Ok...Episode 1x06 just broke something in me. I never had the need to write down a story that's in my head as this time. It should be in 2 chapters and will have a sequel/s.

I blame Katy Perry's 'Unconditionally' on this one too. Before episode 6, I had a FitzSimmons fic in mind that took inspiration from the song but afterwards, it became this fiction's soundtrack. Thus the reason of the title.

Hope you guys like it.

P.S: This story has been re-edited. Thanks to StarryDreamer01 who has become my wonderful Beta. :)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Agents of Shield. Neither Katy Perry's song Unconditionally.

Unconditionally

Chapter 1: Jemma Simmons.

-:-

Oh no, did I get too close?

Oh, did I almost see what's really on the inside?

All your insecurities

All the dirty laundry

Never made me blink one time

Unconditional, unconditionally

I will love you unconditionally

There is no fear now

Let go and just be free

I will love you unconditionally

-:-

The wind was howling: it was so strong that it shifted her slightly. The sky was speeding beneath and above her. It was clear and blue, the sort of sky that she loved but now, as she stood at the edge of the cargo ramp, nothing seemed more terrifying.

'Do it,' She convinced herself, fighting the overwhelming fear. 'It's for the best. It's for everyone. It's for-'

"JEMMA!"

She heard him. How, she couldn't understand, but she heard him. And she turned around.

The moment she did, she wished she hadn't.

Fitz was tugging on the lab's doors(Our lab... Was it only yesterday that she said that?) and was screaming. He was screaming her name. His face was contorted in desperation.

She felt tears running down her face.

'Leo...'

He had been her rock during these hours. Never giving up, always standing there outside the lab and talking to her and helping her. Seeing him being so strong allowed her not to give up and be strong herself, despite the fear bubbling inside her.

When Agent Coulson had told the team of her infection, Fitz had looked at her, eyes widening but he didn't say anything. She saw the flash of fear in his eyes. Fear for her.

But the flash was instantaneous and was replaced by his usual calm. He walked to the doors and started to talk about the resolution of their current problem. He smiled at her, a smile of comfort and didn't mention the stakes.

It was odd at first. The glass panel divided them, each on a side. There wasn't any contact: no shoulders brushing, warm breaths on the cheek as they talked or simply breathed close to one another.

She told him that they needed a delivery mechanism and he set to work immediately, asking her to give him his tools. The moment he had them, he turned around and sat down. There on the spot, right outside the door. She watched him for a second before turning and sitting down herself, right behind him, their shoulders touching the same space on the glass panel.

He would show her his progress, knocking on the door and she would smile in encouragement. A Smile that faded quickly as she turned around. She knew that he was putting up a similar façade: they were both trying to keep this as normal as possible but they knew each other too well not to notice how strained the other's attitude was.

"JEMMAA.. PLEASE,DON'T... NOOO..!"

She choked back a sob as she heard him scream these words.

Leo was begging her.

Fitz never pleaded. He could be scared out of his mind but he wouldn't give in to his weaknesses.

He would put up a stubborn, denial face and retort with all he had but never admit his fear.

(I'm not afraid... his voice echoed quietly in her head. How could she lash out and tell him that he was afraid of going into the field? They never voiced out their fears and weaknesses: they just protected each other and helped overcome them. How could she do that to him?)

But today...

She had vented her frustrations on him, hurting him in the process as fear was overwhelming her and Fitz had lashed out on her. And they argued, fighting each other rather than the fear, until Leo voiced it out.

('Cause I'm pretty sure that every minute of every day, you've been stuck in a lab right beside me. At the Academy, at Sci-Ops, this plane. You've been beside me the whole damn time!

And her angered fear disappeared as she looked at his face, replaced by icy dread.)

Their greatest fear: being separated. Being apart.

Emotions surged in her heart. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

'Why now?!' She inwardly screamed as she looked at him. 'Why now and not days ago...? Weeks ago? Months or years ago?'

Why did fate play so cruelly with her, making her realise this now when she was literally a step away from death?

She had been terrified when he entered the lab with the Chitauri helmet. She was determined to throw him out of the lab, literally if it was necessary, but the look on his face, his stance and his words, just threw her off. (I'm doing what we always do. We're going to fix this. Together. She stared at him as he said this, an unknown warmth spreading through her for the first time.). He took charge and she followed, doing what she had to do. They were newly together and flawlessly made the antiserum. She was distracted by her teammates, pacing or anxiously looking at them, outside the lab. He didn't even notice them: he was focused on their work. Her life depended on it and he was giving it all he had.

When he asked to be the one to test the antiserum, she agreed with a weak, half smile: she owed him that much. And when the mouse didn't die, they shared a look. She smiled, gratitude and relief weren't enough to express her feelings. He smiled back, the calm smile that told her that everything was going to be alright.

But then the blue flash occurred...and it was over.

And now she was here. Winds billowing around her. Fitz screaming in front of her.

For a moment, she irrationally hoped that time would just stop.

It would allow her to say goodbye to her parents, apologize for not calling in months. It would allow her to say goodbye to Skye and Agent Ward, May and Agent Coulson.

"JEMMAA..!"

Regret washed over her.

Maybe time might rewind.

It might take her back to their first meeting, to the moments they shared at the Academy, in their labs. She would be happy to be taken back to two days ago when they were teasing Agent Ward, mimicking him with Skye in the lab.

She wanted one moment to hold him without risking to infect him.

One moment to tell him about her newest discovery in the past two hours.

One moment to explain how standing on this ramp had made it all clear.

She loved him. Her best friend and partner.

She loved Leo Fitz.

She looked at him, realising that he would be the last person she would ever see again.

She saw the tears, running down his face and matching her own.

'We are each other's Shield,' she thought and smiled. She wanted him to smile back. She wanted to have that image as her last memory.

"Leo..." She whispered.

And she stepped back.

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