PARADISE ↝ Leo Fitz

↳ EIGHT

         "It's no big deal, really. Just something I've figured out over time", he radiated, and smiling back at him, Jenna leaned her head on his shoulder.

         "Well, I'm proud of you. For a lot of reasons. And no matter what, I'll support you, okay? Love you", she took his hand gently, and for a moment, they just stood there — a happy part of a family, nothing but love and adoration for one another.

          But eventually, Jenna realized something and it made Evan laugh as she said it out loud. "I should probably call mom and Jane too."

—————

          JENNA HAD SURPRISINGLY little trouble finding Simmons and the agent named Antoine Triplett, both of them looking at the photos he had taken whilst undercover at HYDRA, and as she entered the small room, Jenna couldn't help but smile. Simmons had told her about Trip and how he had been a part of the real world too, and as she looked at them talk about his grandfather, who had been one of the legendary Howling Commandos, it did seem like they were old friends. Even if Trip had no idea who she actually was.

          "Howling Commandos, huh? That's pretty awesome. I've always been a Captain America fan", Jenna sneakily inserted herself into the conversation, and both of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents in front of her turned to look at the blonde, with Trip breaking into a grin and offering his hand for her to shake.

        "Really freaking awesome, yeah", he laughed, "I'm Antoine Triplett, people tend to call me Trip, though", and nodding eagerly, Jenna took his extended hand for a quick shake.

        "Jenna Rivers. It's great to meet you, I've heard lots about you", the scientist radiated with joy, but sadly, the good mood in the room was brought down with Simmons' panicked "Oh no, no, no", which caused both Trip and Jenna to turn to the biochemist with worried stares rooted deep in their eyes. The woman never made a fuss about something irrelevant, so Jenna was already taking the horror on Simmons' face quite seriously — clearly, today wasn't going to be as laid-back as the blonde had hoped for.

        With her eyebrows knitted together, she stood by Simmons and eyed the drawings in her hands, titled Project Looking Glass — a rather ominous name. "Is that quantum-energy manipulation?", Jenna wondered out loud, with a mixture of concern and confusion landing upon her own heart, and licking her lips nervously, Simmons bobbed her head in a quiet nod while staring at the picture.

       "Darkhold tech", she blurted out, and Jenna stepped back, as she had heard of that dangerous book before — she had never seen it herself, but she was glad, as the tales she had heard in the world of science made it sound fairly nightmarish. And whatever this was... if it had anything to do with Darkhold, it couldn't be good. "I've seen this machinery before. It was designed to build elements from thin air. This looks like it's creating something even more complex. That machine required an immense amount of energy. It was powered by a hydroelectric dam", Simmons proceeded to explain, handing the picture to Trip before pacing back and forth the room with her mind trying to come up with a solution.

        Nodding, Jenna sighed. "And obviously, this device would require a more significant source of energy", she put two and two together, and although Trip was struggling to understand any of their science talk, he did contribute to the matter by sharing all that he knew.

        "Well, I got nothing about a dam, but I heard someone talking about shipping parts East to some oil-drilling platform while I was undercover", he shed some light from his point of view, and whereas it didn't ring any bells for Jenna, Simmons chuckled quickly, figuring out what was going on like the smart girl she was.