#simmcns

" talk to me , " words come out calm & soothing , different from the more authorative tone she usually has , especially ever since her & hunter had to leave shield . her shoulders also relax this time , feeling at ease with jemma despite the time apart from her , from the whole team , with no contact . maybe that was the worst part of being disavowed, much more than having to always look behind her . though , bobbi's not sure she'd admit that right now .

maybe daisy convincing her to come along was the best choice for all of them .

" kinda wonder where you are , " she tacts on before pausing for a moment , a laugh bubbling out of her as a hand motions around them . " well , not literally , obviously . i think i've got that part figured out . " she whispers , the easy smile creeping on her face . " it's just been a while . "

        a  pod  full  of  copies .  a  dozen  of  your  own  face  looking  back  at  you .  there  hadn't  been  time  to  study  them  exactly ,  to  examine  every  little  detail ,  see  if  they  even  shared  the  blemishes .  because  surely  they  couldn't .  you're  glad  you  didn't  have  time  to  see  and  ponder  how  closely  radcliffe  had  been  watching  to  even  know  about  those .

         now  there's  a  box  of  spare  parts .  shipped  in  a  few  weeks  ago  and  put  away  in  storage .  lots  of  things  around  the  base  needed  fixing  up  and  these  kinds  of  shipments  came  in  all  the  time  ;  there  was  increased  security  since  the  primitives  and  ...  him ,  but  it  had  been  checked  and  signed  for .  by  may .  and  now  cracking  it  open  you  can  see  what  is  really  in  there .  LIMBS    you  can  tell  who  most  of  them  are  meant  for .  you  miss  the  time ,  all  of  five  seconds  ago ,  where  you  thought  they  were  dismembered  remains .

        " if  they've  been  planning  to  replace  us  for  this  long ,  who  knows  what  other  agents  they  have ? "  the  list  had  been  EASY  to  keep  track  of ,  if  not  to  make .  may  /  coulson  /  mack  /  fitz  /  mace .  names  to  SAVE .  but  what  if  there  were  more .  what  if  there  were  more  robots  on  base  than  people .  and  you  can't  even  tell  them  apart ,  because  they  were  so  real  right  down  to    WAIT .  " they're  not  exact  replicas .  all  the  right  surface  details ,  but  the  copies  of  me  they  have  downstairs ?  they  had  the  scars  on  my  face ,  even  one  on  my  arm ,  but  not  the  ones  from  quinn .  they're  NOT  perfect  copies . "

an arm wraps around jemma's shoulders , loose against the other despite the attempt in comfort for her . bobbi tilts her head a little toward jemma , lip curving into a small smile toward her friend . she's sympathetic to her , how can she not be ?

       look  from  arms  ( bruised .  always  bruised  now ,  they  say  you  do  it  to  yourself  but  how  are  you  meant  to  stop ? )  to  jemma .  back  again .  then  at  the  lab  around  you .  EMPTY  save  the  two  of  you ,  for  safety  and  so  fitz  could  grab  a  snack .  he  had  offered  to  make  everyone  tea  but  you  think  you  declined  for  the  same  reason  as  jemma .  it  was  simply  too  much  for  him  to  carry  back  alone .

       you  were  meant  to  be  testing  control .  every  time  you  try ,  you  anticipate  something  will  BREAK ,  and  the  anticipation  is  like  drowning  in  ice  cold  water  wrenching  any  attempt  at  control  away  in  panic .  thank  god  fitzsimmons  couldn't  read  minds ,  that  was  a  TERRIBLE  metaphor  in  present  company .  " watch  star  wars  lately ,  simmons ? "  time  to  switch  to  what  garner  labelled  as  avoidance  but  you  just  consider  to  be  humour .  " you  may  have  the  height  down ,  but  you're  not  green  enough  to  be  my  yoda . "

“you  know  ,  you  would  really  get  along  with  velma.”  daphne  commented  ,  her  back  leaning  against  a  wall.  fingers  tapping  against  her  elbows.  “she’s  REAL  smart  so  i  would  talk  to  her  about  this  not  me.”