Trip walked in the lab of the playground where FitzSimmons usually do their work. It's only been a few days since Fitz woke up, but he insisted on getting back to work immediately despite his left arm still being in a cast. Director Coulson agreed to it with the condition that he will only be doing light work, and that Simmons will always be there to help him. But knowing Fitz, he'd probably dust off Jemma's help, claiming he could do things by himself.
Trip was surprised to see Fitz alone in the lab, Simmons nowhere to be found. With his left hand peeking out of its cast, holding the body of a device, Fitz was trying to connect another part of the thing with his right hand. He must have been having some difficulty because his head was bowed so low, face frowning with concentration, and he kept whispering "bloody hell". He didn't even notice Trip walk in.
Trip cleared his throat so Fitz would look up. "Hey man. What you doing there?" he asked as he went over to the middle of the room where Fitz was.
"Oh hey, it's just a prototype me and Jemma are working on. But I can't seem to get these bloody things together!" Fitz said as he attempted to force the objects together again.
Trip smiled at hm. "Here let me help," he said as he took them from Fitz's hand. He knew Fitz would reject him if he asked, so he just took it. Fitz tried to protest but once Trip got them, he gave up.
"You should hear a tick once they're connected." But before he could finish his sentence, Trip already connected the device.
Trip examined the thing he's holding. Once he connected whatever it was to the rest of the device, it glowed blue. It looked like a bigger version of the rounds they use in the icer gun. He frowned as he asked, "What is it?" and handed it back to Fitz.
"Me and Simmons are trying to remake a grenade cybertek used on us when we had a mission back in Italy. But we plan to change it a bit. Oh and it does use dendrotoxine to immobilise rather than kill." He took the icer grenade from Trip and walked back to his table. He sat down and picked up a different device from his desk and fiddled with it a bit. "So what brings you here?"
Trip leaned against the holo-table and crossed his arms, trying to relax. "Just checkin' you guys out. Where is Simmons anyway? Ain't she supposed to be here?"
"We agreed to take a break when we finish. When she was done with her part, I told her I could manage. She's probably with Skye, doing what bloody girls do on their free time. And she only finished first because I have this stupid cast!" Fitz added, a bit defensively.
Trip smiled at that. "Yeah I know." He said, reassuring Fitz as the man continued his work, not looking at him. "So how are you two doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"I know that ever since you woke up, something's been different with you and her." Fitz momentarily paused from fiddling with his device, but continued after a beat.
"What do you mean different?
"You two seem less comfortable around each other. It's like there's tension."
"We just had a difficulty adjusting, but we're fine."
"Look man, I know something happened to you guys down there, something you haven't told us. And we understand. But we could talk about it you know. You need to let it out. You can tell me." He insisted.
"There's nothing to tell!" Fitz said sharply as he slammed the device on his desk.
Trip remained silent, only looking at the other man with concern. Fitz finally looked at him, those blue eyes searching his face. When he saw that Trip was sincere, he finally sighed.
"Fine." Fitz paused, taking a deep breath as he recalled the events at the pod. "When we were setting up the flashpoint, I saw that there was only one oxygen tank there. And you couldn't make it to the top without it. So when we finished, I forced her to take it."
After a moment of silence, Trip finally said, "That's why she kept saying you saved her life…" he paused as he took that in. He felt a wave of admiration hit him for the other guy's bravery. "But it doesn't make sense that you guys would change like that…"
"Because that wasn't it." Fitz said. He saw confusion on Trip's face. He took a breath of courage before he continued. "When I told Jemma there was only one, she wouldn't take it. Told me she couldn't leave me there, that I was her best friend in the world. But there wasn't enough time, and we had to hurry. So I finally told her. I told her she was more than that to me. And that I never had the courage to tell her, I begged her to at least let me show it to her." He looked up at Trip and gave him a sad smile.
Trip stayed quiet as Fitz opened up to him. They all knew Fitz had it for her, just never had the guts to tell her. He only had the courage when he was staring death in the face. Trip couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
Fitz looked down again. "When we had the chance to talk about it after I woke up, I told her it was okay, that I'm not forcing her to feel the same way about me. I could live with just being her best friend. So yeah, that was pretty much it."
When Fitz looked up at him, he saw the vulnerability in Fitz's watery blue eyes. He thought now was the best time for him to open up too. "Look I know you didn't like me at first, and I know it was because you saw that I had a thing for her, and I admit to that. That's why I tried to get close to her. And the first time I saw you guys, I already knew you two were close. But all I saw was friendship. Then I saw the way you looked at her, and the way you treated me. That's when I realised it might be more than just being friends with you. And that's why I didn't make a move on her anymore. It's not like I'm backing out of a fight or anything. But to be honest, there isn't much of it anyway."
Fitz frowned at him. "Are you saying I'm incompetent?"
Trip laughed a little at Fitz's misinterpretation. "Hell no! What I'm saying, is that you already won." He smiled as he saw Fitz process what he just said, confusion and hesitation clear on his face.
Fitz frowned as he thought of what Trip said. "What do you mean? That Jemma…?"
"Oh c'mon man! You don't see it? It's written all over her face when she sees you, the way she looks at you, says your name. You should have seen her when you were still asleep. It was like a part of her was unconscious there with you. Even Agent Keonig had to rush his orientation with her cause she was so distracted."
Fitz still couldn't believe what Trip was saying. There was that cowardly part of him again that was too shy to even think what the other guy's saying is true.
After a moment of silence, Trip continued, all serious now. "She loves you." At that Fitz snapped his head up to him. "Maybe she's not yet ready, maybe she's not admitting it to herself right now, but its there. She just doesn't know it yet."
At that, Trip walked out the lab with a smile on his face, leaving Fitz to his wayward thoughts.
AN: so I read a review on my fic "Fitz's recovery" and I'd just like to thank that guest reviewer who pointed out my wrong. So so sorry to not mention that I only used the knowledge I got from movies and shows and whatnot in regards to details about coma. I have no medical background what so ever. So I hope I did not offend anyone with my mistakes. If you haven't read that one, go check it out, it can be connected here. And thank you so much to everyone who views and reviews my stories. it's nice to know people actually read my stuff.
Next chapter will be a one shot of Skye asking Trip what he and Fitz talked about.
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think? Means a lot :) xoxo