Fitz stood next to Simmons on the stage and noticed how tight she seemed. He grabbed her hand, making her look at him. "Jemma, you've done this plenty of times. Why on earth are you nervous?"

Her eyes darted to their audience. "Because I've never done it for them before. Fitz, these aren't unknown people at a bar. These are our teammates. What if I screw up?"

He applied a gentle pressure to her hand. "Trust me, Jemma. You won't."

She smiled at him gratefully and released his hand, clearing her throat and signaling to Coulson to start the music. God she was beautiful, he thought as she prepared to sing. Then he seemed to realize what he thought and blinked hard. He had to focus on the song, or he would be the one to mess up.

"All those days, watching, from the windows." Jemma sang in a soft voice. "All those years, outside, looking in. All that time," she moved her head the slightest bit from side to side, "never even knowing. Just, how blind I've been."

She looked at Fitz and smiled, putting on a show for their audience. "Now I'm here, blinking, in the starlight. Now I'm here, suddenly, I see. Standing here, it's all so clear, I'm where I'm meant to be! And at last I see the light!"

Her voice entered a crescendo, volume growing while maintaining that same quality it had from the start. Her arms spread wide, and Fitz could see that she was finally lost in the music, something he hadn't seen in some time.

"And it's like, the fog has lifted. And at last I see the light! And it's like, the sky is new! And it's warm and real and bright. And the world has somehow-shifted." She paused and looked into Fitz's eyes in wonder, then looked back around. Fitz knew she was acting, but he felt his pulse skyrocket. "All at once, everything looks different. Now that I see you."

She locked her hands in front of her and stepped back from the microphone, looking all around as if seeing the lanterns in the movie. Fitz watched her for a moment with a half-smile, only partially acting. "All those days, chasing, down a daydream. All those years, living, in a blur. All that time, never truly seeing things-the way they were." He looked at her as if seeing her for the first time, his eyes taking her all in. "Now she's here, shining, in the starlight. Now she's here, suddenly, I know." His gaze moved above her, studying the imaginary scene. "If she's here, it's-crystal clear, I'm where I'm meant to go!" He let a vibrato enter his voice, along with a bit more confidence. His eyes, which had traveled to the audience, ran back to her as the two began singing together, Jemma stepping forward again.

"And at last I see the light!" They sang together.

"And it's like, the fog has lifted." Fitz sang, low and sweet.

"And at last I see the light!" Together again.

"And it's like, the sky is new!" Jemma sang, her voice floating on the high note with gentle power.

Their eyes had been glued to each other, and now Fitz, on an impulse, reached for Jemma's hands, holding them in his between them.

"And it's warm and real and bright! And the world has somehow shi-ifted." Their voices mixed effortlessly, and Fitz felt a sudden change. He didn't care about their audience; he didn't even care about the song. It felt as if he and Jemma were alone at the moment, and it felt right. He would finish the song for her, for them, not for the audience. This was his and Jemma's moment to share, even if the others witnessed it. "All at once, everything is different. Now that I see you." Jemma took a quick breath of air on their pause and stepped up close to him, so their bodies were touching and she had to tilt her head a bit to see his eyes.

"Now, that I." Their eyes remained locked, and Fitz leaned closer to her. "See-e you!" He finished with his eyes closed, his head extremely close to Jemma's, their faces inches apart. His hands were on her shoulders, keeping her close. She opened her eyes and smiled, then blushed and pulled away, smiling furiously. The music died out, and Fitz looked out at their team members.

Skye had her mouth open in shock for a moment before she registered what had happened and whistled-loudly. Coulson was clapping like mad, and May gave them a rare smile of approval. Fitz looked at Ward and saw a look of pride in the warrior's eyes that he knew was meant for him, though he wasn't exactly sure why.

"I told you you wouldn't mess up." He said softly to Jemma.

She met his eyes for a second and looked away. "Thank you Fitz." She laughed. "That was some show we put on, right? The ending movements were perfect for the song."

He couldn't help but feel a trace of disappointment, but he didn't show it. Instead he smiled. "I figured. I'm just glad you went along with it."

They walked off the stage and over to their team members. Coulson stood up and patted Fitz on the back. "Nice improv. I'm sure everyone agrees that you had a great performance," he said, facing the group, "but prepare to see a better one. I'm up next, and we're going back to the eighties." He watched for a reaction, and then turned towards the stage. "I'll give you a few minutes, while I warm up."

While Coulson warmed himself up, Fitz went to the bar and grabbed a bottle of water. He felt someone lean on the table next to him and saw Ward. The warrior stood next to him for a few seconds, staring at him, before Fitz couldn't take it any longer. "What?" he asked.

Ward didn't seem fazed by his tone. "You need to tell her how you feel." He said quietly. Fitz realized this was one of those moments when Ward wasn't being a fellow agent; he was being a good friend. "From what I saw up there, you're crazy about her, and she didn't seem to mind being so close to you." He saw Fitz hesitate and hardened his eyes. "Look, we face danger every day, and now with the Clairvoyant… if I were you, I'd want her to know how I felt, and stop wasting precious time." He grabbed two waters and walked away, leaving Fitz with some thinking to do.


The last thing Jemma expected was to end up that close to Fitz on that stage. It hadn't been something they'd talked about, but she couldn't lie. She'd liked it. On that platform, she'd felt like he was singing just for her, as if she was what he cared most about in the world in that moment. Of course she knew he was acting, but she knew they did have an extremely close bond, too. But the most shocking thing of all was that the lyrics had proven to be true. Her world had shifted, as she'd realized that she felt things for Fitz. When he'd grabbed her hands, in that moment her heart had started beating faster, and she wanted very much to be closer to him. So she'd stepped forward, making it so they were touching, as close as they could be. All of this happened in a matter of seconds, and what scared and excited her the most was the feeling she had felt after stepping closer to him. He had lowered his face so their lips were inches apart, and she had wanted to kiss him.

For someone who had seen him as a best friend and no more than that for a long time, this was quite a shock. Why would this happen now? She questioned. Why realize a crush now, with all of the chaos around us?

A second later it sank in. That was exactly why it had happened tonight. All of the stress they had been dealing with, all of the fear and anxiety that had gone through them every day for the past month… the crush she might otherwise have realized gradually had hit her out of the blue because their tensions were so high. And if it happened that quickly… They must be strong, she thought. She looked at Skye and saw her friend watching her carefully.

Skye walked over and pulled her to a different part of the room. "I knew you liked him." She said once they were alone. "Say it. You like Fitz!"

Jemma looked around quickly to make sure no one had heard Skye, and then tried glaring at her, ending up looking lost. "I'm a little confused right now, honestly. I walked onto the stage with a clear head, and now my thoughts are all muddled!" she looked at her friend with worry evident in her eyes, her tone soft. "I felt something on that stage, and I don't know what to make of it. It just popped into my head, and now I can't stop thinking… I can't stop thinking" she looked down briefly and swallowed. "What if he likes me too?"

Skye stared at her for a moment, one eyebrow raised. "You have to ask? Obviously he's into you! You really didn't notice?" Her tone was a bit harsh, and she exhaled and shook her head. "That didn't come out right. Just tell him how you feel."

She nodded and started back to the seating. Skye passed her with a knowing smile and let out a little noise like a squeal in her excitement. Simmons thought it was good to have a friend like that, but her advice was wrong. There was no way she would ever intentionally hurt Fitz, and she couldn't say she had a crush if she wasn't one hundred percent positive. A small part of her knew she was, but her scientific mind ignored it. No, she needed time before telling him anything. He was too good a friend to lose if she was wrong.

A/N: There's chapter two! Next up: Coulson. Review please!