Fitzsimmons

Dreams

Quick Note: Part Two of Stars! I've had this written for awhile, so I'm using free wifi at this dorm to upload it. I have a dinner date part coming up for the people who requested it. Hopefully it'll be up on Monday. Happy Summer!

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"Fitz, I have, um, a science experiment of sorts," Jemma started cautiously, breaking the tense silence. An overly competitive senior had just explicitly described what she thought their relationship was, in the hopes of creating enough discomfort to distract from studying. It had worked, and now Fitz was in her dorm, staring at the wall and fidgeting with his hands. Jemma was tired of this being a problem. She was tired of having to act offended by her classmates' assumption of their dating. So, rationally, she decided this was the night she would do something about it.

"Experiment?" Fitz repeated half-consciously, still twisting his fingers together methodically and not sipping at the tea she had so kindly made for him.

"More like a game, really," Jemma replied, and Fitz managed to draw his attention away from a supposedly interesting spot on the wall. She took this as her cue to explain further, taking a few steps towards him as she did. "Something to test the waters for this idea I had. Would you be interested in helping me?"

"What idea?"

"Would you just... trust me, Leo?" Her voice had taken a suddenly more vulnerable tone, and she took a deep breath to steady herself. Fitz of course sensed her insecurity, and nodded, eyes wide.

"Okay," Jemma said calmly, then released her hair from the tight ponytail restraining it. Fitz stayed seated, every part of him tense, as she waved her hair out across her shoulders. Now he started to breath deeply.

"This requires your complete honesty," Jemma began slightly more confidently, stepping forward again. Now their kneecaps were touching. "Do you understand?" Fitz couldn't do much more than nod.

She picked up his hand lightly, slipping her fingers against his before interlocking them. "Do you... feel anything?" Fitz cleared his throat quickly, making the situation much more awkward than it needed to be. "And Leo, relax."

He exhaled slowly, focusing on the feel of her smaller, smoother palms against his own calloused ones. He could swear the energy there was electric.

"No," Fitz lied, almost making it sound unattached. He was feeling something; he was feeling everything. But what if she wasn't? He didn't want to complicate things for their studies of jobs. Or their still-existing friendship.

Jemma remained expressionless, too focused on the next step. She detached her hand from his. Then she ran both hands in the opposite way, pressing into his open palm and then up to his forearm, tracing her pinky finger over the vein there. The muscles here were more developed than anywhere else, and she could feel them contracted nervously underneath his think skin. "Relax," she breathed out with a small careless laugh, and Fitz found himself smiling at her carefully studious face.

"Anything?" Jemma asked him, catching his gaze for the first time since the beginning of the experiment. The extended eye contact sent a rush of new endorphins to her brain, and, though this was not the scientific term, butterflies flooded her stomach.

"Nothing." But Jemma knew already, from the way his pupils had dilated and his speeding pulse sounded against her hand.

She smirked at him a bit before leaning in closer. The angle of her back, combined with her weakened knees, would soon end with her collapsing against him in a completely unflattering way. Instead, she swung her knees over his and lowered herself to sit across his lap, blushing profusely and laughing at the awkwardness of it all.

"Now I'm feeling something," Fitz blurted softly, to which Jemma giggled quite a bit. She moved her hands to his shoulders, staring into his excited blue eyes and smiling. Closing the short space between their heads, she leaned her forehead against his.

This was the closest they'd ever been, physically. His hands still lay by his sides, and Jemma's cupped around his shoulders uncomfortably, so she removed them and tugged his hands to her waist. He closed his eyes, still grinning as she settled his hands there. Jemma closed the distance between them completely, pressing her chest against his and feeling the subsequent sigh escape Fitz's lips. His breathing brushed against her lips warmly, and she wound her arms under his and up to his head. Her fingers locked in his hair, and he could feel his heartbeat against her own. He opened his eyes suddenly.

"Are you feeling anything, Jemma?" he breathed out, not quite able to take the nervous twinge out of his voice. Jemma closed her eyes and tilted her head up the remaining distance, touching her lips to his sweetly and gently.

Jemma pulled away after a few seconds, then leaned her cheek against his so he could hear her answer. "Everything, Leo. I'm feeling everything."

(stop here if you want it to be happy)

Fitz woke up lazily from his fantastic dream. The medicine often came up with things Fitz could never imagine on his own, but he always dreamed about Jemma somehow. She was starting to become a fantasy, a vision, to him. He swallowed hard, then jolted upright, shrugged on a cardigan, and ran to the room.

The room she had disappeared in.

And it was all Fitz's fault.

And he had to fix it. Because maybe there was something to discuss between them, and they hadn't had the chance to do it before...

Fitz forced that thought away, knowing it would only bring sore throats and blurry eyes. He turned to his monitors and re-watched the video evidence once or twice as his punishment, keeping his mind sharp. Then he stared at the rock, like he did every day. He had performed every scan available, and still he had no idea what it was. If he went a half-hour without any ideas, he played the video again, then forced himself to watch and listen and be in pain. He had begun brainwashing himself, little by little, but he didn't realize it was brainwashing.

Around midnight, Mack would come with the sedatives, wrestle Fitz for awhile, then stuck a needle of icer solution in his neck. His mind kept working, kept hurting, even after his body had stopped. When he was sleeping they often had to force feed him, because he turned down each meal offered during the day. Everything about HQ reminded Fitz of Jemma, and sometimes he wished he could go back into his coma. Rest, forget about things. Be peaceful.

But by the time morning rolled around, Fitz was working before the rest of the team, replaying the videos, running scans over and over, sometimes stepping inside of the container, hoping the rock would bring him to where Jemma was, but it never bloody moved for him.

Fitz didn't give up. He physically couldn't give up. His sweet dreams of her kept him going.