Chapter Text
Jemma was furious beyond belief. The nerve that Scottish prat had. What the hell was his problem? For weeks he had been avoiding her at all cost. Which would have been OK really (although it wasn’t) because they hadn’t been working together. But now? After being paired together in Chem Lab for a VERY important assignment, he still had the nerve to treat her like air. And she couldn’t understand why. He was by far the most interesting person here, more than once she had tried approaching him but he had always flinched away like she carried the plague. What was it about her that made him hate her?
…
Fitz’s still couldn’t believe his luck. It had taken him MONTHS to finally think of something clever enough to get her attention. At first he had cringed at his awkward delivery even starting to panic that after all this time he had come up with something completely rubbish. But instead she smiled and blushed and they had quickly delved into a deep conversation which had ended with her spontaneously asking him out to dinner. After a stunned moment of silence, he had said yes.
…
Heart racing and endorphins coursing through her body leaving her in an equally numb and ecstatic state Jemma turned her head towards Fitz who was still trying to catch his breath.
She had to admit, she hadn’t expected her first time to be like this. It started just as awkward as one would expect. Lots of fumbling and insecurity of what to do and even a false start. Fitz had been mortified by that but Jemma made it clear that it didn’t matter and there were lots of other things they could still try out. Which led to Fitz finding out that Jemma was incredibly ticklish and them discovering that laughter in bed could really ease the tension and make the whole experience more enjoyable.
It turned out that Fitz was a very good listener. Fitz constantly insisted that Jemma was the best listener he ever encountered but after tonight Jemma was inclined to disagree with that.
They were both right. Neither of them had ever met anybody before that they could take to about everything and who they could listen to for hours.
…
Their bliss wouldn’t last for long. Being the brightest minds the SHIELD Academy had ever seen; they were able to graduate within a year. But this meant entering the actual SHIELD agency and all the rules and regulations it had. Including Section 17. Agent Weaver gave them two options: Stay together but work in different departments within SHIELD or break up any romantic and sexual entanglements they had and be able to work together as a team.
Even though it broke both their hearts there really wasn’t a decision to make. Their partnership and their joined work came before everything else. So they decided that their relationship from now on would be platonic.
For a long time, this worked out. They transferred to Sci-Ops, SHIELD’s most sophisticated research department, many of the most advanced scientific discoveries being made here on a regular basis. They threw themselves 100% into their work, being much to fascinated with the science to ponder to long on the thought, if they were missing something.
Until the-believed-to-be-dead Agent Coulson requested them for his field team. It didn’t take long for suppressed feelings to resurface.
…
FZZT
“It wasn’t Ward by my side in that lab searching for a cure. It wasn’t Ward giving me hope when I had none. It was you. You’re the hero.”
Fitz couldn’t sleep. Jemma’s word from earlier in the evening still echoed in his head. The kiss she gave him still felt hot on his cheek. But most importantly, when he closed his eyes he saw her whipped away by the wind, falling to her certain death.
The events of the day had brought feelings to the surface he had successfully suppressed for years. Ever since SHIELD had enforced Section 17 on them and they had agreed that them staying together as lab partners and friends was far more important he had thought that he could life happily to the end of his days as her friend. But today had been the worst day of his life and it made it that much clearer that his happiest days happened back at the Academy, when he and Jemma weren’t just friends but more than that. How was he going to handle this? He hoped that within the next few days he would be able to put his feelings into the same box he had had them in for the last few years so that he could return to business as usual. He had done this before; he would be able to do this again. Right?
….
The Well
Jemma had to admit, as much as she liked the bus, it was nice to be able to relax and celebrate a successful mission in an actual bar. A bar in Dublin no less. After the day and the talk with her parents she just had, nothing could ease her mind more than a pint of Guinness and maybe some good Irish Whiskey later on.
She almost ran into Ward when she entered the hotel bar.
“Oh you’re already leaving?”, she asked.
Ward just nodded, muttered a quick, “Yeah I’m beat.”, and left.
She saw Skye sitting at the bar, looking worried and helpless.
She slipped onto the stool next to her.
“Ward seems to take this pretty tough.”, Jemma said, jerking Skye out of her thoughts.
“Yeah,”, Skye replied, “But as always, he’s building up a wall. Doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“I know the feeling. Fitz can be like that too. Sometimes he went for days with barely talking and being gloomy, pondering over things that bothered him. It made me feel helpless, because I wanted to help him but I learned that he needed that time to process. In the end he always talked to me.” Jemma hoped that this would ease Skye’s worry.
“Not so sure if that will be the case with Ward.”, Skye said ruefully.
Jemma sighed. “I meant to say, just give him time. He’ll figure it out. And if he doesn’t we’ll be there to help him.”
There was a long moment of silence between them. Jemma waved over the bartender and ordered two Guinness.
After taking her first sip, Skye finally broke the silence: “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”, Jemma replied.
“What’s the deal with you and Fitz? For weeks we’ve been living together and I still can’t quite figure out if you’re a couple or just friends. Even after the events at the Hub last week, I’m still not sure.”
Jemma chuckled and replied: “Oh we’re just friends.”
“Really?”, Skye said incredulously, “Nothing ever happened?”
“I didn’t say that!”, Jemma answered hastily, “We’ve been together at SHIELD Academy but after we graduated SHIELD enforced Section 17 on us.”
“Ouch!”, Skye winced, having read that particular part of the SHIELD rule-book just a few weeks back. And finding it quite ridiculous.
“Yeah.”, Jemma said ruefully, “We were heartbroken but decided that our partnership and joined work was much more important.”
“And you’ve never thought of giving it another go? You know, having a secret affair or something.”, Skye asked cheekily.
Jemma laughed at that. “No, nothing ever happened again. And it’s OK, we’re happy just being friends.”
“Riiiiiight.”, Skye replied.
Jemma raised a challenging eyebrow at Skye’s sarcasm but it was hard to keep eye-contact with Skye’s scrutinizing, disbelieving gaze. Because Jemma wasn’t so sure if she believed it herself anymore. Especially after Fitz’s and Ward’s mission in Ossetia. She had pondered about what she would do, if Fitz made it back alive. And she had constantly thought about their time as a couple at the Academy and how nice it was how they had often treated themselves to a nice dinner and then cuddling up afterwards, sometimes enjoying a Doctor Who marathon, sometimes the cuddling leading to more.
Jemma shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. She couldn’t think like this! SHIELD wouldn’t let them. And she wasn’t even sure if Fitz would want to be with her again after all this time. He seemed very content with them being just friends.
“No really Skye, nothing has ever happened again.” Maybe if she said it often enough, she would believe it.