Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel: Agents of SHIELD. This story is purely for entertainment purposes, and I am not being paid for the endeavor.

Author's Note: Wasn't The Hen in the Wolf House a great episode? Just to empty my brain, I decided to write a few supplemental scenes to the episode. This first scene is the conversation between Fitz and Simmons after she asked how he's been. I know they're supposed to address their deeper issues in the next episode, so I tried to keep away from that, just focusing on their initial contact and the ensuing awkwardness.

Fitzsimmons Reunion

"How've you been?" asked Simmons. For a moment, Fitz could only stare at her. For one thing, it was such a banal question after everything they had been through. For another, it was a bit of a shock to see the real Simmons so soon after he'd banished the imaginary one conjured by his subconscious.

"Good," he responded at last, faintly surprised to discover that he actually meant it. "I think I'm getting better."

"That's great!" she said, appearing both sincere and happy to see him. "I hoped you would."

She looked different from hallucination-Simmons, her hair down instead of in its customary ponytail. Also, she had used the door to enter rather than simply appearing beside him. These facts satisfied him that this was, in fact, the real Jemma Simmons – the woman with whom he was hopelessly in love and who had left him when he was in need.

Fitz wasn't sure how to feel. A part of him was angry at her abandonment, but he was also happy to see her again and confused by her return. The other Simmons had told him that she had moved on and advised him to do the same. However, that had merely been his subconscious putting forward his own assumptions. He had no actual evidence to support the assertion.

"Where have you been?" he asked finally, trying not to sound accusatory.

"Director Coulson sent me on a mission. I was undercover with Hydra."

Fitz pushed off from the counter and stood up straight, a spike of concern rushing through him and driving out everything else, despite the fact that she had clearly made it out safely.

"Was there danger?" he demanded, and Simmons nodded slowly.

"A bit," she acknowledged. "My cover was blown, so I'm back. I was hoping we could work together again."

"Sure," said Fitz, trying to process everything. So she hadn't left him or the team, at least not permanently. "I missed you." He thought he could risk saying that much.

"I missed you, too," she said with a smile. Fitz noted, in a rather detached manner, that the real Simmons gave him a fluttery feeling in his gut that the hallucination never had.

Then why did you leave me? he wanted to ask, but he didn't. Yes, it was a mission, but he knew that Coulson would never have sent her if she hadn't wanted to go. There had to be more to this, but…she just got back. There was no need to pressure her yet. Above all, he was not going to tell her that he'd continued seeing and hearing her while she was gone.

There was an awkward silence. Clearly, they could not go back to the way things had been, and neither of them was sure how to move forward. It was going to be weird between them, at least for a while. Fitz hated to think it, but in some ways, life had been easier when Simmons had only existed in his mind.

"Welcome back," he managed at last.

"Thanks," she said.

Author's Note: Sorry for the rather abrupt ending. I had some other ideas that I thought about incorporating, but I didn't want to go too far into predicting what will happen next episode.