A/N: Okay, I know that a lot of people don't like Will already just because he's breaking up the FitzSimmons duo, but I think that Will and Jemma have way more chemistry than she and Fitz ever had, and I fell in love with them nearly the second I saw them together… Anyway, this is going to be a drabble series set during "4,722 Hours"starting after their first - please give me requests for future chapters!

Jemma slumped back against the rock and gulped in a breath, feeling her heartbeat start to slow and she rested from her dash across the barren, dimly-lit landscape.

What had just happened?

All chance of going home was forever lost - there was no way to track the portal, no way to send a message to Fitz, no way to return home to her best friend...but Fitz was more than that. Or he had been.

A tear trickled down her cheek, its warmth against her face a reminder of what it felt like to be human again, to be able to cry and to accept her weaknesses. However, here, weaknesses led to death. Brushing the moisture away with the back of her hand, Jemma's thoughts wandered back to just a couple minutes ago, to the feel of Will's hand on her cheek, to the feel of his lips, soft and insistent, against her.

And then she had ran. Bolted. Escaped.

And why? Because he had made her feel, had resurrected emotions she so recently buried as their message had shattered on the rock where the portal had been leading to Fitz. Because he created a passion in her that Fitz never had and never could...and that scared her. With Fitz, she was safe, comfortable. He was her intellectual equal, her best friend, her other half. Falling in love with him had seemed natural, unavoidable even. The only thing missing was the spark… Again, her thoughts returned to the heat tingling through her body in reaction to Will's touch, at the tenderness of his caress.

A tiny, rebellious part of Jemma's heart still felt warm, even though she had pulled herself out of his embrace and run into the shadowed hills, needing time to adjust to this new, entirely unexpected, development in their relationship. Despite her disappointment in what had happened with the portal, despite her despair in the realization that she was stuck on this planet forever, somehow Will had managed to instill the tiniest little ember of hope deep inside her as he told her that her arrival had brought him out of his hopelessness. And that thought couldn't help but make her smile, even in the midst of her confusion and sadness.

"Didn't know if I should follow you or not," a voice broke into her thoughts, and she looked up to see Will's tall figure towering over her. At first, she had found his face impassive and impossible to read, but she had learned how to recognize the tiny flickers of emotions in his eyes that always gave him away. Right now, he was looking at her with concern and apprehension that he would never admit to and she would never point out.

"Want to sit?" she asked weakly, gesturing to the barren rock beside her as an invitation for him to stay. A part of her knew that he wanted an explanation for why she had run immediately after their kiss, but she wasn't ready to give that yet. The emotions were too fresh, too confused, for her to deal with, and right now she just didn't want to handle them and she certainly didn't want to be alone.

"I'm sorry," Will spoke again. He was staring straight ahead, and as she looked over at him as saw him swallow heavily. "It's my fault we missed the portal."

"It's not your fault," she dismissed his apology immediately. "Don't be an idiot."

A corner of his lips turned up slightly, but he still refused to look at her. "You may never see Fitz again."

Deep inside, Jemma felt this awful tearing feeling in her heart at his words, like her heart was literally breaking in two as the realization that she had lost Fitz forever set in again. Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes and she blinked them away before she started crying in front of Will. Taking a deep breath, she replied, "I know." The horrible feeling inside worsened as she spoke her worst nightmare out loud, like it was a confirmation that all hope was truly gone and that there was no way to ever return to her old life and a sense of normalcy there. "But, there's no point dwelling on that," she continued briskly, despite the despair threatening to overwhelm her. "After all, you've been here for 14 years and you're still, well, 'well-adjusted' doesn't seem quite the right word, but…"

"...but at least I'm not crazy?" He turned towards her with a half-smile at her attempt to lighten the mood and act like she still had hope for the future. Maybe, just maybe, if she acted enough then she would start to believe it. It was a long-shot, but it was all she had.

"Exactly," she agreed, and then they lapsed into silence once again. Jemma knew that he was still waiting, still hoping that she'd bring up their kiss, but she wasn't ready for that. Not with the reality of losing Fitz so fresh in her mind...but at least she knew that Will wouldn't push her. The one nice thing about being trapped on an alien planet for forever was that there was no pressing hurry to do anything or talk about anything - they had nothing but time.

Then, more softly and with a degree of tenderness she hadn't before seen from the brusque astronaut, he asked, "You going to be okay?" Leaning towards her, he examined her face intently, as if he could see past her skin and read her thoughts.

Touched by his concern, Jemma smiled slightly and shifted so that her arm brushed against his. She didn't respond, and he didn't press her, but she felt his arm rise and settle around her shoulders, drawing her into his warmth. For the moment, Jemma just closed her eyes and desperately tried to forget anything but the feel of him against her and to just take comfort in the physical contact Will was offering.

They stayed like that, both taking what little comfort the other could offer, until the telltale whistling sound of the sandstorm forced them to seek shelter.

At least they were together.

Please leave a review and let me know if I should continue this!