A/N Well hello! I seem to have been bitten by the writing bug since I last posted, probably due to the lovely Science babies. So many ideas, so little time! If any old readers see this btw, hello! It's been a while! PM me, I'd love to say hi : )

Leo Fitz first met Jemma Simmons at college. They were both ridiculously clever, ambitious scientists and the kinship between them was obvious from the very first lecture they compared notes on. Her sparkling, innocent excitement at everything and his adolescent scornful distaste balanced perfectly and fast forward a few years they are graduating together, inseparable.

Then, suddenly, they're on a plane working with spies and aliens and superpowers and everything Leo Fitz has always loved but secretly been terrified of. Somehow, however, he's okay because Jemma Simmons- with her sparkling, innocent excitement untarnished- is still right there next to him.

But then something goes terribly wrong and Jemma's ill. Really ill. Time stops and Leo worries and frets and has to talk to her through that damn wall and it's all becoming too much because Jemma's sparkling, innocent excitement is tarnished and everyone knows that it's needed for the balance to remain. So Fitz takes it on himself to be the sparkling innocent excitement and he's going to find a cure THEY're going to find a cure. And they do. Of course they do. They always do.

They've always thought of it as a possibility, getting together, but after one too many close shaves with the reaper Jemma decides that leaving it any longer would be too risky. When she finally asks him about it, tentative, nervous excitement apparent in her voice, he tells her he's always loved her sparkling innocent excitement.

(and says yes. of course he says yes.)

So let's fast forward another few years and Leo Fitz doesn't think he's ever been this nervous. It's not just his heart on the line here, it's his everything. Jemma is his best friend, his only friend it has sometimes seemed. If he mucks this up he doesn't know what he'll do, but he doesn't muck it up and she says yes and then he's not Leo Fitz anymore and she's not Jemma Simmons; they're Leo and Jemma Fitzsimmons. Now when they're working in the lab the jewel on her hand sparkles in the sun and when they're not working her smile for him and him only sparkles more than any jewel can.

(somewhere along the line, leo fitzsimmons has misplaced his adolescent scornful distaste. maybe it's age, maybe the sparkling, innocent has simply worn off on him like a red jumper in the white wash.)

A/N Thanks for reading! All capital letter mistakes are on purpose, I promise! Please leave a review if you can, even just a line or so : )

Thank you xx