Jemma Simmons had been standing outside Fitz's door for what felt like hours. She wanted to go in, it was the only thing in the world she wanted to do, but something in her brain wouldn't connect to her hand to make it reach out and grab the handle.

She kept trying to tell herself that this was it, this was best case scenario. The words she had been waiting for had come right out of Coulson's mouth:

"He's awake, and he's asking for you."

Simmons had been out the lab door in seconds. She hadn't even asked any follow up questions, which was unlike her. All she could think about was that he was alive, and he had woken up, and he knew who she was.

But the second she got to the door, something had stopped her. No, not just something. Fear. As she had reached for the door handle, a million unknown variables had flown through her mind. What if Fitz wasn't okay? His short term memory could still be irreparably damaged, not to mention his motor functions. She knew how much Fitz would hate to have to walk with a cane, and it made the pit in her stomach feel even bigger. And there were so many things, important moments in their lives, that he could've forgotten. What if he could t remember their in-jokes from the academy, or the things they'd learned in the field. Or, Jemma's eyes widened in horror at the thought, what if he still thought that Ward-

Jemma felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, the thought of Ward fresh in her mind.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to... wow, sorry." It was Skye. From her tousled dark hair to the rumpled tee shirt she was wearing, it looked like she'd just woken up.

"I heard about Fitz," she continued, looking closely at Jemma to judge her reaction. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Simmons said, smiling weakly, which would've been a bad lie even if it hadn't come from her. "I'm just, you know..."

She let the sentance die off, the smile fading from her face as she reached for anything she could possibly say. Stressed? It was true, but it didn't quite seem to fit. Confused? Also true, but it didn't encompass the fear that kept her up at night and crept through her mind every day. No, Jemma was slowly coming to realize that there was only one word to describe what she was feeling.

"Simmons," Skye said, breaking through Jemma's thoughts. "What's wrong?" As soon as she asked the question, Skye expression indicated how stupid she felt for doing so. It was abundantly clear what was wrong. But Jemma knew that if she was to confide in anyone, she wanted it to be Skye.

"I... I'm petrified," she said, so quietly that Skye could barely make out her words. "No matter what happens, my life won't ever be the same after I walk through that door, and I don't know what to do." Her words became louder and faster as she spoke, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Things have been the same between F-Fitz and me for so long, Skye," she continued. "Exactly the same. And then being out in the field, it- it changed something. It changed us."

Jemma took a deep breath, sniffing a little and wiping the tears from her eyes. Finally she said, quietly again,"I just don't know what to do anymore."

At these words, Skye reached forward and pulled Jemma into a tight hug. Jemma hugged her back, feeling all the tension she'd been holding inside loosen, if only a little.

"I don't really know what's been going on between you two, I have no idea how things used to be before you were on this team, and god knows I can't begin to imagine what it was like when, well, when Fitz got hurt. But I do know this."

Skye pulled away from Jemma and looked her straight in the eye. There was intensity in her face that Jemma had only seen a few times before, but she recognized it's importance.

"You two care about each other," Skye said, "and you understand each other better than anyone else in the world. You're, you know, you're Fitzsimmons!" She paused to catch her breath, running a hand through her hair.

"You're Fitzsimmons," she repeated. "And nothing, not a thousand hydra agents, is ever going to change that."

There was silence again, though Skye's words continued to spin through Jemma's head. She began to feel that the words were moving through her body, filling her stomach and her lungs and all the places that had felt sick and empty for weeks. She felt herself stand a little taller, and reach out to put her hands on Skye's shoulders.

"Thank you, Skye," she said, and smiled. A real smile this time.

And without another word, Jemma Simmons turned around, took a deep breath, and pushed open a door into the unknown.