ALL HELL HAD broken loose with Fitz shooting Agnes, and the whole moment was blurring together for Jenna as her ears rang with all the gunshots that had ripped free, and her main goal was to run to Jemma for safety and support. Simmons, too, had fallen apart when Leo had pulled the trigger and proved just what kind of a man A.I.D.A had shaped him into, and her screams of despair had triggered a chain of events that continued to flow forward, with all the HYDRA agents causing a rain of bullets, and Simmons' allies doing the same in return. Luckily, Fitz made it out alive, but sadly, Madame Hydra did too — and they had taken Radcliffe with them. But, on a more positive note, Simmons and Jenna, and their new friends, were still alive too, although the women were heartbroken to say the least.

          In fact, it was painful enough for Jenna to completely ignore the burn in her legs as she sprinted towards Simmons, covered by the rapid gunfire that was being directed at the HYDRA agents from the bushes, but at last minute, she was caught in the crossfire — or maybe, she was the target all along. Nevertheless, one of the bad guys ended up firing at her, and just as Jenna was about to rush into Simmons' arms, the bullet dug through her shoulder and she let out a howl of pain as her legs gave in and she stumbled down, her knees harshly meeting the ground as she collapsed. She could hear her own name being called out, but as her hand went to clutch her bleeding shoulder and salty tears flooded down her face like a waterfall, all Jenna could focus on was the fading sounds around her and the loss of a loved one weighing heavily on her heart.

          As HYDRA left the island with Radcliffe with them, Jenna was borderline unconscious and barely noticed as she was lifted from the ground and rushed into the Quinjet hidden behind the tall trees, but she could feel Jemma's hand cradling hers. She wasn't sure when they arrived, or where they arrived, but she felt lightweight as she rested on a pair of strong arms, gently but quickly carrying her indoors. And at some point, Jenna was finally allowed to fall asleep and get a moment of peace — experience a lovely dream, where she and Fitz were happy and young and carefree. All they needed to worry about was what they were going to say to each other.

          Jenna wasn't sure of the time or the location when she finally opened her eyes, but she did like the relief and softness on her shoulder as it had been carefully treated, by what she expected to be some kind of professionals. And the warm return continued when she slowly, and very carefully sat up, only for Evan to shuffle next to her and realize that his sister had awakened, putting a relieved smile on his face.

          And the first thing Jenna said was, "Did you call mom and Jane?", her voice hoarse and drenched in worry as she eyed her brother warily, earning a chuckle from him as he shook his head, assuring that they hadn't been alerted of what had happened. Instead, he lifted a bouquet of sunflowers and handed them to Jenna, whose heart undeniably melted at the lovely gesture, which, for the moment, managed to take her mind off of everything that had happened. That was, until she opened her mouth again. "Where am I?", she whispered, and pulling a chair to sit down on, Evan took her hand gently whilst smiling at her.

          "Let's start with what happened. Do you remember? You got shot. Jemma and the rest brought you here, luckily, and you survived with a miraculously little amount of damage. And before you ask, where is here... Well, you're in S.H.I.E.L.D, or whatever is left of it", Evan explained, a mischievous gleam in his eyes as he explained, and doubtful if he was telling the truth, Jenna tilted her head to the side and eyed him curiously. His brother had always been good at lying, much better than she ever was, but somehow, she believed that he was telling the truth now — and that was rather mind-blowing.

          "But S.H.I.E.L.D is...", she mumbled, the pieces slowly coming together in her mind as her eyes then widened. "Evan, are you a part of the Resistance? Oh my God, what? Is this—", Jenna then realized what was going on, and as she began to freak out, Evan placed a comforting hand on her arm and begged her to stay calm and not hurt herself any more. It reminded her of her shoulder, and suddenly, a jolt of pain stabbed at it to confirm that it hadn't been a dream.

          "Yes, this is the Resistance. And you, sis, are officially a part of us, too. The director would like to meet you later, but for now, you are stuck in bed. You need rest, and you need to heal. I can't believe you got shot— I take my eyes off of you for one second—", Evan shook his head, and forced to smile, Jenna gently swatted his arm. But, when she remembered Fitz and all that still needed to be done, she sat up higher and threatened to rip out all the wires attached to her, determined to go back and proceed to work for his salvation — of course, her dear brother didn't allow that, though.

          "I need to go back! I need to save Fitz!", she protested, but shaking his head once again, Evan gave her a stern look and pressured her to lie back down.

          "Listen, you're not in the condition to go out and start picking fights with HYDRA agents. And if you think I'm gonna let my little sister go after that maniac—", he began, but he wasn't given the opportunity to finish, when Jenna had already interjected with her eyes bitterly narrowed at Evan.

          "He is no maniac. He is Leo Fitz, a genius engineer who wouldn't hurt a fly if he wasn't forced to do it, and I love him. And I will fight for him. Now more than ever, I know that I can't give up. He needs someone to save him, and I will stop at nothing to be the one to get through to him", Jenna vowed, her voice filled to the brim with determination and affection for the boy that had been stripped from his free will and innocence. And concluding from the softening look in Evan's eyes, he could tell.

          Nodding in agreement finally, he let out a sigh. "Fair enough, but for now, you'll rest. If Fitz does indeed need you, you'll have to be something more than a hospitalized girl who got shot like five minutes ago, by his very own men. Promise me, you'll stay here for tonight", he insisted, and groaning, Jenna reluctantly promised to obey. She would have much rather went after Fitz again, but Evan was right — she couldn't afford to take risks and make impulsive choices that would no doubt lead to stupid mistakes in the end.

          "At least send Simmons in?", Jenna requested one more thing, after Evan had pressed a kiss onto his sister's forehead and then walked towards the door to lead her out of the room that she had been isolated in. Softly smiling, Evan nodded to confirm that he would indeed do that, and sighing gratefully, Jenna let her head drop into the soft pillow and her eyes close for a second.

          The look on Fitz's face when he had fired that gun replayed in her mind on a constant loop, the ruthless defiance flashing behind her eyes each time she closed them, and that was why she was glad when the door of the room opened again and she was forced to open them. However, instead of Simmons, Jenna found a tall man entering the room, and she quickly connected the dots and remembered who he was.

          "Grant Ward, right?", she questioned, eyeing his broad frame as he carefully stepped inside the room, and frankly, there was something odd about him. Something borderline familiar, like a blurred memory trying to poke its head through the veil wrapped around Jenna's mind. "Have we met before?", she couldn't help but ask, but much to her disappointment, he ended up shaking his head.

          "I don't believe we have", he confirmed, and nodding, Jenna deemed it the side effects of being shot and traumatized. "I've read about your work, though", Ward continued, "and I just wanted to check on you. You know, you were in pretty bad shape. For a second there I thought you were going to die in my arms. Glad you didn't, though."

          Staring at him in disbelief, Jenna couldn't stop the blush from creeping onto her cheeks as she glanced down at her hands and chuckled. "Me too", she blurted out unexpectedly, "I'm glad I didn't die, I mean", before looking back up at him and his stupid, attractive face. She imagined that being a treacherous HYDRA agent in the other world had been very easy for him, especially when he was supposed to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D — no doubt Fitz had been obsessed with him, not to mention Simmons. Jenna could just picture her awkward attempts at flirting.

          But, of course, he had betrayed them all, and Jenna kept that in mind as she pursed her lips and looked at him in silence. And silence was all that they got to share, when the door opened yet again and Simmons stepped in, with a judgmental stare brewing within her eyes — and shamelessly, she directed it at Ward, who got the hint and left after giving Jenna one last smile.

          Instantly, Simmons' face lit up and she eagerly took a seat next to Jenna. "I'd give you a hug if I could. But let's just say, I'm really glad you're okay, Jenna. And I appreciate your bravery and everything you did to get Fitz back", she sighed, taking Jenna's hand softly, which earned a smile from the blonde as well.

          "We'll save him eventually. I refuse to leave this world if there is no Fitz in the other one. You know, this is all Madame Hydra's fault. She's the problem", she rolled her eyes, and smiling, Simmons seemed to agree. However, there was something unexpected to be told.

          "Fitz actually helped Radcliffe build A.I.D.A. Of course, he didn't know how it would end. He was just an eager engineer, blinded by his desire to do good and help others", Jemma explained, and blown away by this sudden reveal, Jenna pictured it in her head — only for it to end up making sense, actually. She could see it, the happy smile on Fitz's lips and the excited rambling about a new project, a heart full of hope and belief that something good was going to come out of it. And Jenna truly hoped that he didn't have to be so cruelly proven wrong, but here they were.

          "Well", Jenna inhaled, "this isn't the ending yet", flashing yet another smile at Simmons, who nodded in utter agreement. The two remained silent for a while then, but eventually, Jenna found something new to discuss, her eyebrows knitted together as she looked over to her best friend again. "I thought I knew Grant Ward. I can't explain it, but I got this really weird feeling when he showed up", the scientist chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully, and snorting, Simmons simply rolled her eyes.

          "Yeah, well, he is a traitor and a thoroughly rotten person, so I'd say that's it", she pointed out, and in response, Jenna laughed as carefully and painlessly as she could, but it didn't remove the pressure on her shoulder.

          "Yeah", she smiled, "that must be it."

          And frankly, Jenna decided to believe that. She had enough to worry about for now — but somehow, getting shot wasn't even the biggest of her concerns. How they were going to help Fitz, was the one thing she was most determined to figure out, because she sure as hell wasn't going to give up and turn her back on the man she was still, after all these years, hopelessly in love with.

»»»

wow, is— is that... more frequent updates i see in the distance? WOAH.

okay, this was kind of a filler chapter but i actually loved it myself! also, that was the second time jenna declared her love for fitz #otp (': but, on a more sad note, fitz has never said it wow this is fine

we're also getting closer to the end, the next chapter will take place in episode 18 and this book will end after episode 20, so... yEAH.

feedback would be much appreciated, as always! thank you ❤️