So I haven't posted anything in a while, and I realized that I have a few oneshots that I've posted on Tumblr but still haven't posted here. So I'll be posting them at intervals until I've run out of things to post.

This is a drabble prompted by Federica on Tumblr, which I'm not including in Beside You for no reason in particular. It's in the same universe (though you don't need to read it, but please do) as All in Good Time.


Right Above Your Heart

"Do you wear the same necklace all the time?"

Simmons looks up from her microscope to give Skye a curious look. "Excuse me?"

"You're always wearing a chain," Skye answers, tilting her chin toward the aforementioned chain hanging around Simmons' neck. "But I've never seen the pendant."

Simmons looks down at the necklace around her neck, its pendant hidden beneath the collar of her shirt, as if noticing it for the first time. "Well, it's just a necklace."

Skye, however, isn't convinced. "Can I see it then?"

"Maybe some other time," Simmons says almost automatically. "I mean—I'm busy right now, Skye."

Simmons then returned her focus to whatever specimen she was examining under the microscope, leaving Skye to her thoughts. It had been an innocent question; just something she'd noticed about Simmons and decided to comment on for conversation. But now, it was fueling Skye's curiosity.

Being surrounded by SHIELD agents and striving to become one herself, she was getting better at respecting other people's secrets and keeping out of their business. But old habits die hard. She keeps a close eye on Simmons after that. Even constructs a few situations where Simmons has to bend over, so that hopefully the necklace hangs out of her shirt, but no such luck.

Until one day they're on an assignment and Fitz is sent out into the field again. When Simmons isn't trying to work, her fingers are practically attached to the gold chain hiding under her blouse collar, gently stroking it and every now and then, even seeming tempted to pull it out. It hits Skye then why Simmons is so secretive about the necklace: it's something between her and Fitz.

Questions—that should be pertaining to the mission but don't—run through Skye's head. Did Fitz give it to her? Most likely. But when? What was the pendant? Does this mean that they're secretly a couple? Could the pendant possibly be a ring? Is that why Simmons is so secretive about it?

She tries to shrug it off and focus. She's always had a bit of a wild imagination.

After the mission though, when Fitz is safely back by Simmons' side where he's supposed to be, Skye is, now more than ever, determined to solve the mystery of the necklace.

The next day, Skye barges into Simmons' bunk, causing the young scientist to squeak in surprise. She'd been reading peacefully on her bed before the interruption.

"Did Fitz give you that necklace? Is that why you're so secretive about it?"

Simmons gapes at her friend's sudden bluntness. "I—I—"

"It's a ring, isn't it?" Skye says excitedly. And when Simmons doesn't answer, Skye feels like she's on to something. "Oh my god, I knew it! Is it like a promise ring? An engagement ring? Because to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised. I never really bought the whole 'just fr—"

"Skye!"

The hacker quickly stops her rambling and looks at Simmons. She's a little red in the ears, but otherwise seems composed. "You really want to see it?"

Skye nods vigorously in answer, almost like a child. Simmons sighs and reaches up to the nape of her neck to unclasp the necklace and place it in Skye's hand.

It's not a ring, much to Skye's disappointment, but it is beautiful. It's a gold eight-point star with a small gem in the middle. Skye runs her thumb across the pendant and flips it over, feeling a small button at the back.

Simmons takes it from her and pushes the button once, and a holo-photo pops up of the team on the Bus, projected from the gem in the center of the pendant. She clicks the button again to reveal another photo. The faces look unfamiliar, but judging by the warm smiles and similar features, it's a photo of the Simmons family, in addition to Fitz. Simmons clicks the button one more time to show another photo. It's just Fitzsimmons, holding each other and smiling at the camera in what looks like a SHIELD lab.

Turning it off, Simmons clasps the object back around her neck. "Fitz gave it to me for Christmas," she says quietly. "It was his mother's. And then he programmed in the holograms for me."

It's such a sweet gesture, that for once Skye has nothing to say. "So… what did you get him?"

"A tie," Simmons says, chuckling. "And a, um, a pin. In the shape of a plane."

Skye smiles at that. "That's so cute."


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