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In an instant, she feels him.
Not physically, but she definitely knows he's there. He always did have this heavy presence to him. It presses down on her stomach; makes her quiver. Makes her insides burn with recognition. Both intimate and emotional, and she lets out a sigh that's somewhere between shaky and a moan.
It awakens something in him. It definitely changes him. His facial expression changes as he finally slinks out of the shadows.
Grant Ward is staring at her.
"Jemma..."
But Will Daniels speaks to her.
They don't understand this monster yet. They don't know why Grant Ward is alive when Coulson swears he witnessed him dying; that he crushed the man's chest with his own hand.
But Jemma knows. Jemma understands. She knows that she should move away from this thing.
This is what killed Will. Took him from her.
But he speaks like Will, and he has that look in his eyes. That look Will used to give her. Like she was the only thing in the world that mattered.
"I miss you..." she says, desperate, wondering if he can hear her, and she swallows hard, gritting her teeth to keep from crying.
They stand there, in that dimly lit stairwell for what seems like an eternity before he moves closer, taking her into his embrace. "I'm sorry, Jemma."
"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for, you hear me?" she says, embracing him. It feels weird to embrace the hard body that used to belong to Grant. She can tell he's definitely dead: he's cold. He's nothing more than a puppet.
Jemma knows she should probably not be embracing this thing. She should probably be running; very far away, in fact. But for some reason, her heart knows Will's soul is here. And she can't leave him. Not again.
"He loved you very much, didn't he?" Jemma's ear is pressed against the monster's chest, and she hears the question muffled in her ear.
She pulls away, looks up at him. His eyes have changed. Will's are gone.
She thinks now might be a good time to start running.