CODA

Mack's voice starts to fade away, it feels like it's coming from underwater. His face and May's become blurry, they are disappearing behind a veil. The dust swirls around in a curious dance in the light and it is not grey anymore but bright white. He does not feel pain for which he is grateful. He realizes now what is happening; he has been through it enough times. Yet, it is also new and different. If Jemma were here, she would make a comment about winning this particular argument, and he has never been happier to be proven wrong. He is not afraid – time that played on an infinite loop has become finite and is slipping away from him. Somehow, it is liberating. Each tick, each faltering heartbeat bringing him closer to the final proof.

He should think of the things he left unsaid. He should think of the first law of thermodynamics. He should think of Jemma. Instead he sees a different face – strange yet intensely familiar. She looks at him with Jemma's smiling eyes and so much love that it makes him dizzy. He recognizes her instantly, even though they never met, not in this lifetime. Still, her entire being is etched into his heart.

"We did it, Dad." she says with a soft smile. "We saved them all. Together. Just like you said we would."

"I couldn't save you, little monkey… I'm so sorry. I wanted you to have it all."

"I had you, Dad. You loved me through all these lifetimes the best you could and that was more than enough. Mum is alive, my son is free now. We solved it together and I have no regrets."

He looks at her and she is so beautiful, strong and brave, just like her mother. His heart overfills with awe and love. He has no regrets either. She holds out her hand and one breath, one final small step is all it takes. In the right direction. Into the mysterious unknown of the fourth dimension where together they fixed the unfixable.

(I wrote this to tie together this story that weaved through space-time. This version of Fitz, his daughter and their life together dissolves into the folds of space-time having saved the world. Theirs is the ultimate sacrifice, fighting against the Loop through countless lifetimes. The show didn't focus much on this - it's almost a tangential story for them, but I'd like to believe that Fitz died knowing he won the fight; against time, against fate, against his shadow. And out of the ashes, a new story will begin, with a Fitz who is the same, yet different. Who gets to make his own choices. And whose daughter (or son) will grow up in a world made possible by their sacrifice.)