Begin Again

Day twenty

To her surprise, it was Coulson who joined her that morning.

"Sir, how nice to see you!" She said, getting out of her seat and shaking his hand.

Coulson awkwardly pulled her into a hug and she returned it gratefully. "You're doing okay."

"I'm much better. He's... well, even if he doesn't remember me, he's still the same old Fitz." She gestured to the sleeping man on the bed behind her.

"Glad to hear. Now, I have something to tell you."

She had seen it coming. It was bound to happen eventually.

"It's time to start really making some progress in rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D. I've got teams out there recruiting members, and lots doing ground work. May and Skye are in charge of rebuilding Operations, and they're out there now."

Simmons nodded, feeling extremely out of the loop.

"Hydra hasn't been completely eradicated, far from it, so that's why we're tackling Operations first. And when the time comes, we're going to need Sci-Tech as well."

She nodded again.

"I'm giving you a chance to rebuild yourselves, then you and Fitz are going to run Sci-Tech for me."

"Oh my goodness. Thank you sir, it would be an honor." She was overwhelmed.

"You can't stay here forever. When Fitz is up and about again, take him to this safe house. All the details are in here." He handed her a sealed envelope. "Prepare yourselves. Support him, make sure he is capable of this. It's a big job."

"Yes sir."

"And when the time comes, you'll be working again. And Simmons,"

"Yes?"

"Tell him how you feel. Tell him what he said down there, even if you can't tell anyone else. You'll be amazing, I know it."

Simmons wiped a tear from her eye. "Thank you, sir. It's been a pleasure working with you."

"You can call me Phil."

And he turned around and left her standing there with an envelope in her hands and the weight of the world on her shoulders, but it really did make her happy.

~*~

"Your vitals are great. It's only a matter of time until we can have you up and running again." Simmons said, sitting back down again.

"I can' wait." Fitz mumbled.

"It must be so awful for you." She said, noticing how sad he looked. "You've never liked sitting still. Back at the Academy you used to run around the lab sometimes, especially if you had had too much sugar that day."

Fitz mumbled incoherently.

"Time to sleep, don't you think?" She moved the pillows so his head was resting comfortably. "Get some rest. You still have a long way to go until you're fully healed." Simmons tapped the cast on his arm and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Sweet dreams." She made to leave the room, but not before saying

"I love you."

And she heard one last mumble

"I love you too."

The world stood still.

"Fitz? Do you... remember anything?" She asked cautiously.

He smiled. "I don't remember you, I remember how I used to feel when you smiled."

Odd, but she'd take that.

~*~

She opened the envelope.

A set of coordinates, a key, and a list of instructions.

Number one on the list was: Tell Fitz how much you love him.

She couldn't. She loved him too much for words.