a/n: because I feel like after the wreck of emotions that season 2 was (and what season 3 is probably going to be) we could all do with a little fluffy cheer.

(Also I just made up Derek because I don't want to use any AOS characters for…plot reasons;) )

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Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away to the darkside,

I wanna be your left hand man

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"You're doing it again," her best friend's annoyed voice cut through Jemma's haze, and she jolted upright like someone had shocked her with a Taser. Fitz was glaring at her slightly over the assembled mess of metal parts he was building, and Jemma quickly realized that some of her dendrotoxin that they were using was dripping onto the table. Which, considering the precarious lab they were in the middle of, was highly dangerous.

She quickly righted her mistake, ripping her eyes away from the small window inside the door and taking care of her wreck. She was inwardly chastising herself, no doubt this mistake was noted by her best friend as some sort of lovesick school girl move.

"What do you mean?" she asked, quickly wiping up the mess with a clean cloth. Fitz rolled his eyes, sticking the pieces of his gun together with a more desperate fervor. Their last attempt had ended with the gun exploding (for whatever reason.) Making the 'Night Night Gun' was more difficult that expected.

"You're staring."

"At who?" Jemma tried to play off the fact that she didn't know what he was talking about, focusing on putting her experiment away. It was almost lunchtime.

"You know who," Fitz grumbled, "Bloody Mr. Perfect over there."

"Don't call him that, and I was merely zoning out," she lied, rubbing her hands together, her stomach growling. Now that she wasn't distracted, her hunger was on her mind.

"In his direction?" Fitz obviously was not buying her carefully constructed lie. (She didn't really blame him, it was quite obvious and he was around her and Skye almost 24/7 besides.)

"Where do you want to eat lunch?"

Fitz watched her with narrowed eyes. He ignored her question. "You can't keep doing this in our workplace Jemma."

"Do what?"

"You know what."

"Oh –" Jemma bit her lip, "I'm sorry. I promise I'll be completely focused after lunch."

Fitz blinked, and then sighed. "I hope so."

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"So," Skye said as soon as Fitz and Jemma entered their apartment. "Fitz texted me today."

Jemma groaned, already knowing what her best friend had texted the other. She shot a glare at Fitz, who merely raised his hands in defense and went to change out of his work clothes. She wasn't that surprised or betrayed, Fitz always went to Skye with this sort of information. He probably just wanted her to stop at this point.

"Let me guess – it was about the staring?"

"I knew you liked him, but I didn't think it would be enough for Fitz to notice."

"I almost ruined our lab," Jemma explained, "And he does live with us."

"I reject that statement," Fitz said, coming into the room in a clean pair of pants and a Doctor Who T-shirt. "I notice lots of things. It also doesn't help that he's the only thing you two talk about."

"We do not –"

"Yes you do – "

"Anyways," Skye said cutting off the argument and turning back to Simmons, "We really need to find out what's happening with this guy."

They both ignored Fitz's prolonged groan. As Simmons put it, if Fitz decided to live with two girls, he was going to have to deal with their 'game plan'. Of course, this was technically Simmons and his own apartment (Skye was bunking for free) but it didn't mean that he got any less of their plans.

"I know!" Simmons protested, "I've done everything you've told me to, and that's a lot."

Skye frowned, and Fitz busied himself with cleaning off the counters in their tiny kitchen. He always got strangely neat when they talked about Derek, like if he washed it away he couldn't hear what they were saying.

Simmons had been trying to get Derek to really notice her for around a year now. He had been the new kid in their lab department, on that both she and Skye had noticed. Skye had been very excited that Simmons had seemed interested in a guy that wasn't Fitz (and even with Fitz it was completely platonic.) and they had automatically come up with plans to get Derek to notice her.

She rolled her shoulders.

"Let me take a shower, and we'll talk."

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When Simmons got back, Skye had out their 'planning' notebook, and Fitz had a beer tucked in his hand. Since their last operation to get this guy to 'really notice Jemma' as Skye put it failed, this meant that they would be making a new one.

"Okay," Skye said, "So operation wear sexier clothes has failed." She crossed out something in that god-awful notebook.

"I sorta changed around lunch," Simmons shivered, "It was – just no."

"I agree," Fitz spoke up (he hadn't really minded the outfit at all). "There were far to many guys stopping by the lab that day."

Skye tapped the edge of her pen against her lips.

Fitz sighed and took a long drink of his beer. It wasn't like they hadn't already gone through this before. (This would be the tenth plan they made up in the last six months.)

Simmons never used to be interested in well….guys before – other than the odd boyfriend through their academy days. He had known her for almost ten years now, and he had never seen her (or Skye for that matter) get so worked up over a boy. Of course, they were always insisting that he was a hot science nerd, but quite frankly Fitz found him rather shallow and annoying. Wasn't he a hot science nerd as well? It was almost insulting.

Maybe it was because while Simmons and Skye were constantly trying to get him to notice Simmons, to get him to ask her on a date, to get him to talk to her in a way more than just friends, Fitz was always used as their ammo. He had talked to Derek at least five times just for the purpose of finding out more about him – because he was a guy. He was to much of their friend to be considered as a 'hottie' as they put it.

Skye had always been one for plans, and really getting Simmons together with a guy had always been one of her goals for whatever reason. What had started out as a mere acknowledgement of Derek's appearance had quickly turned into some odd obsession with making it happen. Skye was always into the romantic aspect of things…

"Well obviously he doesn't get flirting when he can see it –" Skye said.

"Yeah, but I don't really know how to flirt," Jemma added, and Fitz watched her as she talked. He had known her for so long, yet he still couldn't understand why she was so into Derek. Skye either for that matter. He wasn't anything special.

"Let's see, this is operation number ten…so nine was a failure…"

"And so were all the other one's before that," Fitz added under his breath, but the two other ones ignored him. He considered calling Hunter, but the other man was on his second honeymoon (with the same woman no less) and he didn't think that he would appreciate Fitz calling him, not matter how desperate his actions may be.

"Okay, so let's go through what we've done so far. Step one was becoming friends with him –"

"And I did, but it isn't like he noticed me otherwise –"

"Ask him out –"

"He thought it was a group bowling night and brought like five other people – "Suggest doing a lab together –"

"Fitz vetoed that one."

"Of course I did," Fitz muttered, "Can't have him screwing up our research." (He didn't think that Derek was all that smart.)

"Flirt with him –"

"I can't flirt."

"Invite him to dance at a company party –"

"I spilled punch on his shoes."

"Ask him for help at least fifty times –"

"He questioned why I wasn't asking Fitz."

Fitz zoned out. Seriously, didn't they understand that Derek was an unreasonable prick that certainly wasn't good enough for Jemma. (talking as her best friend of course.) She was nice, intelligent, pretty; she deserved someone that it wouldn't take like fifty plans to get him to notice her. She needed someone that would make up fifty plans to ask her on a date.

He heard Skye suggest something new, but he wasn't really listening anymore. He didn't really see the point, considering that it probably wouldn't go anywhere.

Not that he doubted his best friend, or her ability to get men to fall for her. It was more the fact that Derek was –

"You could date Fitz!" he heard the words come out of Skye's mouth, instantly snapping him from his 'hate Derek' reverie.

"What?"

"Skye really –"

"Some people just don't want things until they can't have them," Skye said, shrugging. "Maybe he's the same."

"And how does dating me come into anything?" Fitz demanded, getting slightly alarmed. He would do anything for these two girls (they were like his family) but this was nearing his limit.

"It will make him jealous if Jemma suddenly started dating her lab partner," Skye explained, "Everyone already thinks you're her boyfriend anyways."

"But I'm not –"Fitz protested, his eyes turning pink.

"You wouldn't actually be her boyfriend," Skye said, rolling her eyes. "You two would just have to pretend for a little while until Derek opens his eyes and then you two break up and presto!" she clapped her hands, "They're together."

"Why doesn't she date someone else?" Fitz asked, seeing endless problems with the matter.

"Because with you I don't have to worry," Jemma said brightly, her brown eyes melting into his, "It's not like you're in love with me or anything.

Fitz tried to come up with another reason why this couldn't work but he couldn't. There was only one.

Fitz can't tell her the real reason, the secret he's been keeping for the past nine years. The secret that he's trying to deny himself. If he really wanted to make it not true, then he would have to go along with this ridiculous plan.

"Alright," he said, "I'll pretend to be your boyfriend for your ridiculous schemes. But you both owe me."

Both girls nodded, and Skye began to smile wider.

"The jealously thing always works," she told Jemma smugly, "It's how I got –" she broke off abruptly, the smile disappearing from her face.

"Derek's not like him," Jemma reassured her, "He's a biochemist. Not a specialist."

"Okay so let's –"

Fitz sipped his beer, his eyes downcast. The other two would just think he was zoning out, thinking about science or some other stuff, but he couldn't focus, not right now.

He had just agreed (probably willingly too) to pretending to be Jemma's boyfriend. He didn't know what was going to happen with this, and something about it twisted his stomach.

He didn't really want Jemma to date Derek, but if there was one thing he could never do, it was refuse his best friend a favor when she wanted it.

It's not like you're in love with me or anything.

Yep. He wasn't in love with her.

Really.

He wasn't.

"Operation Date Fitz and make him jealous comes into action tomorrow!" Skye said triumphantly, snapping shut the notebook.

Jemma placed her hand on his arm, her smile practically blinding him.

"Thank you for helping with this Fitz."

(He still wasn't in love with her.)