The title is taken from the song "I'll Cover You" from the musical "Rent."

Fitz is screaming her name. Over and over again.

Jemma's eyes fly open. She looks at Fitz. His eyes are still closed and he's shaking beneath the blankets on their bed. She puts a hand on his shoulder. "Wake up, Fitz! Wake up!"

He opens his eyes, staring at her with a mixture of confusion and relief. "Jemma...is it really you?"

"Yes, Fitz." She moves closer to him. "You must have had a horrible dream."

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"You were screaming."

"I was?" His face reddens. "What...what was I screaming?"

"My name."

"Oh. That makes sense. I'm sorry I woke you up."

"It's okay. You've had to deal with my Maveth nightmares often enough. Do you want to tell me about your dream?"

"It felt so real." His stomach churns as his dream images replay in his mind. "I was reliving the moment I watched Aida electrocute your LMD. Except this time it wasn't an LMD...it was you! Aida murdered you right in front of me and I couldn't..." A tear runs down his cheek. "I couldn't do anything to stop her. I lost you and it was all my fault!"

She kisses his cheeks and forehead while her arms wrap around his neck. "It was just a dream. Aida didn't kill me. Your idea to use the LMD saved my life."

"I may have saved you from Aida...but that doesn't change the fact that I almost killed you in the Framework." He turns away from her, unable to meet her eyes. "I don't know how you can look at me, let alone kiss me."

"I can kiss you because I know you, Fitz. The real you, not the man Aida twisted for her own perverse purposes. I've known you since you were a shy teenager, and I've watched you become a hero who willingly risks his life to protect others. You've always had a good heart. It's one of the reasons I love you." She slips one hand under his t-shirt and rubs the skin over his heart. Her hand moves up and down his chest, leaving behind a trail of warmth.

As Fitz's body begins to respond to her touches, Jemma slips her hand into his boxer shorts.

"Jemma, stop. Please stop!" He pulls away from her as if he'd been burned. "After all the things I've done...I don't deserve you touching me like this. I don't deserve to be happy."

"Do I deserve to be happy, Fitz?" Her eyes fill with tears.

He turns to face her. "Yeah, of course you do."

"But how can I be happy when the man I love keeps torturing himself over events that were out of his control? When he won't let me comfort him? When he doesn't even want me to touch him because he thinks he doesn't deserve a loving girlfriend?"

"I'm so sorry, Jemma. The last thing I want to do is hurt you more than I already have."

"I know. Both of us have a lot of healing to do, and it won't happen overnight, but neither one of us can do it alone. Please, Fitz. We've worked too hard to lose each other now. Let me in."

Fitz looks at her for several moments. He remembers all the sleepless nights he spent in the lab while she was on Maveth, wondering if he would ever see her again. Back then, he would have given anything to be where he is right now: in a bed with Jemma beside him. She was right. They had worked too hard and endured too much to lose each other now.

"Fitz?" He hears the desperation in her voice as her eyes take note of the bulge forming in his boxers. "Will you let me touch you?"

He moves closer to her. When he speaks, his voice is hoarse with arousal. "I love you, Jemma, and I do want you to touch me. And I want to touch you and kiss you and...I want to make love to you."

Smiling through her tears, she takes off her pajamas. She's comforted to see Fitz's expression of awe when she reveals her breasts; some things never change. He undresses himself just as quickly and they press their naked bodies together, clinging to each other as if they'd been reunited after years of separation.

"I missed being this close to you...feeling your skin against mine," he gasps between frenzied kisses.

"Me too," she says. "I missed you so much."

Neither speaks again for a long while. Their mouths are too busy rediscovering each other.

Eventually their bodies unite. Fitz cries out in pleasure because she's so warm and wet and perfect and he's the luckiest guy in the-

His darkest thoughts return with a vengeance. They say that he doesn't deserve this perfect moment because he's a murderer. No, not just a murderer. A monster! He doesn't belong in the bed of a beautiful woman. He doesn't belong in the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D. alongside decent agents who never ordered the death of the Director, who never performed lethal experiments on inhumans. He should be in a jail cell in some remote corner of the globe...or in a grave. That way he'll never hurt anyone ever again.

Jemma feels Fitz's hips faltering and sees the look in his eyes becoming distant. She puts her hands on either side of his face. "Fitz, whatever voices you're hearing in your head right now, don't listen. You're a good person, and you deserve to be happy. Say it: 'I'm a good person and I deserve to be happy.'"

"But-"

"Please don't argue. Say it. Say it because you love me."

"I'm a good person, and I deserve to be happy."

"Thank you." She wraps her legs around his hips, pulling him deeper inside her. "Keep saying it."

He repeats the mantra again and again, letting it override every other thought in his mind. Encouraged by Jemma's enthusiastic moans, he thrusts into her until she shouts his name, signaling her release. His own follows seconds later.

They lie beside each other as they catch their breath. "How do you feel?" Jemma asks tentatively.

He's quiet for a few seconds as he considers his answer. "I feel...grateful. Grateful that I have this amazing woman in my life who never gives up on me." He pulls her into his arms. "Like you said, I'm not going to heal overnight...but for the first time...I think I could actually get through this someday."

"You can and you will." She covers his face with kisses. "And I'll be here to help you every step of the way."

Thanks for reading! Any comments are appreciated.