Hey guys, I'm back! For those of you who also follow my other fic, Side Effects, I apologize for the long, long, long, hiatus, but I really didn't expect the season to end as it did, so I'm at a standstill, plotwise. I can say, however, that it is coming along, although slowly.

This fic has spoilers for 2x01, "Shadows" (Which was an amazing episode amiright). I hope you enjoy it!

R&R is really appreciated!

"How are you doing today, Fitz?"

Fitz cupped his hand to the back of his neck. He heard her voice; it would just take a few moments for him to—

"Fitz?"

"I'm doing fine, Jemma. I just need a little bit of time to… to uh…" The pause was long and poignant, and Jemma stayed silent until she couldn't bear it any longer. "Recuperate."

"Recuperate, that's it. I almost had it, I almost..." Fitz stamped his foot and puffed air from between his lips angrily.

"Be patient, Fitz, it'll all come back, just give it—"

"Time, Jemma, I know! But how much time will it take before I can be normal again?" Fitz's voice rose, and Simmons flinched. Fitz pressed on, his voice growing with the anger he had been trying so hard to suppress. "You don't understand how hard it is to walk around when everyone looks at you like you're an injured… an injured… an injured…" Fitz sighed, his shoulders dropping dejectedly. He looked at Simmons, waiting for her to finish his sentence for him. When she didn't, he approached her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I just want to be normal again, Jem."

Skye chewed her thumbnail, stealing a glance in Coulson's direction. He was watching the screen with an expression that was unreadable. "Coulson," Skye said, her hand dropping to her side as she turned her body to face him. When he didn't reply, she repeated his name, this time with more intensity. "Coulson."

When he turned to Skye, his expression had changed to thoughtfulness. "What?"

Skye rapped her nails on the metal counter, pondering exactly what she would say so she absolutely wouldn't regret the words that leave her mouth. She took a breath. "What if, say, we bring Simmons back for—"

"No." Coulson replied. Coincidentally, this was the exact answer Skye was expecting, so she had a comeback already in mind. "Just hear me out, okay? Simmons left before she even had a chance to see how Fitz'd react to her being gone. Now that he's had a couple months to readapt, the only person Fitz wants is Simmons." She looked back at the screen to see Fitz having yet another one-sided conversation with thin air. "He's getting worse, Coulson, and I'm afraid if we don't bring her back, Fitz is going to isolate himself more and more, digging himself so far into a ditch that we can't pull him out."

Coulson's hand had moved to his chin, and he was clearly thinking of pros and cons to bringing his biochem back. He still said nothing, so Skye spoke up again. "If everything about bringing Simmons back is negative, at least think for Fitz. Simmons coming back will bring him out of the lab and out of his isolation."

Coulson looked Skye in the eyes now, and finally spoke up. "I can't promise anything, I can't even say if Simmons'll even want to come back." Coulson paused, pursing his lips. "What I can promise, however, is that I will try to bring her back."

"Thanks." Skye said with a smile as she proceeded out the door, trying to ignore the conversation Fitz was having with nobody.

"Jemma! You made me lose concentration!" Fitz stammered, as medical instruments clattered to the bench, the leaf he had been given to identify floating to the ground, landing soundlessly. Simmons' posture shrunk again, her eyebrows knitted together at the scolding tone in Fitz's voice.

"I'm sorry, Fitz!" she replied with a distraught tone, lunging forward to help Fitz pick up the fallen instruments, but he shooed her away, muttering unhappily under his breath. Her voice grew softer. "I just wanted to help."

Fitz gave her a side-glance. "I know, I just…" he placed the utensils back on the table and pursed his lips together. "I just wanted to be capable."

Simmons gave him a halfhearted smile, before sorting through tools on the next table over, not saying a word.

Hardly hours after their meeting, Skye was called to Coulson's office. Her stomach clenched together, the anxiety of what Coulson would say to her eating her alive. When she got to the open door of his office, she saw that he was standing at the window, looking out into the smoggy city. She knocked a few times, breaking him out of his reverie. He turned to her, and smiled, although it looked forced.

"Just tell me." Skye finally stammered out, her heart beating in anticipation.

"I got in contact with Simmons."

Skye let out a small noise, a mixture of a laugh and a sigh of relief. "Awesome. What did she say?"

"She said that she'd think about it. I explained how he's recovering quickly but feeling lost without her."

"So we don't have a definite answer yet?" Skye asked, her voice dropping again.

"Not yet, but she said she'd call back within the day, so we should get a call soon." Coulson explained. Suddenly, the phone rang, as if for comic relief. Coulson hesitated to pick up the receiver, and when he did he motioned for Skye to listen in on the other line.

Skye hastily picked up the other phone, hearing Simmons' voice through the receiver. "Director Coulson?" her voice sounded tired and utterly defeated.

"Doctor Simmons." Skye had never heard Coulson sound so formal, nor had she ever heard anyone call Simmons Doctor Simmons before. She continued to listen. "Have you made a decision?"

"Yes, sir. I'd like to return." There was just a touch of hesitation in her voice, but Skye was ecstatic. She bit her tongue to keep from celebrating. "On one condition: I don't have to see Fitz, if I don't want to."

"That's a fair trade, doctor. Everyone would love to have you back."

"Thank you, director." In addition to being tired, Simmons' voice was curt. "I'd love to be back, it's been far too long."

Coulson cleared his throat, making eye contact with Skye. "I'll send a private jet out to your location immediately."

"Thank you, director. I'm looking forward to it."

"I'll talk with you later. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Coulson placed the phone back in the cradle. Skye mirrored that action. Their eyes were the only communication they needed to mutually agree that the Simmons that they were going to meet in only a few hours would scarcely be the Simmons they had once known. Without a word, she left the room, leaving the heavy feeling of the room behind her. Skye was determined to have an improved mood by the time Simmons returned, and all she could do was hope that Coulson would have one as well.

Hardly three hours had passed before Simmons' plane had landed at the Playground. Despite her tired and distracted tone over the phone, Simmons looked very well. A huge smile graced her features and it reached deep into her eyes as she approached the clump of people waiting to greet her. Before she could get to anyone first, Skye had already launched herself at her friend, folding her in an almost desperate embrace. Simmons disregarded her bags and wrapped her hands around Skye as the bags dropped to the floor. Skye had not realized how much she had missed Simmons. She pulled away, and smiled. "You don't know how good it is to have you back."

"You don't know how good it is to be back!" Simmons replied with enthusiasm. Skye wasn't sure what had come over Simmons between their last phone call and now, but she was glad her mood had changed. Skye picked up her bags as Simmons came face to face with people she had not seen in months. After saying hello to everyone, Simmons said, still with an enthusiastic smile, "So where's Fitz?"

Agent May and Trip exchanged a glance, turning on their heels and leaving. They both knew this was not a conversation in which they were welcome. When the two were out of the flight deck, Coulson placed a gentle hand on Simmons' back to lead her into the lab where Fitz was experimenting, explaining the situation to her in more detail. Skye would launch herself into the conversation with details, but for the most part she let Coulson do the talking. "Agent Fitz appears to be seeing you in his mind, but he's unable to distinguish the image and the real thing. He really does think you're still in the lab with him." Coulson explained gently.

Simmons nodded, understanding. "It's a very delicate situation, then." She said, her voice slightly taut.

"Yeah." Coulson said. "And if you don't feel comfortable with it—"

"No." She cleared her throat, "No, I think I can do it." Skye suddenly held so much more admiration for the biochemist, for she had never heard her voice so strung with determination.

Coulson stole a glance at Skye. "We'll leave you to it."

Simmons stared at the door. If she took only a few steps, the automatic doors would open and she would be faced with whatever was left of Fitz. And that terrified her.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward. The doors opened. There was Fitz.

Fitz heard the doors open, and he turned toward the sound. He expected May or Skye coming down to do their routine checks, but he saw Simmons. But no, that didn't make sense, because Simmons was right—

"Hello, Fitz." Simmons said, her voice soft.

"Simmons! Weren't you just—" Fitz cut himself off and looked to his left, where Simmons had just been standing.

Simmons shook her head, pursing her lips. "No… I wasn't."

"Oh." Fitz said. Simmons smiled halfheartedly, as she approached his station. "Whatcha working on?"

"I'm analyzing this leaf." He said, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. She nodded, but said nothing. "I thought you knew."

"No…" Simmons said for the second time in their short encounter. She took his hands in both of hers, leading them over to a set of tables and chairs. "Fitz, what do you remember about… you know."

"The box? Well uh…" Fitz fidgeted in his seat, becoming antsy. "I remember Ward… And I remember letting the airlock go… Then nothing." His expression showed that he hated remembering all these things. He continued. "But then when I woke up you were at my bedside, I knew everything would be okay."

Simmons winced. "I…" how on earth would she tell him? I left before you woke up and now you're hallucinating and it's my entire fault. "Everything turned out okay, didn't it?"

Fitz smiled and nodded, and was about to get up when Simmons grabbed his hand again, forcing him to sit down. "I have something to tell you." Fitz said nothing, but the gaze he held with her was one that told her she should continue. "After you let out the airlock, and I brought you to the surface, you wouldn't wake up. Fury picked us up, and I didn't know if you were going to make it or not, and I didn't want to see you die, so I left."

Fitz's face immediately fell. "But Jemma… You were… When I was… And here?"

"It was all your imagination, Fitz." Simmons said as gently as possible. "I'm sorry."

Fitz's expression became upset. "You mean to tell me I was… Was… Was hallucinating you for three bloody months!?"

Skye became anxious as Fitz's voice raised. "We have to get her out of there. I've never seen Fitz so mad." She said.

"No. Simmons can handle it." Coulson said.

"But—" Skye interjected severely.

"No buts. Simmons can handle it," Coulson repeated, "Just watch."

Fitz scrambled into a standing position, and Simmons mirrored the movement. "You mean to tell me that you left me? Why the… Why the hell would you do that?"

"I didn't want to hurt your recovery!" Simmons cried. "I didn't even know if you would recover!" she retaliated.

"So you just decide to… to… to leave me? Jemma, that's the worst thing you could have done!" He said, and the look on his face broke Simmons' heart.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Fitz." That was the only thing she could say.

"Well, Jemma, that doesn't cut it this time." He said, rubbing the back of his neck, his head bowed. When he looked back up, his eyes were rimmed in red. Tears sprung into Simmons' eyes at the sight of Fitz, at how small he looked. "You mean more to me than anything in the world, how could you… how could you just leave me? Do I really mean that little to you?"

Simmons' throat constricted and she found herself unable to respond. The only thing she could do was launch herself at Fitz in a desperate embrace, hoping he would return it. "No, Fitz, no, never…" she managed.

Fitz returned the hug; enveloping Simmons in the scent she hadn't realized she had missed so much. "You're my best friend in the world, and I love you. We'll get through this together. I promise."

Fitz sniffed, burying his face into Simmons' hair. "Yeah. Yeah we will."

I hope you enjoyed! Again, R&R is appreciated. Also, I'll try and get another chapter of Side Effects soon!
Thanks for reading!

-KHC