It had been a year now since Fitz had developed his... condition. Simmons had been doing everything she could think of to keep him contained and satisfied but sometimes it still wasn't enough. She found herself cleaning up after him more and more these days. And it was getting harder to stay in the same place. The only advantage they had on their side was that most of the attacks could be explained away as animal attacks. With all the claw marks and fur he usually left around the scene, it was certainly believable.

Simmons had been working on a cure, but it wasn't going well. As far as she could tell from the blood samples she'd taken from Fitz, he was perfectly normal. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. She needed to get samples of him during the change but that was tricky. She had used the night-night gun on him before but the time he was asleep was not nearly sufficient for collecting samples. She needed to improve the strength of the dendrotoxin but she was afraid of causing him permanent damage. She certainly couldn't kill him, no matter what she used. But, each time he turned, he accrued more injuries. He had scars all over his body and Simmons did not want to be the cause of any one of them.

Right now, all she could do was work on his "enclosure". It was nice, as far as a means of containment. A deep pit the length and width of a professional football field enclosed with metal bars on top. The bars were heavily reinforces, electrified, and wrapped with razor wire. A bit excessive, Simmons thought, but Fitz had insisted on it. He had escaped far too many times to go easy. Thankfully, the new structure was nearly complete. It would be ready by the next full moon.

Simmons was down in the pit now, checking the sheet metal lined walls for any creases or edges that Fitz could use to climb up. Fitz was in their too, calibrating the electric wiring to be able to successfully stun something of his size. Well, the size he was during the change.

"Well, I have one thing to say: this is the most impressive cage I've ever built." Fitz said.

Simmons sighed and looked at him pleadingly.

"Enclosure, Fitz, please." she corrected.

Fitz shrugged.

"A prison by any other name…" he muttered as he continued working.

After a long silence, Simmons turned to Fitz, looking at him imploringly.

"Fitz, I've been working on the dendrotoxin formula for the night-night gun-"

"No, Jemma. I'm not letting you try and take samples, it's too dangerous." Fitz interrupted.

"Please, Fitz, I can't get anywhere with the cure if I don't get some samples from you while you're changed." she pleaded.

"Look, I don't care Jemma, I'm not going to let you put yourself in danger because of me." he insisted.

"And I'm not going to just sit by and let you suffer with this if there's something I can do to help!" she snapped back.

Fitz came over and put his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes.

"Jemma, I'm not going to be able to escape anymore, I'm positive this time. If you can keep me contained, there's no need for a cure, right?" he said seriously.

Jemma looked at him, horrified.

"No! Fitz, that's just not acceptable! You deserve better than this. Living your life in fear of hurting people, having to be locked up once a month, never being able to have a flat in the city like you love?"

She reached out and brushed his cheek gently.

"I want better for you Fitz. I want better for both of us." she murmured.

Fitz looked at her in distress. Truthfully, he was being selfish. He was fine with the whole thing but, well I just wasn't fair to Simmons. She had given up her whole life for him. Quit her dream job as resident surgeon at a very prestigious hospital. Moved out to middle-of-nowhere Kansas with him and the last year cleaning up his messes. He sighed and cupped her cheek.

"Alright. But I want you to be safe. Bring extra cartridges and give me a shot every five minutes, no matter what. And I want you to chain me before I turn. With the boat chain, Jemma, you understand?"

Jemma nodded putting her hand on his and turning to kiss his palm.

"We're going to fix this, Fitz. Together." she said softly.

Fitz smiled and stepped closer to her, looping his arm around her waist. He kissed her forehead gently.

"Right. Together. Just like we always do." he murmured, not entirely sure if he believed what he was saying.

~*#*~

Skye read the paperwork Agent Hand had given her. When she was done, she looked up at her superior in confusion.

"A series of animal attacks?" she asked incredulously.

Agent Hand nodded.

"Identical animal attacks. All of the victims were found around the same location, with very similar wounds, at the same time of the month. The night of the full moon." she explained.

Skye's eyes widened and a smile grew on her face.

"You think its werewolves?" she guessed.

Victoria Hand nodded.

"One werewolf, actually. From what we know, a pack typically does a lot more damage than what's going on here." she clarified.

Skye's mouth hung open.

"Wait, you've dealt with werewolves before?" she asked excitedly.

Hand shook her head.

"Not really. Its just speculation based on myths and past reports."

Skye frowned and slumped in her chair.

"Oh." she said disappointed.

Agent Hand pulled up a map on the holocomm and pointed to a large highlighted area.

"All of the attacks took place in this area. Not a lot out there other than some old farmhouses. I want you to go in and see if you can find a den of some kind. Maybe an abandoned house or barn. Anyplace someone could hide away in without being detected."

Skye nodded.

"What do you want me to do if I find something?" she asked.

"Well, as you can imagine, we'd like to be able to study the creature if we can. So, if possible, we'd like you to bring it in alive. However, if you assess that this thing is too big a threat, you are to terminate it and bring in the remains for evaluation. Understood?"

Skye nodded.

"I'll do my best." she said dutifully.

~*#*~

Simmons stirred the big pot of stew that sat on the stove. Tonight was the last night before the transformation and Fitz would need all the energy he could get. The change always took a big toll on him. Simmons heard the back door open and close and glanced over her shoulder to see Fitz come in and flop down on the couch. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, that's all done. Shouldn't be able to get out of that." he said as he relaxed back into the couch.

Simmons nodded and added a pinch of salt to the stew.

"We caught a few rabbits today. Should be enough to keep you occupied until dawn. Then, hopefully, we won't have to find out if the reinforcements will hold." she commented.

Fitz nodded.

"Yeah. I suppose that would be the best thing." he muttered.

He got up and came to stand behind Simmons. A rare smile worked its way onto his face as he inhaled the delicious smell of the stew. He closed his eyes and hummed in approval.

"Oh, Jemma, that smells heavenly." he complimented.

Simmons chuckled and shook her head.

"I'm no a cook, but stew is easy. I just hope it tastes as good as it smells. We're running low on salt." she said, dipping out a spoonful.

She held the spoon up to Fitz, who tasted a small bit. He licked his lips in satisfaction.

"No, it's fantastic, Jemma. Well done." he said, as he looped his arm around her waist and gently kissed her forehead.

Jemma closed her eyes and savored the feeling of his lips against her skin. Tears came, unbidden, and spilled out the corners of her eyes. Every fiber in her body wanted to embrace him. To hold him close and never let him go. To keep him from all of the terrible things in the world and only let him see the good things. That's why she had to figure this thing out. She had to free him from this curse so that he never felt this pain again. If she had her way, he would never be in pain again. She would fill all his days with happiness and love and see that wonderful smile a thousand times a day.

"Jemma?"

Simmons opened her eyes to see Fitz looking at her with concern. He reached out and brushed the tears from her face.

"Why are you crying, love?" he cooed.

Jemma's lip quivered and she shook her head.

"It's not fair, Fitz. You're such a good, kind, sweet person. Why did this happen to you?" she whispered hopelessly.

Fitz frowned and pulled Jemma into a tight embrace. She grabbed the front of his shirt gently and rested her head on his chest.

"I don't know, baby girl. I don't know." he murmured, stroking her hair softly.

Jemma took a deep breath and sighed, gently breaking away from him. She wiped her cheeks and sniffled.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get all sappy." she said, trying to pull herself together.

She sighed and turned back to her cooking.

"This'll be ready soon. You should get the plates."

Fitz gave a half smile and nodded. That was just like her. Never wanting to show her weakness in anything bigger than small glimpses. Wanting to be strong for him when she was barely strong enough for herself. But, Lord, she tried. He had pretended more than once that he hadn't heard anything when he happened to walk in on her having a good cry.

Fitz set the table. Table for two. Simmons preferred it that way, but Fitz liked four better. Mum, dad, son and daughter. A family. His family. That seemed like a hollow dream now. Something that he could want but never have. But he had Simmons and, for now, that was enough. She was going to fix this. They were going to fix this. Together. This was science, Their domain. Their comfort zone. If anyone could figure out an unsolvable scientific puzzle, it was the two of them.

But there was still the dark doubt, in both of their minds. What if this wasn't science? Strange things had been happening lately. People had been witnessed as coming from the sky. Aliens had descended on the earth through an interdemensional portal. This was all stuff of myth and legend that had been proven to be true. What if there were more supposed myths that were really true? Fitz had never really believed in magic. Simmons had always speculated that magic was simply science that they couldn't understand. But what if magic wasn't just unexplained science? What if it was everything that fairytales and storybooks had said it was? What if the monsters were real? Faeries. Trolls. Giants. Vampires. Werewolves.

Thank you all for reading my first chapter of the new year! ^_^ I hope for this to be as successful as I'm not Giving up on You ( s/10891791/1/I-m-Not-Giving-Up-On-You ) or even more so! Please review, favorite, and follow! I hope to post the next chapter soon!