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Deke was sad, and Fitz couldn’t figure out why. He’d been sad all week, quiet and less of a ball of radiant light making noise in the lab. It was odd, and set Fitz on edge for some reason. He didn’t want to bring it up with Jemma, just in case he was being paranoid, or like it was something he’d done. But Deke walked around with a slump to his shoulders, and he lacked his characteristic smile. It was concerning.
“What’s wrong with Deke?” he asked Daisy one night as she was finishing her work out. Deke had been at his station beside Fitz for most of the day and completed his work for the day in record time, but he’d done so introverted, withdrawn into himself.
“How am I supposed to know?” she asked.
“He talks to you, you’re his friend.”
“He’s your grandson,” she replied, unwrapping her fists methodically. “If you’re worried about him just talk to him.”
“I don’t -- I’m not good with words.”
“You’re great with words. You’re just bad with Deke. Get better.”
He rolled his eyes.
“And you know how you do that?”
“Enlighten me.”
“You start trying. Go find him and ask him what’s up.”
Fitz sighed, but knew that she was right. The next day, Deke wasn’t any happier, moping and frowning all day.
“Hey,” Fitz said, catching him by the arm as he headed from the lab to lunch. “Can I talk to you, actually?”
“Sure, what’s up, Bobo?”
“I’ve noticed that you’re, well, you’re a little withdrawn recently. I was worried, you don’t seem like yourself.”
“It’s nothing,” Deke said, shrugging him off. “I’ll be okay.”
“Maybe,” Fitz said, “but you don’t have to go through whatever this is alone. You have us, and we’re here to help you through this. You just have to talk to someone. It doesn’t have to be me, but –”
“It’s not anything,” Deke said. “It’s stupid.”
“What?”
“It’s my dad’s birthday,” he finally said.
“That’s not stupid. You’re allowed to grieve and miss him.”
“It’s been years,” Deke said.
“Yes, but he is your father. Whatever you’re feeling, you’re allowed to feel it.”
“Every year on his birthday, he’d tell me about his dad’s favorite game, baseball, and we’d toss a ball of wire back and forth in our quarters. He told me about how he’d grown up hearing all these stories about big open fields, baseball diamonds, a ball and a mitt. His one wish was to see the World Series, but obviously – he never got to just play catch outside, and neither have I.”
“You’ve never played catch?” Fitz asked.
“Not, not like traditional catch. Not with a baseball and a yard. We tossed that wire ball around, but it’s – it’s not the same, is it?”
Fitz nodded, and held up a finger, considering.
“Wait here, okay?”
He turned and left, heading for the central command. He found Mack at the terminal next to Daisy.
“This is going to sound weird but have any of you got a baseball?”
“What?” they asked in unison.
“No,” Daisy said, “I don’t typically keep a baseball on me.”
“I’ve got one,” Mack said, “in my quarters somewhere, I think. I can go check. Why do you need it?”
“Turns out Deke is missing a lot of crucial childhood memories, if you’ll believe it.”
“Like a baseball?”
“Like playing catch,” Fitz said. “I just need to borrow it.”
“Come with me,” Mack said. “I’ll grab it for you.”
Fitz followed Mack to the quarters.
“So,” Mack said, “you do care about him.”
“I never said I didn’t,” Fitz said.
“You can barely stand to be around him sometimes.”
“No, he’s fine. I’m getting used to him. It’s hard to wrap my head around sometimes, that I have a grandson. That I had a daughter, who had a son, and that son is a grown man named Deke . He’s a good guy, and I’m trying to be nice.”
“You’re succeeding,” Mack assured him. “Especially because you’re going to play catch with him.”
“I am,” Fitz agreed. Mack let them into his quarters and Fitz hung back while Mack sorted through his things. He tossed a worn baseball to Fitz who caught it easily and turned it over in his hands. “Thanks, Mack.”
“No worries,” Mack said. “I appreciate what you’re doing for him, anyway, to try and make him feel more comfortable here, as a part of the team.”
“He’s also a part of my family. I’m working on remembering that.”
Mack smiled, and Fitz excused himself to go find Deke. Deke was, as predicted, right in the lab where Fitz had left him, sitting at a lab table with his chin in his hands. Fitz grinned at him as greeting.
“Hello,” Fitz said. “Come on. Follow me.”
“Where are we going?”
Fitz tossed the baseball to Deke who fumbled it but kept it in hand.
“Where’d you get this?” he asked.
“Don’t worry about it. Come on.”
Fitz led him outside of the Lighthouse and into the yard.
“Fitz, what are we doing?”
“Seems obvious. We have a yard, we have a baseball, and we have working arms. Adds up to catch, don’t you think?”
Deke made a face at Fitz, considered the ball in his hand slowly.
“Why are you doing this?”
“You’re not yourself,” Fitz said simply. “And it’s my job as your grandfather, as your family to make sure you’re okay, and if you’re not, it’s my job to help you fix it if I can. This is an easy fix. We’re going to honor your dad, but also give you this experience. My dad was a piece of shit, always thought I didn’t do things right, that I was stupid, or lazy, or insolent. He called me worthless a lot, which was a great motivator not to be. But specifically, he said once I’d never be as good of a person as I wanted to be, so I’m trying to be better. You deserve that.”
Deke’s eyebrows furrowed.
“I didn’t know about your dad,” he said.
“Yeah, he wasn’t pleasant before he left. But he motivated me to study, and learn, and be better than he ever could hope to be. My point is that you deserved better than the nowhere, nothing life you’ve had, and I hope I can be a part of your future where you take on the world, show them what you’ve got, and make them love you.”
Deke smiled at that.
“You do?”
“Of course,” Fitz said easily. “Now, come on, Lemon Boy, show me that you can throw something.”
Deke tossed the ball overhanded to Fitz, who caught it easily and grinned.
“Good job,” Fitz praised. He didn’t mention the way Deke blushed a little. He blushed the same way Jemma did. They tossed the ball back and forth, Deke grinning the entire time.
“I expected it to be lame, being an adult, having seen the things I’ve seen, you know. Who wants to play catch when you’re old and with your grandfather? But, there’s a charm to it.”
“Sometimes, you have to go back to simpler times, step away from all the tech and advancements, and just toss a ball around.”
“And that’s coming from you , Mr. Tech himself.”
Fitz laughed, and caught the ball.
“It’s a reminder that there’s more than just work out there. It’s good to slow down.”
“Careful, you’re starting to sound like a Bobo.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, “but I don’t think that would be such a bad thing, do you?”
“No, that sounds pretty good to me.”