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chapter fifteen
sacrifice play, part one

trigger warnings: self-harm, panic attacks, iain and lil's fantastic (and under appreciated) acting, descriptive blood and gore - just one of the best episodes in agents of shield and one of the most traumatising.

(April 29th, 2017
The Playground, Classified)

     CLARA KNEW FEAR. She knew it, she understood it, she accepted it and did her best to move on from it. She's faced situations where her fear couldn't be the focus. She's had to lie, she's had to think under pressure, she's had to face death in the eye and still keep her mind clear and levelled. But none prepared her for this. 

      Usually in those situations, she knew things. She knew how to make a serum, she knew how to explode a door, she knew where she was going amongst the pressure. She had steps, she had points, she had it all figured out so she could follow. But here? She didn't. Clara didn't know who had been switched, she didn't know who hadn't. She didn't know what Coulson, Mack's, Leith's, Daisy's and Mace's L.M.D's were prepared to do to them. She didn't know where Simmons was. She didn't know what to do, where to go, what the next step was. And it was the most terrifying thing, to not know.

      She stared at them through the windows and open doors of the lab. She felt surrounded. Coulson━the fake Coulson━stood at the main entrance, discussing something with an agent that Clara couldn't make out. Mack's L.M.D. was with Davis on the other end, and their conversation seemed silent and muffled. Everything was silent and muffled. She had no idea where Mace and Daisy's went off to, and Leith's was still somewhere on this base━somewhere near Simmons. Had he got to her? Was she dead? Had she been replaced?

     Clara didn't know. 

      The only thing she did know, was that Fitz was beside her. 

      She turned to him, voice breathless and weak, "We have to get out of here."

     "No," he whispered back immediately. "Clara ..." he took her hand tight in his, and she was sure he could feel how much it was shaking. Fitz gave it an anxious, but reassuring squeeze. "We have to be careful. They can't know that we know."

      "But what do we know?" she croaked. "We can only imagine what they were programmed to do━they━they could kill us, or━or━switch us out, or━"

      "Okay, okay, okay," Fitz took a deep, trembling breath, reaching up his other hand to rub her arm in an attempt to try and calm her down. Clara followed his breaths, trying very hard to keep her gaze on him and no one else. "Shh ... Clara, let's think about this, okay? If they wanted to kill us, they would have done it already."

      She pressed her fingers against her lips, her mind buzzing with all the wrong ideas━nothing sustainable, nothing that could help them. All she could think of was her brother, and Simmons, and everything that could go wrong right now. "Unless they're waiting," she told Fitz rather quickly. "Waiting to separate us a━and━switch us or kill us or━or something worse, I don't know━"

      "Hey, hey," Fitz wrapped his arm around her and guided her to the opposite desk, glued to her side. "Take a breath, take a breath. It's okay."

       It irked her how calm he was in this moment. But she let it keep her grounded. Clara leaned into him slightly, his touch helping her think. "The one advantage," he began in a shaky whisper, "we have over them is they don't know we're on to them."

      She nodded, swallowing the bile in her throat. "Y━Yes, I suppose..."

     Fitz nodded with her, "But ... they're gonna be suspicious if we don't act normal."

      "Right. R━right," Roy rubbed her face. Her hands were still trembling. "Yes. But we━we need to find Simmons, or━or maybe we could ask someone who wasn't on the op━"

     "Agent Fitz."

     Clara was glad that with Fitz being so close, he could hide just how much she flinched at Coulson's voice. (This isn't Coulson, she reminded herself with an ache in her throat). She turned around, shuffling a little behind Fitz in hope the L.M.D's: Coulson and Mack, wouldn't notice how pale and sick she looked. Could they hear her heartbeat? Could they sense her fear? What were their capabilities? Could they really hide anything from them? Were they truly holding the advantage? 

      Fitz was stiff. He clenched his fists into his pockets. "Y━Yes, Coulson, sir."

      He was so similar━so lifelike. His actions, the way he gazed at them. It was haunting, so haunting that if Clara hadn't seen that alert, she would have never known this wasn't the Coulson she knew. "We haven't been able to locate the submarine on satellite. In your best estimation, do you think it has missile-launch capabilities?"

     Mack's L.M.D. glanced at Clara, and she tensed. She clenched her jaw and swallowed her tongue that felt swollen and thick, refusing to meet his gaze. 

      Fitz subtly stepped a little bit more in front of her. She wondered how he was so great at hiding how scared he was; she wondered how he could be so brave. "W━well, we couldn't know that for sure," he managed to say, as if this was a normal conversation post mission, "but one could posit that, yeah." He propped his hands on his hips, and Roy tried to be more like him, doing her best to seem interested and focused as Mack's L.M.D. shuffled closer. 

     "Then we'll have to assume the worst," he said. She nodded, staring up at his tall figure. "That the Russian has people to enact his endgame."

      Clara felt a fresh wave of nausea hit her. "And his goal in life was to kill all Inhumans," she said, voice cracking at the end as she realised. She turned to Fitz, and she saw the grave severity settle in his jaw. 

    "That's why we're bringing them all here," said Coulson, "to headquarters."

    Where each and every one of them could be slaughtered, or switched, or something far worse, understood Clara, and she felt her stomach churn. She clenched her hands, hiding the way they sparked with energy at her emotions. "O━of course," she managed. "Good idea." The L.M.D with Coulson's face smiled at her, and she hated it. "Uh━well━" Clara cleared her throat, "━once this storm has cleared up, uh━" she and Fitz started to slowly back up, "━and once we find Simmons━"

     "Yeah, find Simmons━" added Fitz helpfully. They inched back to the door.

     "━and, of course, once the Director has fully recovered, the three of us can start to put a system together to━"

      "I've recovered enough."

     Clara's breath hitched through her nose. She heard footsteps behind her, and in glancing over, her heart rose up her throat to see two of the remaining three L.M.D's join them. In seeing Mace, she cursed, "My Goodness, that was fast," under her breath. 

      "A little sore," the android took the ice pack off the back of his head and gave them a smile, "but I'll manage. I think Daisy here should contact the Inhumans personally and oversee their transfer to HQ."

      Beside him, Daisy's L.M.D. nodded. Clara wanted to cry. "I'll take care of it."

     "I'll help make calls," offered Mack. "That's our top priority."

      "Along with finding Agent May, right?" Roy was careful with her words. She watched Coulson's android, anticipating his reaction. 

     He nodded, "Yes, of course," but it was a back thought. No, they wouldn't want to find May. May was exactly where they wanted her to be. Agent Roy set her jaw. 

     "Well, perhaps Roy and I should retire to my office," said Mace, "and━uh━discuss the logistics of the search."

     Roy was struck out. She didn't know what to say. Usually, she would say yes━that would be her normal response. But right now, alone with an L.M.D. and separated from Fitz was the last situation she wanted to be in. 

     Thankfully, Fitz was at her side in seconds. "Actually, we━" he tried to think on his feet, acting before he could come up with an excuse. Clara watched him, heart pounding. He clicked his fingers, stumbling over his words, "━We━uh━we━Discovered an old USSR communication hardware device," Roy nodded quickly, perhaps a little too eager, but she didn't care, "um━on the raid. Maybe they used that for communicating. But, we should probably keep our brain trust together until we can decipher the code."

     "With Simmons," added Clara. "If━if you know where she and Leith went? Her━her help ... you know," she chuckled awkwardly, "Fitz-Roy-Simmons ... can't have two without the other."

    She caught a frown on Daisy's face in the corner of her eye. A suspicious flicker in her gaze━it was terrifying, but also something Roy was yet to see in the others ... she didn't know what that meant, but she knew it couldn't mean anything good. 

     "Simmons is attending Leith in the search for the submarine," Daisy's L.M.D. said, sounding unsure. "Supervising that whole conscious━" she made a few movements with her hands, "━dream-thing he does."

     Clara frowned at Daisy, too. Unlike the other L.M.D's that were stern, serious, her's stood out. It seemed normal to Daisy every day, and yet ... that was the idea, wasn't it? 

     It was absurd, and it was horrifying, and it was a living nightmare right in front of her. 

     "I'm sure the two of you can handle this well?" Mace's L.M.D stared them down. Roy pursed her lips, frustrated. "No need to disrupt Leith to grab Simmons?"

      Yes, she wanted to say, there's every need, but before she could, Fitz subtly grabbed her arm and said, "No," he forced a strained smile on his face. "We━we should━we'll be fine." Out of the corner of his gaze, he sent a, trust me, at the miffed look upon her face.

     With everything sorted, Coulson's L.M.D. nodded, "Time's a-wasting. Let's get to it."

     The L.M.D's split up, leaving Fitz and Roy alone in the lab. She turned to him, muttering a, "What was that? We need to get Simmons."

     "We'll find her ourselves," he replied. "They're not going to separate her and Leith, not when she's exactly where they need her to be. If we keep asking, that's going to rise suspicion."

     Clara shook her head, hands rising up to her forehead. Fitz took them in his and said, "Hey, hey," he met her gaze, determined amongst his fear, "we'll find her, and we'll figure this out. We just got to take it step by step, okay?"

       He was right. Of course, he was right.

      Clara sighed and nodded. "Okay," she whispered.

      Fitz squeezed her hands, "I got you. As long as we're in this together, all right?"

       Together, that was the only thing Clara knew right now, and it might just be the only chance they have at a way out of this horrible nightmare. 

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(April 29th, 2017
The Playground, Classified)

    SIMMONS OFTEN wondered whether she was paranoid. 

     It wouldn't be surprising, after everything she's been through. 

     She used to always analyse everything: the insects she found outside her home in her parents' garden, the birds that flew in the sky, the leaves and grass she touched with her fingers, the stars that lit up the night, the fish that swam in her next door neighbour's fish tank. Even early on, she knew she was different than the kids that played with their dolls, their footballs and their gameboys up the road. They called her strange, and weird, for trying to explain the evolution journey from when humans started as amphibians, to homo-sapiens, to finally where they were now (that she found very interesting! But the kids in her street turned their noses up and made fun of). Kids were always cruel, but Simmons never once held an ounce of bitterness, because a kid was never taught to be either good or bad. They learnt their behaviour. It was their parents that she held a resentment for, even then━the parents that told her own parents that there was something strange about their little Jemma Simmons. Her father had defended her with an iron fist. 

    Then, Jemma went into surgery for her scoliosis. She was bedridden for what felt like years, when it was barely a week. That didn't help how the kids saw her, either. She didn't make friends in school in the early years, and then she graduated early into high school, where the kids were older than her, and far meaner━as not even a preteen, Simmons could never understand the drama, understand the jokes the boys shared with each other, or the laughter in health. Then, she was in university, and it only got worse and worse and worse. 

     Most people called intelligence a gift. Back then, Simmons called her intelligence, deep down, a curse. 

      Those days made her analyse people's feelings, their intentions━it made it hard for her to get along with people, always expecting the worst reactions from them. Would they call her terrible names? Would they turn her away? Would they look at her and laugh? 

     Simmons didn't know why she thought espionage would've been a good career move. But after Professor Weaver came to her, sitting alone and studying away from everyone else at her University, offering her an opportunity of a lifetime━where there were others just as smart as her, but perhaps she was even smarter, she took it. And when Roy took them onto the opportunity into the field with Coulson, of course, she took that, too. 

     Now, a few years later, she survived HYDRA, she survived Ward, she survived Maveth, she survived Hive, and what was left was a shell of the girl she used to be: a survivor, with a survivor's curse. 

     So yes, she was paranoid━and there was another word for that, too. A diagnosis she knew she had deep down, but couldn't face to admit it in front of May's late ex-husband. She knew it in her dreams, in the way she still thought she was on that planet, alone and dying of thirst and hunger, when she was in the shower, and remembered the feeling of that plant dragging her down underneath the surface. She still had that dagger━the one she made back on Maveth. She always had it close to her: it gave her, still, even now, a sense of security. 

     And perhaps it was this that made Simmons feel on edge right now, as it often did━but for her to feel the need to grasp that makeshift weapon? She knew something was wrong; very wrong. 

     But in such a gentle and quiet moment? That was what didn't make sense.

    She tried not to show how much her breath hitched and her hands shook as she sat with Leith in the gym. He was determined to have a go at the bag, but Jemma was determined to get him to go back to medical. 

     "You're going to reopen your stitches," she chided him, watching him wrap the fabric around his wrists and knuckles. 

     He gave her a look━a stupid look that he always did when he was dismissing the obvious, "I'll be fine," Leith told her. Simmons just arched her brow at him, and it only caused him to grin slightly. "What? Worried about me? Look, I know you really like my face, but I promise, scars are way hotter━"

      "You have a fractured rib," stated Simmons, standing up and making her way over to him to try and unwrap his hands. "I don't understand how you're standing like this let alone wanting to work out."

       "I'm a pain enthusiast."

      "No, you're not."

      "Could be kinky."

     She just gave him a look at that. 

      Simmons hid it well━she learnt that. She's become a great liar. She hid it so well how her heart hammered with a sick feeling in her stomach, watching Leith fight off her hands without even a wince. He took them and gave them a kiss, which would usually send her into a bout of flutters, but now, just gave her an intense dread. 

      He should not be like this.

      "You should be resting," she continued to tell him. "Have a break, the rest of us will continue the search for May."

       Leith shook his head, "I'm fine."

       "No, you're not," Simmons pushed. She went to check the bruising and cuts on his face, but all of the sudden, Leith's hands changed their soft grip to rather tight━so tight, there was a quick ache in her wrist, right before she could get close enough to touch. It was ... unnaturally tight. Her eyes widened at him, too surprised to say anything.

      As if realising he made some mistake, Leith swallowed hard and blinked. He let go of her hands, giving her wrists a gentle rub in apology, "Trust me," he said, as if nothing had happened, "I'm fine, okay?"

      When she still didn't say a word. Leith sighed and turned to her. He cupped her cheeks, and Jemma felt a lump of bile. There was something off about the way he moved━about the way he looked at her. It was Leith ... and yet, there was a slither about him that wasn't. Maybe it was the pain, maybe it was the stress━that was the normal thing to think: what she should probably think, but after everything, Simmons couldn't leave it at that. It wasn't just her paranoia, she knew Leith well. She knew him better than he knew himself━always.

      "Look," he said, giving her smile, "if you're so worried, we can go back and find Clara━she can have another look, and have me bedridden for the rest of my life."

      That would be a safe move. A good move. Find Clara. Maybe try and analyse how she saw this situation, but ... but at the same time, something was telling Simmons no. 

      So, she pushed a smile onto her face and took the hands on her cheeks into her own to say, "Let me take care of you, okay?"

     Leith's brows jumped. Then, he nodded, "Okay, Doctor Simmons," he grinned, "lead the way."

     "I am a doctor," she told him. "A doctor of biochem."

     She pushed him a little in front of her towards the entrance of the gym, and as Leith started to walk, the smile Jemma had on her face slipped to nothing, replaced with a gnawing fear that ached in her chest. 

     Together, they made their way out of the gym and towards what Leith had started to go━the lab━until Jemma took his arm and dragged him down the set of stairs. His brows bounced in surprise, but soon, he grinned. Maybe Simmons was being paranoid; that was a very Leith-like reaction, but she wanted to go somewhere alone. Somewhere there wasn't too many weapons, too many people, just the two of them, and she could figure this out (and able to defend herself).

      She had a terrible feeling, and every part of her was screaming for it not to be true. But she had to be prepared ...

      Simmons didn't know how she'd react if she was right. The thought of the possibility made her knees tremble and her throat close up. But she had to be logical, and the logical part of her told her this:

      At that base, their comms went dark. At that base, they were all separated for specific amounts of time with no idea where anyone was, or what they were doing. Leith's encounter with the Russian didn't match up with Daisy's━nothing seemed to match up. 

     But maybe she was wrong. She pleaded that she was wrong. Because if she was wrong, everything was okay. If she was wrong, she would have Leith. if she was right ... Simmons might have no one. If she was right, those she cared about━Leith━were in danger somewhere, and she had no idea where they could be.

      If she was right, who was to say she wasn't in the same position?

    (May had never even known).

     "I'm beginning to think you taking care of me," Leith was saying as Jemma opened up the door to her room on the base, "has a different meaning than I originally thought."

     Simmons closed the door. But she didn't lock it. Her fingers stayed on the knob for a moment, her heart racing. Then, she took a deep breath and glanced back at Leith as he sat down on the edge of her bed. "I ... I have a few things here, just wait a moment ..."

     She rushed across the floor to the first-aid kit she always kept. Trembling fingers opened it up and Simmons did her best to seem nonchalant as she grabbed the alcohol wipes. "Take off your shirt," she told him, careful to keep her voice even. "I want to see how those gashes are going."

      Simmons glanced back, and her heart jolted to see him hesitate. Leith frowned at her, "Really?" he asked. "They're fine. That's not the real problem━it's these ribs..." 

      "I need to see them," she said, holding up the wipes. 

      "And ruin those medics' spectacular bandaging?"

      "Leith," Jemma could feel her stomach churning, "take off your shirt."

     He chuckled at her, wary. Leith started to frown at the look on her face, "Jem ... what's wrong? If you're worried, it's fine, I promise. No more gym sessions..."

      "Why won't you take it off?" she countered, breath hitching. "There's no harm in it."

      He stared at her, and she stared back. Jemma Simmons could feel the makeshift dagger she had burn in its place in her boot. He didn't make a move to take off his shirt, and Jemma had a terrible feeling she knew exactly why. She shuffled closer to her dresser and the open top drawer. Leith watched her movement like a hawk━it terrified her. 

     "Why don't you?" he asked her, trying to joke, but there was a tense tone to his voice. "There's no harm in it." She didn't say anything back. Leith slowly stood up. Jemma shuffled back further, heart pounding so fast it hurt. "Jemma?" he said again. "What's wrong? What's happened? Tell me ..."

      Jemma swallowed harshly. She didn't know what made her tell him, "You were gone for a while━back on the base. No communication. The timeline of your fight, Leith, it doesn't match up."

     His frown deepened. He chuckled, confused, "What?"

     Simmons could feel the tears threaten to fall; they choked at her, made her chest ache. She took a sharp breath through her nose. "The base, Leith. You said you fought Ivanov, and then I heard the blast from Daisy's: they don't match up. It was too soon of a gap."

      He continued to frown at her. He started to notice the tremble in her movement, the hitch of her breath━Leith grew suspicious, and his concern faltered; as did his step. He stopped there, by her bed, eyeing the distance between them. He started to understand what she meant. There was a horrible silence before Leith muttered, "And what about you?" he asked her. "You were gone for a while, too. No communication." 

     Simmons bit at the inside of her cheek. She hated how his words trembled within her, making her rethink everything. No, stop it, she scolded herself. He's trying to get into your head. "Don't," she told him. "I know."

      "That's the thing," Leith said, his voice starting to get rushed. "You don't know. You━you might not even know. I mean, you brought me down here alone and I'm the one you question?"

      "Stop it," snapped Jemma. She was backed up right against her open dresser━so harshly she felt the handles dig into her shoulder-blades and back. 

      Leith took a heavy breath, eyes small like a captured animal. "You're thinking about it. You know I'm right━"

      "Show me your wounds," Simmons cut him off, rushed with her frantic fear. "Show me."

      "And if I show you them and I'm me what then?" Leith rebutted, voice cracking. "Then it's you━and you've come here to take me━"

     "No!" let out Jemma, desperate. "No━no, that's not what━"

     "━You might not even know!" he went on. "It's just in your coding! You separated me from the team. You led us here━listen to yourself, Simmons!"

     "Show me your wounds!" she shouted, voice breaking down as she did. 

     "Jemma━" he took a step closer and Jemma reacted. She reached back into her open drawer to the bottom and pulled out her gun in a swift movement. Leith immediately froze, eyeing the barrel of the handgun with pale cheeks. 

     Slowly, Leith held up his hands. 

     "Stay back," croaked Jemma. "You━you stay back."

      "You're telling me to stay back?" Leith's voice went high in his incredulous disbelief. "Jemma, you're pointing the gun at me!"

     "What did you do to him?!" she cried, her grip shaking. "What did you do to Leith━where is he?!"

     "What did I do━?!" he back-tracked. He pointed at his chest. "Jemma, I'm Leith! It's me━!"

      "━You're lying━!"

     "━You're pointing the gun!"

      "Where is he?" she hated how she was crying. She hated how the tears streamed down her cheeks. "Where━where is Leith? What did you do to him?"

      Leith's L.M.D. pursed its lips. The silence hung between them again. Jemma couldn't find the courage to hover her finger over the trigger. All she saw when she looked at the android was him━was Leith: his eyes, his face, the slight dimples he had, the way his hair hung over his forehead. Even if she wanted to hurt this thing, she couldn't, because she'd feel in her very being that she'd be hurting the man she loved. 

     It's not him, she tried to tell herself. It's not him! 

     It's not him, it's not him, it's not him━

     Leith's L.M.D. took a step forward━

     Bang! 

     The sound of a bullet hitting metal made Simmons cry out. She watched Leith's L.M.D. stagger at being struck in the shoulder. He hit the edge of her bed, his other hand flying to the bullet wound that bled, but gave him no pain. Simmons wanted to throw up to see sparks emit from where she fired. 

     She let out a sob. Because despite it all━despite the iron shards she saw amongst the flesh of his wound, it was Leith's voice that grunted at the pain he acted, it was Leith's face that contorted, Leith's eyes that stared back at her in shock and betrayal. 

      They had stolen him. They had stolen him and fabricated him━and it was brilliant. It was brilliant because Jemma was breaking apart at the sight of it. 

      "Don't━don't come any closer," she said through her sobs. "D━Don't━"

      "You━you shot me," gasped the L.M.D. "Jemma━"

      "Where is Leith?!" she shrieked. "What did you do to him━tell me what you did to him!"

      "You shot him!" shouted the android. "You shot me, Jemma!"

     Even now, it was programmed to lie━even when its lies stood right there in Jemma's face. 

    She knew she didn't have much time. Someone must've heard that gunshot; they'd be coming to investigate. She needed to get out of here, but she couldn't just leave Leith's L.M.D. here━if she ran, she was defenceless, and this android could catch up to her in a second of time, and she would be taken.

      Simmons was finding it hard to breathe in all her tears and her racing heart. It's not him, it's not him, it's not him━

     When Leith's android tried to surge towards her; try to reach out. He took one more step, and Simmons let loose her next bullet. It didn't strike his shoulder, it didn't strike his leg━the bullet struck exactly where she had aimed it: in the centre of Leith's L.M.D.'s head.

    For a horrifying moment, Simmons thought she had been wrong. She thought that this was the plan all along━the coding perhaps in her ... or she was wrong about the both of them. That she had shot Leith instead of the android ... he stood there for a second, eyes wide, blood seeping out of the bullet wound in his forehead. Nothing showed that it was metal behind it; nothing sparked, nothing jolted. For a horrifying moment, Simmons saw Leith━she saw him slump, she saw him fall, she saw him die. 

     She stood there as well, her knees wanting to collapse. "Leith?" she gasped, horrified that she had made a mistake. "L━Leith?"

     Simmons crouched down, her shaking hand reaching out to turn him over. Her fingers touched his shoulder━

      He jolted.

     She jumped back with a scream. Simmons watched the body of the android short-circuit. It convulsed. It sparked until it was jerked over, and blank eyes stared at Jemma. They weren't alive, they weren't dead━they were nothing more but artificial. This wasn't Leith. 

     Choking but her sobs, Simmons grabbed another round of bullets for her gun and without looking back, she sprinted out of the room. 

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(April 29th, 2017
The Playground, Classified)

     CLARA NEVER understood how small such a big base could be until she counted every face she saw, took notice of each turn she made, heard her footsteps echo against the walls. It was only a short journey to the workshop, a place where she knew she and Fitz could be alone without causing any suspicion. But that short journey felt like hours, and even with his shoulder flushed against hers, having Fitz so close didn't ease her as much as she wanted it to. 

       In between bypassing agents and ducking around corners, the two of them discussed their theories. It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened now that they talked about it. Clara could see her hands shaking on the cart they pushed together, "Radcliffe gassed them during the raid," she whispered to Fitz once they passed a group of young agents. He met her gaze, grave. "That's why we lost time. Quick san of the brain, transfer that data to a body━which must've already been built ..."

     "Yeah," muttered Fitz lowly, "I'm thinking the same thing. He could've had━Sorry," they stopped as a pair of training specialists passed them. They paid them little mind, giving them just a sparing glance before returning their attention to their tablets and continuing on their way. But all Clara could think of was what if there were more? What if this entire base had been replaced? What if Radcliffe could see them right now? What if they had already lost? 

      Once they were gone, Fitz's words dropped even lower. Clara had to lean into him to hear, "Could've had digital scans of their features."

      She nodded, realising what he meant. Her blood ran colder. "From the eyes of the May android. That's ... he could've gotten complete physical geometry━easily."

     They passed through the doorway into the next corridor, finally stepping closer towards the workshop. Clara counted the seconds until they reached it, desperate for a safe place to talk. 

     "So he could've replaced anybody," Fitz finished her train of thought and she nodded, frowning as she thought she saw a flash of red above them. But she had no time to think about it as they crossed the hallway and finally reached their destination. 

     The workshop was crowded with machinery, old and new inventions Fitz and Mack tinkered away at over the years. There was a long wooden table set up in the centre, along the walls were cupboards filled with tools and boxes of nails, washes and bolts. On the other side of the room, Clara saw the machines: welding stations, a large vice, electronic saws ...

     She continued to push the trolley ahead into the room as Fitz closed the door behind them. That was when her laptop lit up. Clara frowned, confused ... glancing at Fitz briefly over her shoulder she walked around the other side to see what the notification was. Her frown deepened to see the pulsing alarm that flared up on her screen. 

     Agent Roy picked up her computer and stepped away as she opened it up. Her heart felt like it stopped.

     Eyes wide, she was frozen for a moment, bewildered to see an LMD detection. It wasn't one from one of the others, but instead, from the west sector ... the doorway she and Fitz had just crossed through. She stared, her mouth turning dry at the video of them passing underneath the scanner, a bright red bar reading: [1] LMD DETECTED. 

     Clara couldn't speak, she couldn't move. She felt something rise up her chest and into her throat. She felt sick. 

    Fitz noticed immediately. He marched up to her, "What's wrong?"

    She didn't do anything as he took the laptop from her fingers. Only then, did Clara notice any movement━she watched her fingers tremble as a horrible, dreadful, excruciating realisation struck her like a gunshot. Her gaze snapped over to him. Fitz's brows furrowed at the detection, the same way he'd furrow at anything. The same purse of his lips, the same tick to his jaw, the same squint of his gaze ... everything about him was so real Clara never would have noticed.

     Him ... she slowly stepped back, finally able to find the strength to move her legs. It wasn't him, this was something else━some imposter with Fitz's face, with his eyes, with his voice and his touch. 

      An imposter that hadn't noticed the way she shuffled away as he glanced over at the door━was it frustration? Was it confusion? Or was he so delved into this artificial fantasy rooted in code that he didn't even know.

      (Was she━?)

      Clara could feel her heart beginning to pound faster than its done━painful and making it hard to breathe, causing her chest and her throat to ache. 

      She wanted it to be a malfunction. She wanted there to be some mistake. Clara wanted it to be anything else than realise that this wasn't her Fitz━that her Fitz had been taken away. 

       "Well," murmured the L.M.D., "the ... the lab techs must've taken it upon themselves to mount L.M.D. detection devices randomly throughout the base." It was smart. It was incredibly smart. Something that Radcliffe didn't know ... something that he couldn't code into his android's to predict. Even now, the real Fitz had gotten the upper hand, and perhaps, in a way, saved Clara's life even locked away, unconscious and incoherent; trapped in a Framework. 

     Her back hit the edge of the worktable. She felt the wood dig into her spine, and the touch made her flinch. She didn't know what to do. She eyed the spanners, the screwdrivers and the drills━none of which Clara could take without Fitz's android seeing her and reacting. But even then, she couldn't muster herself to do it, to find something that would harm something that looked so real, felt so real, seemed so real that even if she had seen the proof, still couldn't quite believe that she wasn't staring at Leopold Fitz. 

      How could she hurt him? How could she even try? 

     (Radcliffe had made the perfect weapon: he made something from the greatest weakness any biological life form held━sentiment and emotion; connection and attachment). 

       "I mean," went on the android, placing down her computer, "there must be a calibration error. It's reading the equipment or something..." it turned around, and as soon as its eyes━Fitz's eyes━landed on her, Clara reacted.

      Without thinking, she held up her hand━nothing came out, not even a spark of energy, but the threat was there. It made Fitz━no, not Fitz━throw up his hands, horrified, "Whoa━!"

     "Stay right there!" her order was weak, muddled in a voice crack that turned into a whimper. 

     "Hey━Clara━?!"

     "Back away!" she pushed herself against the wood of the table as it took a step closer. She felt herself already wanting to cry to see the sheer terror and confusion that spread across Fitz's face, hands above his head, trembling and shaking as those blue eyes darted between her face and her hand. It wasn't Fitz, and yet it was, and it hurt. "Stay away from me!"

      "All right!" it cried in his voice, stopping in its tracks. 

      "Just━just━" Clara could barely speak, "━just until we can figure this out."

      "Figure what out?" snapped the android, eyeing her weak stance that held no amount of power━terrified. But not as terrified as him. Clara faltered at just how terrified she had made him━(It wasn't Fitz). "You're threatening to blast me━why are you doing that?! What ...?" his voice trailed off. 

      Clara began to shake her head as she saw his eyes widen; as she saw his face drop and turn pale as he slowly stood back up, staring at her with breathless shock. "No," she shook her head, already knowing what he was going to say. "No━"

     "No..." he whispered, heartbroken.

     "Stop," her voice broke, quivering. 

     "It's you," said Fitz, gaze growing tearful. 

      Roy stumbled as she realised she couldn't back away any further, or maybe it was the blow of his words━thousands of whispers came to her mind, taunting, jeering her as they said ... what if it's you? It could be you━She shook them away, she could feel the tears already on her cheeks. "S━shut up!" she croaked. He was wrong━It was wrong. She was her. She was flesh and bone, she wasn't made of metal or coding. She was her, fully and completely her━ "Shut up!"

     "You suggested that we come to the workshop..." the way he stared at her made her want to sob━to see Fitz stare at her with suck fear, shock and betrayal━it isn't him━, "... alone. Y━you brought me here."

     "No! You ... you were━you were the one telling me to act normal and━"

     "You━you knew how the L.M.D.'s were made━"

     "━who was the one that didn't want to leave the base━"

     "━you knew what Radcliffe did to get everyone separated━"

     "━saying it was a calibration error━?!"

     "━You knew━!"

     "━There's no calibration error━!"

     Fitz gestured wildly with his hands, desperate and terrified, "Use your powers!" he shouted at her. "If you're really you then USE YOU'RE BLOODY POWERS! I BLOODY WELL KNOW THAT I'M NOT AN ANDROID!"

     She didn't. Even when he screamed at her she didn't. Clara told herself she didn't know why━but she did. She couldn't hurt him━she couldn't bear it if she did, even if he was an android ... and if she tried and nothing happened ... that would mean he was right. "You would lie!" she instead yelled, brandishing her hand. "You would lie and say that if you were! You'd be programmed to!"

     For a second, there was a horrible silence. 

     Fitz heaved, taking a sharp breath through his lips. He slowly shook his head at her, like he was standing in a living nightmare, "What ... what are you doing?" he breathed no louder than a whisper. "You ... you don't know," he slumped, shoulders falling. Clara's breath hitched. You don't know.

     Did she know? Did she even know? She stared at her trembling hand in front of her. Was it flesh underneath that skin? If she cut it, would there be blood? Or would there be steel and metal? Something fake and something made for the sole purpose of hurting her friends. She couldn't do it. She refused to look and see━what did that mean? Was she terrified ... or was it something else telling her not to.

    "No," she sobbed, shaking those terrible thoughts out of her mind. "Please, don't say that━"

     "You don't even know!" said Fitz through his tears. "You don't even know, like May!"

      "Stop it!" she continued to cry. Please let me wake up, she begged. Please let this be a bad dream ... Please let her wake up, and for everything to be all right. Please let her wake up and see him smile, and tell her it was okay, that she was home. "The━the━the same goes for you!"

     "Of course this is happening," Fitz lowered his hands━he wasn't angry, he wasn't prepared with a gun or a knife ... he was broken ... completely broken. He stared at her in the way that Clara has always feared━that he realised the truth ... that maybe they would never get a happy ending. "This always happens to you, to me, to us. It's my worst fear coming true again━you don't even know!"

      "I'M NOT A BLOODY L.M.D.!" yelled Roy. "You're messing with me! Messing with my head━"

     "━IT'S NOT ME, CLARA━!"

     "━WELL, IT'S ONE OF US!"

     Clara took a breath through her tears. She felt her knees want to collapse underneath her. She hung her head as she broke. The gaping distance between them grew too much. It was always there. Always there. Time and time again, no matter what they did, no matter what happiness they were given, it was always taken━thrown away into the gaping pit to keep them apart. Again and again and again.

     Clara Roy had finally started to really believe Fitz:

     They were cursed. 

      (Maybe they weren't allowed to have a happy ending). 

     Meeting his gaze again, she didn't care if it was him, or if it was an android ... either way, those blue eyes were ones she's looked into far too many times right before imminent disaster. Right before she knew they were going to be torn apart. 

      All hostility gone, Clara whispered, "It's one of us, Fitz..." her voice broke away, caught in the back of her throat. 

     He swallowed harshly. Looking down, she could see the thoughts that passed his mind. He nodded to himself. He sniffled. He looked back up, an unspoken agreement settling between them as he said, "Well ... regardless of who it is ... it's my fault."

     Clara didn't say anything. She didn't need to say anything. He knew just by the look on her face.

      "I perfected the technology," he said. "I started this whole nightmare..." slowly, Fitz raised his hands again. He held them up in the air. He took a step closer, and Clara frowned, confused as to what he was doing. "I'm sorry," he told her, voice heavy. At those words, more tears traced Roy's cheeks. "Clara ... I'm so sorry..."

       "Leo ..." his name was rare upon her lips, and he froze up at the sound of it. Clara used to always say it in annoyance, in sharp brittle anger, but now━all there was a breathless plea: "Don't ... please don't hurt me ..."

     "I couldn't," he said immediately. His cheeks were wet with his tears, too. "Roy, I ... I'm not gonna fight you, Clara. Even if you are a decoy. I'm the bad guy, okay? No matter what." He held his hands up even further, as if he was stepping forth towards his own execution. "So ... I'll do whatever you say, okay? I'll do whatever you say ... it's okay ... it's okay ..."

     Clara took another deep, trembling breath. She tried to think of a way she could find out the truth. The easiest way would be to use her powers, and yet she couldn't. Later, maybe she would find herself ashamed. She would look at herself in the mirror and call herself a coward to make Fitz do something to himself just because she was scared of being wrong. 

      But if she was right ... this ... this wasn't her Fitz. 

      She set her jaw. There was a glint on the workbench table, and as soon as she saw it, she had her idea. 

     "That knife on the table," she said, the strong tone to her voice returning. Fitz's L.M.D. frowned, following her gaze towards it. "Pick it up."

     The android scoffed. It met her gaze━a blue gaze that didn't belong to it. "And do what?" it croaked. There was fear. There was a sharp fear like a rodent caught in a cage, cornered and helpless. It knew what she had in mind. 

      She swallowed her bile. She held up her hand again, glowering over the edge of her fingertips. "You know what. If ... if you're the L.M.D., I'll see your substructure and I'll know. And if not..."

     "Not, then you're the android and you just convinced me to slit my wrist!" said the L.M.D., horrified. 

      "Just do it!"     

      It pursed its lips. Clara could feel the want to tremble all over again as she saw the android turn to the knife sitting on the table. It's not Fitz, she reminded herself, otherwise, she was scared she'd lose it all over again. For a second, she thought the android would balk, until it took a deep breath and began to unbutton its shirt sleeve, "Okay," it said to itself. "O━okay..."

     Fitz's L.M.D. walked up to the knife. Clara watched it pick it up. It met her gaze and held out the blade. She eyed it, heart beating terribly fast━her bottom lip wavered to see it hover the blade over the same wrist Fitz had. They both took deep breaths━deep terrified breaths. This could go two ways: one or the other. It was one of them, and the truth had become the most terrifying moment of all. 

      And then, with a grit of its teeth, the android dug the blade into Fitz's skin. 

      Clara had to look away. She whimpered, her stance crumbling for a moment as she heard the sound of Fitz crying out. She heard his short breaths, the sound of his knees knocking against the floor. She opened her eyes and Roy gasped. 

     Her hand dropped, and a sickening horror filled her chest━a horrifying guilt. It had cut its wrist. Why would an android cut its own wrist, knowing that would be its demise. Clara's strong facade shattered, and she realised the truth━what she had done. What Radcliffe made her do.

      He made her do the one thing she said she'd never do willingly: hurt Fitz.

     "Oh my god," Fitz's voice shuddered, clutching his bleeding wrist. Clara wanted to throw up. "That's a lot of blood."

     "Oh, my god," she cried out, hands coming to her mouth. "Oh, my god━Did you cut the radial artery?"

      Fitz was shaking. His blood covered the blade. His blood dripped onto the floor. Because of her. "I━I was trying very hard to miss it. I..."

      "I'm sorry," Clara rushed to grab a rag. "I'm so sorry━I'm so sorry━Fitz━"

      "Don't come near me!"

     She froze in her spot, the rag limp in her fingers. Clara felt her throat close up as he shuffled to face away from her, hunched over and holding his wounded arm tight. She did that to him. She did that to him. 

      But ... Clara didn't feel any need to do anything else. All that was going through her mind━she had to get to him, to clean that wound ... nothing programmed to replace him, to do anything of the sort. But maybe if she got closer, she would feel it ...

      She was so confused. 

     So she focused on the relief ... that Fitz was real. That it was her Fitz.

     "Fitz," she choked, taking hesitant steps towards his sobbing figure. "Fitz━please, I'm sorry ... I'm so sorry━"

     It happened in the blink of an eye.

     She never saw it coming. 

      Fitz's sobs stopped. His shaking went away. Clara's eyes widened, and in seconds, he had twisted the knife up and grabbed the hilt━

      She screamed at the pain. Her leg collapsed and she fell forward, hitting the ground with a smack! Clara blinked, trying to see him━trying to figure out what had happened. She spun onto her side with difficulty, horrified to see the knife he had held hilt deep into her thigh.

     It. Not him. It. 

     It had fooled her this entire time. 

     Clara saw the android's shadow. "No!" she cried out, trying to move. But when she did, her leg seared with pain━like fire had been lit up from the depths of her bone. Roy screamed as she felt its hands tug her towards it━Fitz's hands━; she struggled, she forced her hand up, ready to send it back with a blast━

     The android knew what she planned on doing, and Clara watched as Fitz's face━blank of all emotion, brought the knife down, hilt first, straight to her head━

     And everything went black.

✲══〖✰〗══✲

    a/n: the fact that this is about 8000 words and I'm not even halfway through the episode really shows how much I need to split this episode into two chapters oh my god. 

     there's just so much I need to explore. I need to explore Fitz and Clara, and I need to explore Leith and Jemma and how was I gonna get all that in and then the rest of the episode ... lol ... even I won't do that to you guys ... that's gotta be another 10 000 words like ... nope ... no way. 

     two parts, you're welcome heheh

     (gods, this chapter is traumatising and dark. there are some triggering moments, so if you need to talk to me, I'm right here).