Resurrection - Chapter 12
When the wall built of lies comes down, the results can be unpredictable. Does the exposure of he truth make things better...or worse? How many lives are affected? Should we make reservations for dinner, or for the morgue?
Double bonus points for a SFF reference that not everyone will understand.
Chapter 12
Like so many times before, time simply stood still, as did the four people standing in Audrey Nathan’s doorway. Skye and Jemma, who were largely just observers had no role to play, at least not until one or both of the others moved. Phillip Coulson couldn’t move, simply because he wanted Audrey to determine the direction they would travel. Audrey was utterly non-functional. Every hormone that the human body was capable of producing was being dumped into her bloodstream, and they all got in the way of each other in their frenzied attempt to establish chemical superiority.
She knew what...or rather who...that she saw standing there, so her visual cortex was still functional. Her facial recognition programming was working too and, despite what she’d been told before, it confirmed that the man she saw standing in the doorway was, indeed, the man she still loved and believed in.
Eventually Audrey drew a breath, but only because she could not longer suppress the autonomic requirement to replenish her oxygen supply. When that was done, she breathed out a single word: “Phillip?”
Phil nodded, confirming her question but saying nothing.
“Oh, Phil,” she gushed, lurching forward and into his arms. The tears began to flow, from all eight eyes in the room. Skye and Jemma looked at each other, concluding that their work here was done. As the couple prolonged their hug, Jemma slipped around them.
Skye followed her, pausing briefly to whisper in his left ear. “I'll send you your dinner reservations.” Phil nodded almost imperceptively and the girls departed, leaving the couple to reassemble their lives.
“What happens now?” Jemma asked once she reached the sidewalk, uncertain where things were heading.
“That's up to them,” Skye responded. “I suspect they're going to get back together, although Phil may well think that's not a great idea. He'll likely warn her of the dangers, but I think she'll decide she doesn't care. I doubt he'll argue too much. For the moment we need to make dinner reservations from them, and I think I know just the place.”
“What do we tell the others?”
Skye smiled. “Probably nothing. I'll bet they've been listening on the comms. Trip isn't really involved, but Melinda will be happy that he's a step further along the way towards putting his life back in order.”
“Didn't she want him to break it off?”
“I think she really just wanted it behind him. She might not be in favor of an agent having a spouse or significant other...she's got some history there, but I suspect it's more about Phil not having this hanging over him.”
“You mean...like Fitz?”
Skye considered her question. Fitz was a huge question mark, hanging over all of them. However, his condition and absence was much more significant to Jemma than the others. She and Fitz had served as each other's alter ego since their first days at SciTech, and Jemma now seemed like a child in Phillip Pullman's world of His Dark Materials, forcibly separated from her dæmon. She'd lost her soul, or soul mate - it was hard to tell which - but it was clear she was still incomplete without him.
“Something like that,” Skye responded. “Fitz is hanging over all of us, you more than the rest, but it’s not a place where we can intervene to resolve the issue. He’s getting better, although we don’t know exactly what that means yet. So...this is, or was, different. At least now it’s going to resolve itself.”
“Do you really think it will?”
“It has to.” Skye considered what else to say, and then tried to relate those ideas in terms Jemma would understand. As they got into the car, Skye continued. “Take out your comm. link.”
“What?”
“Take out your comm. link. Let’s just talk privately for a minute.” Jemma did as she was instructed, although she didn’t yet understand why. “Jemma, tell me, have you ever been in love?”
At first she didn’t respond. She’d never had a conversation with someone else about such things; not with her mother, not with a girlfriend, not anyone. At the moment Skye was as close to a real confidant as she’d ever had in her life, but the question still came as a surprise and she wasn’t sure how to respond, largely because she wasn’t sure she knew the answer. “I...I’m not sure.”
Skye nodded. “I understand. When you’re in love, one of two things is going to happen. Over time that love will grow, or, over time, it will fade. If it grows it can sustain you forever, through almost anything. It becomes all but unbreakable. Not everyone is blessed with that happening to them, but for those who experience it…it’s wonderful.”
“On the other hand, most love eventually fades. You grow tired of each other, or you find things that discolor your love. You find things you didn’t see originally, or maybe you just start being more objective. At some point one of you decides it’s time to move on. Breaking up hurts. It hurts bad. But eventually you move on. Maybe you find a new love, or maybe you just choose to do without, because you fear feeling that pain again.”
“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in there,” she said, pointing towards Audrey’s home, “but whatever it is it will work out for both of them. Maybe they can put it back together. There’s a good chance of that because what broke them apart wasn’t something they could control. Phil didn’t choose to die. For that matter he didn’t choose to come back to life. However he presents that to her, she’ll know he’s telling the truth.”
“She was told a lie, because it was partially true and because SHIELD considered it important to keep that secret. There were good reasons behind that, even if we think differently now. Audrey will understand that. So…they’re back at square one.” She grinned. “Well, probably not really square one. I...I don’t think Phil will be coming back to the bus tonight.”
Jemma blushed. “Really?”
Skye nodded with a broad smile. “Yup. Really. I happen to think that’s a really good thing, too. For both of them.” She looked back at the house again. “Now, I need to make some reservations.”
After a quick search on her phone, Skye dialed a number, and after a brief conversation, she hung up and then sent a text to Phil’s phone.
Reservations for two at The Richmond.
Open arrival time.
Your favorite table.
They’ll have flowers.
Have a great evening.
Double bonus points for a SFF reference that not everyone will understand.
Chapter 12
Like so many times before, time simply stood still, as did the four people standing in Audrey Nathan’s doorway. Skye and Jemma, who were largely just observers had no role to play, at least not until one or both of the others moved. Phillip Coulson couldn’t move, simply because he wanted Audrey to determine the direction they would travel. Audrey was utterly non-functional. Every hormone that the human body was capable of producing was being dumped into her bloodstream, and they all got in the way of each other in their frenzied attempt to establish chemical superiority.
She knew what...or rather who...that she saw standing there, so her visual cortex was still functional. Her facial recognition programming was working too and, despite what she’d been told before, it confirmed that the man she saw standing in the doorway was, indeed, the man she still loved and believed in.
Eventually Audrey drew a breath, but only because she could not longer suppress the autonomic requirement to replenish her oxygen supply. When that was done, she breathed out a single word: “Phillip?”
Phil nodded, confirming her question but saying nothing.
“Oh, Phil,” she gushed, lurching forward and into his arms. The tears began to flow, from all eight eyes in the room. Skye and Jemma looked at each other, concluding that their work here was done. As the couple prolonged their hug, Jemma slipped around them.
Skye followed her, pausing briefly to whisper in his left ear. “I'll send you your dinner reservations.” Phil nodded almost imperceptively and the girls departed, leaving the couple to reassemble their lives.
“What happens now?” Jemma asked once she reached the sidewalk, uncertain where things were heading.
“That's up to them,” Skye responded. “I suspect they're going to get back together, although Phil may well think that's not a great idea. He'll likely warn her of the dangers, but I think she'll decide she doesn't care. I doubt he'll argue too much. For the moment we need to make dinner reservations from them, and I think I know just the place.”
“What do we tell the others?”
Skye smiled. “Probably nothing. I'll bet they've been listening on the comms. Trip isn't really involved, but Melinda will be happy that he's a step further along the way towards putting his life back in order.”
“Didn't she want him to break it off?”
“I think she really just wanted it behind him. She might not be in favor of an agent having a spouse or significant other...she's got some history there, but I suspect it's more about Phil not having this hanging over him.”
“You mean...like Fitz?”
Skye considered her question. Fitz was a huge question mark, hanging over all of them. However, his condition and absence was much more significant to Jemma than the others. She and Fitz had served as each other's alter ego since their first days at SciTech, and Jemma now seemed like a child in Phillip Pullman's world of His Dark Materials, forcibly separated from her dæmon. She'd lost her soul, or soul mate - it was hard to tell which - but it was clear she was still incomplete without him.
“Something like that,” Skye responded. “Fitz is hanging over all of us, you more than the rest, but it’s not a place where we can intervene to resolve the issue. He’s getting better, although we don’t know exactly what that means yet. So...this is, or was, different. At least now it’s going to resolve itself.”
“Do you really think it will?”
“It has to.” Skye considered what else to say, and then tried to relate those ideas in terms Jemma would understand. As they got into the car, Skye continued. “Take out your comm. link.”
“What?”
“Take out your comm. link. Let’s just talk privately for a minute.” Jemma did as she was instructed, although she didn’t yet understand why. “Jemma, tell me, have you ever been in love?”
At first she didn’t respond. She’d never had a conversation with someone else about such things; not with her mother, not with a girlfriend, not anyone. At the moment Skye was as close to a real confidant as she’d ever had in her life, but the question still came as a surprise and she wasn’t sure how to respond, largely because she wasn’t sure she knew the answer. “I...I’m not sure.”
Skye nodded. “I understand. When you’re in love, one of two things is going to happen. Over time that love will grow, or, over time, it will fade. If it grows it can sustain you forever, through almost anything. It becomes all but unbreakable. Not everyone is blessed with that happening to them, but for those who experience it…it’s wonderful.”
“On the other hand, most love eventually fades. You grow tired of each other, or you find things that discolor your love. You find things you didn’t see originally, or maybe you just start being more objective. At some point one of you decides it’s time to move on. Breaking up hurts. It hurts bad. But eventually you move on. Maybe you find a new love, or maybe you just choose to do without, because you fear feeling that pain again.”
“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen in there,” she said, pointing towards Audrey’s home, “but whatever it is it will work out for both of them. Maybe they can put it back together. There’s a good chance of that because what broke them apart wasn’t something they could control. Phil didn’t choose to die. For that matter he didn’t choose to come back to life. However he presents that to her, she’ll know he’s telling the truth.”
“She was told a lie, because it was partially true and because SHIELD considered it important to keep that secret. There were good reasons behind that, even if we think differently now. Audrey will understand that. So…they’re back at square one.” She grinned. “Well, probably not really square one. I...I don’t think Phil will be coming back to the bus tonight.”
Jemma blushed. “Really?”
Skye nodded with a broad smile. “Yup. Really. I happen to think that’s a really good thing, too. For both of them.” She looked back at the house again. “Now, I need to make some reservations.”
After a quick search on her phone, Skye dialed a number, and after a brief conversation, she hung up and then sent a text to Phil’s phone.
Reservations for two at The Richmond.
Open arrival time.
Your favorite table.
They’ll have flowers.
Have a great evening.