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Jemma pushes past the people that are still lingering at the edges of the old rail yard, keeping Henry close to her chest. She’d tried to leave him with Skye or Sharon, but he was being particularly fussy and could probably sense the tension among them.
She really wished she’d left him with the others.
He whimpers against her collarbone when a ridiculously tall man shoves past Jemma roughly. “I know, darling.” Jemma murmurs against the top of Henry’s head. “We’ll go home soon. Just have to find-”
A loud cheer goes up near the center of the rail yard, where more people are gathered. When the sound dies down to a smattering of random shouts and hollers, she hears one particular voice that she’s interested in. “Jem! Jemma!”
She turns to find Trip jogging toward them, his eyebrows furrowed together in that way that makes his forehead wrinkle. “Please tell me that cheering wasn’t what I think it was.”
Trip grimaces, which is enough of an answer. “I tried to talk him out of it, I swear. I followed him all the way out here, practically beggin’ him.”
Jemma rubs at her temple. “I thought he was done with this.”
“That was when we still had enough money to feed at least most of us. They keep cutting back Sharon’s pay, I’m an inch from losing my place at the shipyard, just like everybody else, and we can only keep using Skye’s skills for so long. Jemma, when was the last time you ate something that wasn’t stale bread?”
She tries not to scowl too hard. “This isn’t the way to fix that. He promised.”
He heaves a sigh and then manages a smile down at Henry. “Hey, big man.”
The toddler peers up from beneath the curtain of Jemma’s hair, thumb in his mouth and index finger curled over his nose. His other hand reaches toward Trip, who’s probably his second favorite adult in the world, so Jemma takes that as a good sign and hands him over.
“Take Henry back home. Make sure Olive is getting ready for bed. If she’s being difficult with Leo or Skye, have Sharon do it. Elliot’s been having a hard time with some kids at school, so maybe you could talk to him for a little bit? Amelia’s going to try and wait up for us to come back, so keep an eye on her.”
“Jemma-” Trip starts, swaying a little with Henry.
She keeps going with a small shake of her head. “You and Leo have to work in the morning and I’m going into the city to see if there are any job openings, so make sure Elliot and Amelia go with Sharon to get groceries. Skye can stay with Henry and Olive.”
“We don’t have money for-”
“We will. Go, please. I’ll get Grant.”
Trip sighs heavily, but nods and waves to Jemma, waiting for Henry to do the same before turning and disappearing through the crowd.
Pushing her hair out of her face, Jemma straightens herself up and starts to push toward the center of the rail yard. The cheering is louder here, or maybe they’ve started already. In which case, her chances of stopping Grant are much slimmer.
Finally elbowing past the first line of people, she finds that her chances are indeed much slimmer.
Grant hits the dirt hard, almost right on top of Jemma’s feet. He pushes himself to his elbows, head hanging low as he breathes harshly through his nose. She can tell when his eyes have opened because he catches sight of her worn-out maroon converse and his gaze immediately snaps up to her. “What are you doing here?”
“You better get up.” She says quickly, amidst jeers and hollers. “I’m not going to watch this. Come find me when you’re done.”
He does, limping down the tracks toward her almost fifteen minutes later. His face is already bruising, swelling, and she’s sure he’s trying to hide the way he’s holding his ribs. “Trip was supposed to take you home if he saw you.”
Jemma shrugs, getting to her feet and counting the tracks. When she finds the sixth one from the right, she starts to follow it, looking over her shoulder to make sure he’s trailing along too.
After a few minutes of silence, he stops near an abandoned box car, leaning back against the lip of the open door. “I’m sorry.”
Jemma hauls herself up into the car, legs dangling over the edge. She allows herself a moment of exhaustion, closing her eyes and rolling her neck. “You were sorry the last time you entered a fight, which was almost three months ago.”
She’s taller on her perch, and his forehead thumps against her shoulder. He’s tired too, and probably in considerable amounts of pain.
Her bottom lip trembles so she bites down on it, exhaling slowly before pressing her lips to the top of his head. “Did you win?”
He tenses just a bit, but doesn’t move otherwise. “Sharon can get groceries tomorrow. To last awhile, hopefully. We could get some new clothes for Henry and Olive, some new shoes for Elliot, maybe even some books for Amelia.”
Jemma bites down harder on her lip. It’s hard to be excited about those things when they come at the cost of him barely being able to stand right now. But groceries. Food, and clothes, a smile on Amelia’s face.
She sniffles. “I’ll find a job tomorrow. I won’t come home until I have something.”
“Jem-”
She clicks her tongue. “You’re never doing this again. I know you want to help, I know you want to take care of us all, but this is a terrible way to do it. We’ll find work, Mr. Coulson’s still being so kind about the rent, and we’ll have all the food and clothes and toys the kids could want.”
Grant grips her knee, squeezing. “I never meant to drag you into this.”
The next sniff she gives is a little indignant. “You didn’t drag me into anything. You didn’t drag Leo or Skye, or Trip or Sharon. We all came into this different ways, and we’re family now. So get rid of this guilt and maybe dial back your selflessness just a touch. We’ll be fine.”
He nods, slowly. “Think Amelia’s gone to bed?”
Jemma shakes her head. “Not if she knew you were coming here. She’ll want to know you’re alright. Elliot too.” He makes a sound against her shoulder, and she tries to duck to see his face. “Don’t go to sleep. I should check your injuries. Can you make it back or should I go and get Trip?”
“I can make it.” Grant hauls himself to his feet sluggishly, unable to hide a wince. But he leans forward and kisses her gently, once, twice, three times. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Even when you sacrifice your safety to help the rest of us.” She rubs the pad of her thumb along his cheekbone, smiling sadly.
“We’ll be alright.” He whispers, looping an arm around her shoulders and starting their walk down the sixth track again.
She nods, helping him along. “We’ll be fine.”