[ when connor stays low, tucked into his shoulder and sniffling, fitz untangles their hands so he can lift his arms up and around his friend. it’s a commitment to staying right here with him, even if he feels a slight pang at the stretch upward. as the details fill in the picture (noctis has him, good lad), fitz smooths circles into connor’s back. as always, connor reaches him through the mire of his head and its doubling. connor faced his worst nightmare, didn’t he? all of their nightmares, helpless and useless in the face of losing someone.
fitz wonders if that’s how jemma felt, when he gave her the last of the air at the bottom of the ocean.
any comfort he can offer, he’d give to connor right now. warmth starts to bleed back into the bond, a desperate affection, wanting to reassure. how can he say no? ]
You can take — some. A little. [ lower. ] Please don’t hurt yourself, Connor.
[ As for the rest, he hesitates before realising that if Markus hasn’t already told Connor what happened, he will following his recovery. The would you hits him, too. Would you, when you’ve lied to him so many times before? ]
It was the first op. [ admitted slowly, as he decides how much to say. ] Five soldiers on our four, separating us. Cain and I on the outside, while the others were cornered. [ his fingers twist, tightening in Connor’s shirt. ] We needed to draw the soldier’s attention to clear a path for Markus, Carter and our contact, Patil. [ his tone remains even, but it drops low. ] So we escalated. I used my powers to get Cain close, and he shot to kill at point blank range — on my order. [ his idea to blow the plan, though Cain agreed and accomplished the task with finesse. ]
Can’t blame them for a swift and brutal retaliation. [ a little awe there, where it shouldn’t be. ] One got their hands on me as I was escaping and, ah, swung me against the wall. [ a noncommittal noise. ] Guess that broke something. And the only way out was through so — rift in spacetime at the neck.
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fitz wonders if that’s how jemma felt, when he gave her the last of the air at the bottom of the ocean.
any comfort he can offer, he’d give to connor right now. warmth starts to bleed back into the bond, a desperate affection, wanting to reassure. how can he say no? ]
You can take — some. A little. [ lower. ] Please don’t hurt yourself, Connor.
[ As for the rest, he hesitates before realising that if Markus hasn’t already told Connor what happened, he will following his recovery. The would you hits him, too. Would you, when you’ve lied to him so many times before? ]
It was the first op. [ admitted slowly, as he decides how much to say. ] Five soldiers on our four, separating us. Cain and I on the outside, while the others were cornered. [ his fingers twist, tightening in Connor’s shirt. ] We needed to draw the soldier’s attention to clear a path for Markus, Carter and our contact, Patil. [ his tone remains even, but it drops low. ] So we escalated. I used my powers to get Cain close, and he shot to kill at point blank range — on my order. [ his idea to blow the plan, though Cain agreed and accomplished the task with finesse. ]
Can’t blame them for a swift and brutal retaliation. [ a little awe there, where it shouldn’t be. ] One got their hands on me as I was escaping and, ah, swung me against the wall. [ a noncommittal noise. ] Guess that broke something. And the only way out was through so — rift in spacetime at the neck.
[ the technical term being decapitation. ]