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[There's some fumbling with the camera then, the usual motion blur that can be associated with a newcomer exploring unfamiliar technology.]

Right, so that's the camera there. And the microphone is... Oh, well that's a bit on the nose isn't it? I suppose that would make it easier for the lay user.

[A bit more shifting then, until he sets his device on a flat surface. The image is a small, softbodied man with a pointed intensity in his eyes. He speaks softly, in a thick Scottish brogue.]

H-hello -- to whomever might be listening. I apologize for this interruption, but I'm searching for someone in particular. I have reason to believe that Jemma Simmons has been staying among you. If you know her, it's imperative that I make contact with her. My name is Leo Fitz -- I followed her here.

[He doesn't mention SHIELD or their duties, though. The agency is such a touchy issue in the public eye, it might be a condemnation to draw unnecessary attention to it. There was no telling what kind of people lived here.]

Oh, I hope languages won't be an issue. Though I suppose it should be fine if we utilize this text function...

[His stare shifts pensively from the display to the camera and back again. His instinct is to pull apart this hardware and improve upon the flaws, but that would be entirely counterproductive to his means.]

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[ At first all Steve hears is the voice, and that's enough to ping something in his memory, though he doesn't quite figure it out until Fitz's face shows on the feed. Add to that the mention of Jemma Simmons, and everything falls into place.

Fitz seems to be doing a lot better than the last time he was here when he'd still been struggling from whatever injury he'd suffered. Either he's now from before that happened, or he's from after and has had more time to recover.

He's got a few things mixed up about how he got here, though, so Steve shoots a quick reply. ]

Agent Fitz. [ Yeah, he knows about that little branch of SHIELD run by Coulson. ] Sorry to say, but Agent Simmons isn't here. She was here for a little while a year or so back, but then Wonderland sent her home. [ Steve has no idea what the current situation is with Jemma being lost, so he doesn't realize that he might be stepping on toes by saying that. ]

If you were trying to follow her, I think Wonderland probably intercepted you on the way. Where were you trying to go?

[ Oh, and he should probably mention that one of Fitz's teammates is here too. ] Also, Daisy Johnson is here. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you.

[The sound of that voice saying his name freezes him fully. He gapes at the screen, eyes wide.]

Y-you.. You're...

[That's Captain America. Captain America knows his name. Captain America knows his name and is talking to him. Fitz.exe has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.]

[ There's the stuttering again, although Steve's guessing that this time around it has little to do with any lingering effects from Fitz's injury.

It's hardly the first time someone's responded that way to Steve, and it won't be the last. He tries for a disarming smile, but it's a little awkward. ]

Steve Rogers. It's a pleasure to meet you. [ Again. But... maybe he won't get into that just yet. ]

[Did Captain America just introduce himself as "Steve"? That's insane.]

R..right. Right, a pleasure. To. ... Um. To meet.

[Wait but he'd known enough to call him "Agent"--]

You know who I am?

[ It had been Steve's attempt to put Fitz at ease, but that doesn't seem to have worked as planned. Most people take some time to get past Steve's title and look at him as just another person. ]

Yeah. Like I said, Agent Simmons was here before. So was Coulson. So I heard a little about your team.

[ Steve already feels guilty for not explaining that Fitz had also been here, but he'd feel even worse dumping that on him when he's already got so much else to process. ]

A lot of us have been dragged here over time, but a lot of us have also been sent home.

[ And Steve's been here longest of all of them. ]

[He doesn't mean to be stammering so aggressively. It's something of a residue from the old trauma. He's mostly regained access to his faculties, but every so often something just sticks, like a creaky door that jams sometimes. If there was ever a reason to lose hold of his carefully-crafted control, it's Captain America.]

The director hasn't been away, though. I saw him, just before I left. He would've mentioned it.

[Coulson had been trying to talk Fitz off of a metaphorical bridge, just before he stormed off to break security protocols and do something suicidally stupid.]

Yeah, it's...

[ Steve sighs and shakes his head. If anything, Wonderland gets more complicated the more that you learn about it. ]

Time is weird here. While we're in Wonderland, no time passes back home. So whenever Wonderland decides to send you back, it'll be like you were never gone.

[ Having done this enough times that he can anticipate the next question Fitz is likely to ask, Steve heads him off at the pass. ]

And you won't remember anything about this place, either. It's why no one has tried to come after us once they got back home.

But. Time passed after Simmons left. Lots of it.

[It feels a little like his intestines are trying to turn themselves inside out. This conversation is very much leading to a place he doesn't want to acknowledge.

He's not sure that it's better or worse for this information to be coming from Captain America.]

[ Steve can see where it's heading too, but better that he bursts Fitz's bubble now than let him believe in a lie that he's told himself. He heaves out a sigh before speaking again. ]

That must mean that she went somewhere else. [ A pause, and then, tentatively: ] Can you... tell me what happened?

[ Last Steve had heard, Jemma hadn't been missing, but a lot can change in hardly any time at all. ]

No.

[It's a general "no," not particularly reflective of Steve's question.]

No -- this is the first sign of progress I've made in -- she has to be here. She triggered the Kree monolith and it sent her here.

[He needs this. He needs this so much. Please don't crush his dreams, Captain America.]

[ Even over a phone screen, the desperation in Fitz's expression and his voice is enough to make Steve's chest twist in sympathy. He wants so badly to have followed Simmons to wherever she ended up, but that's simply not what happened.

Steve really doesn't want to crush his dreams. Telling someone news that they really don't want to hear, forcing them to face a truth that they're rejecting at every turn, it's a special kind of painful.

But false hope will only makes the wounds sting even more sharply. Steve frowns to himself and forces out a breath. ]

It sent her somewhere. But Wonderland is sort of an in-between place. No one ever comes here on purpose. She was here before, but she isn't now. Not unless she just got here.

[ But if that were the case, she would have replied to Fitz's message. ]

[The image shifts; he sets the phone down beside him. It'll just have to be audio-only for a bit. He refuses to let Captain America see him cry.

His voice is small and miserable when he speaks next.]

So this is a nexus. And it can still find her, if we can determine how it works. We could pull her here, then home?

[ Nothing about coming to Wonderland is easy, but Steve can only hope that Fitz will get the heartbreak out of the way early and stabilize after he's had some more time to process. It doesn't make it any easier right now, though. ]

I... don't know. We haven't even figured out how to get home, and I've never heard of someone purposefully bringing someone else here. [ Fitz has a scientific mind, though, which means he's probably going to jump on the idea of researching it. ]

All you can do is try. [ Fitz may be setting himself up for disappointment, but Steve gets that it might be worse living with the guilt of not making an attempt. ]

Trying is always better than not.

It shouldn't take long. It's just one last thing.

[Everything for the last three months has been "one last thing."]

[ Steve can't argue with that first statement. The second, on the other hand...

Fitz isn't looking at his phone right now, so Steve takes a moment to sigh and rub at his eyes. ]

I'm not so sure about that. Wonderland tends to cut us off at every turn. You'll get an idea of what I mean when you talk to the other scientific types here.

I don't take being cut off as a valid ending, Captain. Particularly not when it comes to a good friend.

I intend to stay with it as long as it takes.

Believe me, I'm not arguing with that. You do whatever it takes -- I just wanted to give you an idea of what you're up against here.

[ Which is the maddening, illogical, nonsensical force that is Wonderland. ]

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[video] post-hiatus tag, totally okay if you drop!

[video] Are you kidding me I love this so hard. Also welcome back!

[video] thank you!!

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