Fitzsimmons

After the Beginning of the End

Author's Note: This oneshot (maybe two shot) will focus on Jemma Simmons instead of Fitz. It isn't certain what she feels about Fitz, besides the fact that she cares for him.

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The ramp of the bus descended slowly, and Jemma Simmons stood alone, with a bruised face and fresh clothes. The other agents watched her, expecting someone else to be with her. They had always been 'Fitzsimmons', after all. Now she felt naked, standing here without her Fitz.

They rapidly fired questions at her, and she only half listened, answering only when necessary until Coulson shooed them off. She wanted to make it back to the lab, the closest place to her home. She wanted to think over what had happened in the cargo room at the bottom of the ocean. She had been putting it off in her decompression unit so she could go back sooner; the machine had been monitoring her heartbeat and perspiration levels, and thinking about Fitz made her anxious. She made it out in a few hours time, trying to think of the calmness she felt when she talked about their energies.

Now the team explored the "Playground" while Jemma flipped the light switch on in the lab. She walked in to the place, expecting relief and comfort. But all she felt was emptiness. There were only memories of familiar laughter. She was missing Fitz, but it felt like she was missing herself.

After lingering a bit longer, trying to conjure up her mind's Fitz by playing with the scraps of wire and metal in his scrap drawer, she shook her head in disgust and walked briskly out the lab door, harshly pounding off the lights.

She accelerated down the hallway where the team's pods lay untouched, just coming to a run when she passed her own room. Only one room down from her own, she swung inside Leo's pod, slamming the door behind her. She left off the lights and stumbled to his bed, feeling the watery droplets run down her cheeks. She threw herself onto his pillow, darkening it with her tears.

She bundled his sheets around her, smelling him in them, and let the feelings pour out of her, both physically and mentally. She whispered under her breath, "Fitz. Please be safe. Be strong. Come back for me, Fitz. Please."

Jemma continued crying, shuddering softly in the piles of his bedding until sleep pulled her under, offering her a way out.

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"Jemma. Jemma, wake up," Skye whispered softly.

"Fitz?" she asked, disoriented.

"Nope," Skye said, her throat tightening. "I'm here to wake you up for the team meeting. Coulson wants to plan the new S.H.I.E.L.D. with us."

"Oh." Simmons replied solemnly when she was fully awakened. She said nothing else, just sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Want me to grab you some clothes?" Skye tried to comfort. Jemma shook her head. Skye nodded slightly, then stood and exited the room, calling behind her to be in Coulson's office by nine.

Jemma dragged herself out of Fitz's bed and to his closet. She grabbed one of his flannel shirts and pulled it over her own white blouse, yawning. She stood and assessed herself in the mirror, putting her hair up carelessly.

"Good morning, Fitz." she spoke quietly. Then she turned and made her way out to Coulson's office.