couple moments and then took the notepad and archives with him as he stood up.
“I think we should call it a day.” Deke also stood up, his heart was still beating fast. “You should get some rest… We’ll work on this tomorrow early.” He started walking to the door. Just before he left he turned to face him once more. “And, Deke, don’t drink too much tonight.”