Fitz felt like he was going to explode. No, not explode—implode. Like everything in his body was going to lose it's integrity and simply fold into itself.

"No, I don't. You keep rambling on and on and I still don't know what you mean."

"Dinner." He stated, punctuating the air with his hands. He inhaled sharply, waiting for her to respond.

"Fast approaching, yes, and I'm sure we'll eat it, I'm sure." She said offhandedly, not even looking up from her computer.

"Yeah, no, no, no, but, uh," Fritz started bringing his arm up to rest on the containment device for the Kree stone, "Me and you—maybe we could eat somewhere else, you know. Somewhere…nice" He bit his lip, anticipating her response. She looked up, eyes wide.

"Oh." Is all she said, taken aback. He just watched, a hint of a smile stretching across his lips. His hand slipped from where it was resting on the glass with a clack, nearly sending him falling and shocking him out of his daze.

"Good, okay. Uh, well y—uh, you should come find me when you're finished here and I'll—I'll start looking at options to run by you…for that." He turned and left, closing the green door behind him. He took a deep breath and leaned back against the door. Dinner. Dinner was a common occurrence—nearly an everyday occurrence, but the prospect of it today twisted his stomachs into a thousand little knots. Okay, he thought, plans. He swiped his phone out of his jeans pocket. He tapped on the search bar and entered Dinner Locations within 10 miles. Should he keep it casual? He had said somewhere nice, but that wasn't exactly saying something considering they hadn't had normalcy in nearly a year, between Hydra, Ward, Skye and the Inhumans, and the "New S.H.I.E.L.D," let alone a nice meal. Casual, he decided. Somewhere nice, but still relaxed. A café, or a place with outside seating, somewhere talking doesn't have to be forced or uncomfortable. He felt a smile creeping on to his face as the realization that he was going on a date—or at least something very similar—with Gemma Simmons. They had been through so much together—the days at the academy where they stuck together, drawn to each other as the youngest in their class, to the days on the Bus, her nearly dying, the missions, all of it. Then they were dropped to the bottom of the ocean. Betrayed by Ward, they both faced death. But then he shoved the oxygen in her face, and blew the chamber. He woke up days later, confused, unable to talk. But she was there. And then…she wasn't. His best friend, the one person who was on the same frequency as him, the person who was always at his side since he was seventeen, wasn't there. The others couldn't' understand, they treated him like he was fragile, broken.

But she had come back. At first it was hard to believe she was even there, instead of the bit of imagination that had produced her image to him. But she was real. She was there. Her hair was shorter, her clothes different, her excited, nervous scamper with a newfound confidant swagger when she walked, but she was essentially the same Gemma he'd always known. The Gemma that had left. Left him.

Now they were finally speaking again, their lives finally falling back into sync, the familiar rhythm that they had enjoyed with each other. More than that. They were going on a date. A real one. Over dinner.

He smiled, scanning the list of dinner locations Google had provided him with. Maybe a café with a live band? Or a pizza place with wood fired pizza? She was just finishing up some last little things when he had left her, she should be cleaning up now. He decided to run the list by her, turning to the door.

Then he heard the scream.