There's still work to do

Daisy did her best to look pointedly at the ice machine. It was still active, though now it just sent an icy layer over a patch of floor that wasn't in use. Eventually, Simmons took the hint, attention diverted from the sheer shock of seeing her colleague nude.

"Oh, this is facsinating!" Simmons said, suddenly crouching. "Clearly meant to affect weather, but on the wrong scale it just causes localized cooling. Similar principles to... Huh, well that should turn it off."

She fiddled with the panel atop it for a second. Taking advantage of her distraction, and the fact that now she was looking away, Daisy hastily crouched, pulled her panties out of the pouch, and had pulled them most of the way up her thighs when the chill from the machine ceased, and Simmons turned back around. Flushing, Daisy tugged her panties up the rest of the way and crossed both of her arms over her chest.

"Oh. There are those," Simmons said uncertainly. "Where did they came from?"

Daisy bit her lip. She squirmed a little, very aware of the difference between a snug pair of grey panties and a full pair of pants.

"Doesn't matter!" Daisy said quickly. "So. The ice. Can you melt it?"

"Can I? I don't have superpowers Daisy, that's your department," Simmons said, clearly thinking she was making a very funny joke. When her chuckles diminished, she continued. "I might be able to put this in reverse, it's a variation on Gill's weather machine, not entirely my area but I've seen Fitz work on things like it often enough. Weather patterns are just heating and cooling when you get down to it."

"So is that a yes or a no?" Daisy said.

"It's a yes," Simmons said. "Probably."

She crouched again, turning back around to fiddle with the machine again. Daisy quickly took the opportunity to fiddle with her panties, unbunching the top to cover every millimeter of skin she could. She'd crossed her arms again, a hand over each breast, by the time Simmons turned around.

When Simmons turned, she angled the machine back as well. Daisy flinched, but Simmons didn't seemed concerned, tapping it once and smiling.

"There," she said.

Daisy looked at it. The icy block around the table was very much still there.

"Er, Jemma," Daisy said.

"Well it's not going to be instantaneous," Simmons said. "Heat's harder to work with than cold. If you cool a machine, it runs faster - if you get it too warm, it explodes. It'll take longer, but this should make it melt faster. And it can probably dry your clothes too, have them be all toasty when you put them back on. Isn't that nice?"

"I'll settle for faster," Daisy said.

"Well, it's doing its job," Simmons said. "Meanwhile, I guess we should get to work, don't you?"

Daisy faltered.

"Well we can't just around here doing nothing, even if you are..." Simmons gestured vaguely. "Clothing impaired?"

"Simmons, I'm naked, not the Candyman."

"Yes, well, being... nude doesn't mean we can just waste an hour when there's things to catalogue," she said.

"An hour?!" Daisy said.

"More or less," Simmons said. "So, I was told something about terrigen particles in the air?"

Daisy hesitated. Simmons' awkwardness wasn't helping her embarrassment all that much. Admittedly she wasn't sure how she'd have fared if Simmons had come down and started acting casual, but the scientist's stammering and babbling was a constant reminder of just how awkward this whole situation was.

And, as much as Daisy hated to admit it, she was right - if they waited around for her clothes to be thawed out, even dried, that was a lot of time not spent doing the job they were sent here for.

Step one, finding out which areas it was safe for Simmons to actually go. Carefully, Daisy crouched, moving in the least efficient way possible so that she didn't need to move her arms. Barely keeping her balance, she kept one arm over her chest as she fumbled around for the scanner. Standing was just as inconvenient.

Simmons awkwardly stood around, staring at the ceiling, gaze only occasionally flickering down to make sure Daisy was okay. Daisy swallowed.

"Okay, er, stay here," Daisy said. "I'll find the aisle with the strongest signal, then try to find whatever's causing it."

"Right. Um, boob luck. Good luck! I said good luck!" Simmons stammered.

Face hot, Daisy turned away. Technically she was decent from the back, she supposed, though she could feel how much her panties hugged her skin, and it was still much less than she wanted to be seen in.

The far side of the facility was the only place the terrigen contamination reached a level where it could be detected. It was theoretically safe even for a human like Jemma, but it was always better to not take a risk - Daisy walked down it, finding a point where the amount increased, then decreased, and looked at the aisle immediately next to her. Then it was just a matter of heading down it and doing the same.

"Found something," Daisy called.

Focus on the job. Carefully, she put her scanner down on a free spot on the shelf, then carefully turned a plastic box - five sides were opaque plastic, while the sixth was clear.

It was the source of the readings - and inside, was what looked like a chain composed of small diviners, containers SHIELD had come across before that housed the Terrigen crystals that gave Inhumans their powers, and proved dangerous to anyone else.

It looked old. Maybe, once, the ritual had involved this almost-necklace than any diviner, and this was just a relic - that would explain why a couple of the capsules looked damage. Particles of crystal were loose, and a crack in the container meant small amounts got out into the air.

"Ooh, excellent work!" Simmons called.

Daisy turned to see her at the far side of the aisle, and squeaked, re-crossing her arms.

"Simmons!" Daisy yelped. She swallowed. "Um, can you throw sealant or something down? Inhuman artifact's leaking."

"Right away!" Simmons said.

She reached into the bag she was carrying and pulled out a tube, which she gave a rather pathetic throw. It clattered to the floor less than a third of the way to Daisy.

"Oh. Sorry," Simmons said. "I don't know if it's safe for me to go in there."

Probably not worth the risk. Daisy grimaced.

"Never mind," she said. "I'll get it."

"Thanks!" Simmons said.

Well you were so interested in doing SHIELD work basically naked, part of Daisy's mind crowed. Grimacing, walking a little unsteadily, she walked back towards Simmons until she reached the offered tube. She hesitated, trying to work out how best to pick it up.

She settled for very awkwardly squatting again, bending her knees and keeping one arm firmly crossed over her chest, the other flailing vaguely outwards for balance. First she steadied herself on a shelf, then ehr felt her butt touch the back of her heels, flushed, and ducked her hand down to grab the tube of sealant. Then, carefully, she pulled herself back up to her feet.

And saw Simmons watching.

"That seems very inefficient," Simmons said.

Well she wasn't just going to flash her friend. Again. Daisy swallowed.

"Yeah, got that," Daisy said.

"Wait!" Simmons said, as Daisy began to move back. "Could you bring this with... er, one second."

Simmons rummaged in her back again. Unsure, Daisy waited where she was, stood in nothing but her panties, with one arm over her breasts and the other vaguely holding a tube. She raised her eyebrows, unable to quite hold back her impatience.

"Simmons!"

"Found it!" Jemma said.

She pulled out a small, squat cylinder, a raised dome on one side with a slit surrounding it, roughly the size of half a football. She held it in two hands, offering it to Daisy. Daisy looked disbelievingly at her.

"It takes in harmful contaminants in the air," Simmons said. "Just leave it there, and this whole place will be safe to work in soon, hopefully. Activate it by pressing the top."

She sounded so earnest. Apparently she hadn't thought about how Daisy was meant to take it back with her. After a moment, Daisy settled on shoving the tube of sealant under her arm, and reaching out with the same hand.

"Careful," Simmons said. "It's heavy."

Daisy placed her hand under it, and her arm almost gave way as Simmons began to release it. Okay, heavy was right, it might as well have been a solid block of metal; Simmons hastily tightened her grip before they could drop it.

Face warming, Daisy didn't see any option beyond reaching out with her other hand, baring her breasts to her friend to grab the purifier, and wait a blush-worthy few seconds for Simmons to feel safe that Daisy was carrying it and let go. Then Daisy snatched it back closer, hugged the cold metal to her chest, and quickly stumble her way back down the aisle.

The actual work was easy. Squeeze the tube over the crack in the container, smear it out to seal the loose terrigen crystals in - the particles should not have been small enough to be free in the air, but this was an old design - and then place Simmons' purifier on the shelf next to it. She pressed it once and it beeped and whirred as it began to do its job.

Then she picked up her scanner again, and the tube of sealant, and wondered what she was meant to do in the absence of pockets. She probably should have brought the pouch, it just felt... uncomfortable to have that jostling so much against her.

Hands full and arms crossed, Daisy slowly walked back to Simmons. Out of the aisle, she looked back down to the entrance; the ice block had at least diminished, though it wasn't clear yet. Her face warmed.

"Well that's good going," Simmons said, clearly trying to be cheerful and encouraging.

It wasn't working. Daisy let Simmons take the sealant back (her hand hovered a few inches away from Daisy, apparently as hesitant to close the distance as Daisy was to bare herself), and fidgeted on the spot.

"I guess we should get back to cataloguing," Simmons said.

"Do I need to be with you for that?" Daisy said, tentatively.

"I could do with a second pair of ha- ah," Simmons said. She blushed. "I see the problem. Ah."

Simmons lifted up her own bag, holding it over Daisy's body and eyeing it to see if it looked like it would be particularly useful. As much as she seemed to carry within it, it also seemed to be packed efficiently.

"I work better with someone to talk to," Simmons said. "You stand behind me, and I won't see, um, you know."

She waved vaguely. Reluctantly, Daisy nodded.

"On one condition," Daisy said. She bit her lip nervously. "Leave this little detail out of the debriefing? Please?"

Simmons mimed zipping her lips. Then frowned.

"Wait, is that insensitive?" Simmons said. "I guess you would want something to zip up now. Feels like I'm rubbing it in."

Daisy rolled her eyes, resigning herself to her friend making this far too awkward.