The Retreat:

Skye had explored every square inch of the cabin several times over in an effort to free her from her boredom but found next to nothing of interest. The wooden panelling on the walls and the fake stone around the fireplace did very little conceal that this was a SHIELD asset base of some sort, though given the time that had been spent at least attempting to make it feel homely she suspected this was somewhere special. If she hadn't have found her time there so far quite so dull she might even have enjoyed the cosy setup but neither the crackling flames nor the soft rustic hues of the cabin could give her an escape from the unutterable loneliness she felt there. What little contact she had had with the Playground had largely been awkward – Coulson had tried to handle her like he had the SHIELD guide in his hand, Simmons seemed both terrified of her and terrified of saying the wrong thing to her, and Fitz, who Skye missed perhaps most of all, had barely been on the line for more than a minute before the feed cut out. It was enough to drive anyone mad.

She had attempted a great number of things to try keep herself busy from playing seemingly countless, unending games of Solitaire to trying to read some of the books lying around – most of which were about gamma radiation and just made her sleepy. When she had actually made an effort to understand one of them she had got so frustrated the floor shook and two glasses fell off of the kitchen side. She had found herself thinking about Fitz while she cleared up the broken shards and about how he'd held her in the isolation chamber; how he'd told her it was alright. A deep pang of sadness crept up within her at the thought of him, she wondered how he'd found out Coulson had moved her, how he had taken the news. She desperately wished she could have said a proper goodbye but everything had moved so fast before Coulson had her on the plane. She could only console herself with the knowledge that Fitz had promised to come see her as soon as he could – whatever her and Fitz had become after the transformation, it would still be nice just to have him with her as a friend for company. She felt a slightly hollow sensation in her as her stomach lurched to one side and she tried to push her hopes that they might be more than just friends to the back of her mind.

Her only solace was Coulson had fully stocked the fridge, leaving several bottles of wine behind. Although she typically didn't drink that much – or at least, not since May became her supervising officer and insisted on her having a clear mind all the time – she had made her way through half a bottle when she heard the sound of an identification card being approved and the main door unlocking. Neither Coulson nor May were due to visit her and, as excited as the thought of having company was, not knowing who was out there made her nervous. Instinctively reaching for an ICER that was not there she cursed her suspension and made straight for the kitchen to grab a knife, or rather – she would have made straight for the kitchen had she not been drinking. While the unintentional zig zag pattern she made would probably have made her a difficult target to even a well-trained marksman with an automatic weapon, she couldn't keep her balance and tripped up, cursing as she hit her head on one of the cupboards and landed unceremoniously on the floor.

"Skye!" She heard a familiar Scottish voice calling from somewhere behind her. She turned to face the source of the voice confused, her mind buzzing from both the alcohol and her fall.

"Fitz?" She asked, dazed as he dropped his kit bag at the door and rushed to her, running his hand through her hair and checking the fall wasn't serious before standing up to wet a tea towel in the sink. Skye's vision was blurred and she couldn't really make out what he was saying, she only knew that she missed the feel of his hand against her face once it was gone.

Sitting back down opposite her he pressed the now cold tea towel against her head, himself wincing with regret as she flinched under the pressure. His hand shook uncomfortably as he gently dabbed her hair with the cloth, prompting him to take her hand with his free one and guide it to replace his trembling fingers. Heat jumped between them at the touch. When he was sure she could hold the tea towel on her own he let go and leaned back against one of the other cabinets so he was facing her. After a few moments he appeared to smell the alcohol from her breath, "Skye, have you been drinking?"

Feeling scolded like a child caught with her hand in the biscuit tin she frowned at him – instantly regretting the decision because it sent a new wave of pain across her forehead. She cursed and shakily rose to her feet a little too quickly waving out a hand towards Fitz and saying, "I'm fine, seriously."

Before she could react Fitz was standing ready to hold her in case she fell and, as she swayed backwards slightly, she felt his hands ghosting on her back. Part of her wanted to just drop into his arms but the young scientist had always been particularly clumsy even before his hypoxia and so she decided against it, making her way towards the sofas instead. When Fitz was certain she could walk without his supervision he backed away a bit, though lingered just close enough to stop her if she fell and, when it became clear to him that she was headed back to the sofa, he mumbled, "That's not a bad idea."

She grinned slightly as she closed her eyes and threw herself onto the cushions, feeling temporarily weightless before she sank into the sofa and the blood and wine rushed to her head. Rather worryingly the Cabin shook as she landed; although she found it hysterical in her tipsy state, Fitz seemed panicked. "Skye?" He asked quietly, and when she opened her bleary eyes he swam into focus looking visibly anxious.

"What are you even doing here?" She asked, not intending to sound so harsh and feeling slightly guilty as Fitz furrowed his brow, dejected. She hastily added, albeit in a slurred manner, "I'm glad you are here… but – well, why are you here?" She finished rather awkwardly. She made a mental note that she needed to build up her tolerance to alcohol again, she'd never be able to do undercover work is just a few (admittedly large) glasses of wine brought her to this state.

"I promised." Fitz answered, standing somewhat uncomfortably in front of her. She felt suddenly very sorry; whatever he had been expecting it clearly wasn't this. She found herself wondering what exactly he had been expecting.

"I'm sorry Fitz." She said honestly, pulling herself into a seated position and holding onto a cushion with one hand for support while running her other hand through her hair as though it would help clear her head. Almost instinctively Fitz stepped out into the kitchen and, after fumbling through the cupboards for a couple of moments, brought back a glass of water. She downed it in one go before putting it onto a nearby coffee table rather too forcefully before smiling at Fitz, "This probably isn't what you were hoping for."

To her surprise Fitz gave a slight smile and picked up the bottle of wine she had opened, as he swirled it around it became clear she had drank much more than half of it. Throwing himself back into a sofa positioned opposite to hers and bathed in the light of the fire he chuckled, "Maybe it is," and took a big swig from the wine. His face froze up for a moment as he held the sharp taste in his mouth before he swallowed it and then coughed slightly, adding, "Besides I'm Scottish – I'd no sooner see a drink go to waste than I would let you drink alone." He took another mouthful of it.

"Agent Fitz, aren't you officially still on duty?" She asked mockingly; Coulson never liked agents to drink much around the Playground. It wasn't forbidden – in the evenings they would regularly have a couple of beers together – but getting tipsy was frowned upon, something Hunter would complain about constantly.

"Nope." He smiled before raising the bottle in the air, "I'm officially on holiday," he laughed before correcting himself slightly, "well paid leave actually."

"You, took paid leave?" Skye said surprised, neither Fitz nor Simmons nor anyone except Hunter ever really took time away from SHIELD; truthfully Skye couldn't remember the last time she had taken any of hers. They'd been kept so busy since the rise of HYDRA she hadn't even thought about it. "Is that even still a thing?"

"Guess so," Fitz answered looking altogether too pleased with himself.

Grinning back Skye suddenly wondered how exactly he got here – if he'd flown May would be with him but it was just him that had come in. "How did you get here?" She asked Fitz, a hint of her more sober self returning as she did.

"Agent May." He said and then offered by way of explanation when Skye's eyes went to the door, "She said she'd drop in tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Skye asked him, curious as to why May wouldn't come in now.

"When she picks me up." Fitz answered, realising he hadn't actually asked if he could sleep at the cabin overnight and, when Skye didn't answer, he suddenly looked panicked, "I'm sorry – I just assumed I could stay-"

"Stay?" Skye said, blinking twice as she fought against her mind dulled by the wine, "Yeah of course, sorry." She shook herself slightly as if hoping it would restore her to sobriety, "Why didn't she come in?" Skye asked, already realising she wasn't nearly as interested in what his answer was as to what else Fitz had just assumed would happen. A heat rose within her.

Fitz shrugged, oblivious, and said simply, "maybe she thought you'd seen enough of her."

Skye answered him with a snort, laughing in a distinctly unladylike fashion – she didn't know how she could have seen enough of anyone while stuck in the cabin on her own. At this point she would have happily spoken to almost anyone if only for the conversation, though not everyone, she thought remembering Ward and her father. What a world apart from them Fitz was; when she looked back over at him he was distracted, flicking through pages of the book on gamma radiation she had tried to read earlier. She found herself amazed at how well he had dealt with his hypoxia, with losing everything – his mind, Simmons. She had shot Ward multiple times in the chest and hadn't come close to dealing with her own anger at the betrayal, it seemed miraculous to her Fitz hadn't completely lost it. "I couldn't get into it." She joked, indicating to the book he had picked up and lightening the mood. He smiled back.

"Yeah me neither," Fitz said, agreeing and putting it back on the coffee table, "more biochem than engineering – bet Jem would love it." His smile faded; face darkening when he mentioned her name. Skye may have been drunk but she could still tell something was wrong – well FitzSimmons was broken, so something was more wrong than usual.

"She's just scared Fitz." Skye said; she had no great love for the fiercely anti-alien approaches Simmons had been taking in recent weeks – being seemingly part alien herself, something she still couldn't come to turns with – but she could see that Fitz and Simmons needed each other like checks and balances, a house divided couldn't stand. Despite a too selfish part of her slightly happy at the rift between the two of them, Fitzsimmons were a core part of what made SHIELD, and anyone could see they both worked better and were happier when they were together.

"It's not that." He said quietly, the jovial expression he had had just moments earlier seemed to have long since faded away.

"No?" Skye asked softly, trying to prise out more information without coming across too directly. When Fitz said nothing she braced herself and asked, "What happened Fitz?"

Fitz noticeably suppressed a slight smile as his face screwed up into a confused expression, as though he couldn't believe his own thoughts, "She said I was, we were… more."

Skye felt her heart skip a beat and suddenly all the warm fuzziness from the wine slipped away. "That's great Fitz," She said with a forced smile trying to hide the crashing sense of disappointment that seemed to surge up within her – she hadn't realised she cared this much. All the same, Fitz deserved every bit of happiness he could get and if being with Simmons made him so, then who was she to intervene? "That's really great."

"Is it?" Fitz asked, his eyes focussed and piercing her – concern and fear and something else shining from them all at once.

"I always said you two were psychically linked." Skye said, not actually answering the question. Her throat had gone dry, she didn't understand why she suddenly felt so alone even with him there – she didn't understand why exactly he was there and not with Simmons. "What did you say to her Fitz?" She asked, hoping he'd mistake the shaking of her voice for the wine not her anxiety. Even as she asked she noticed light ripples playing across what was left of the wine in the bottle Fitz had put back on the table.

"I said, I needed… time." Fitz answered, reliving the moment in his mind.

"Time for what?" Skye asked, her voice hitched in her throat.

"To think." He said simply. Fitz seemed to notice the ripples from the bottle and looked at her with that same mixture of concern and fear for her more than himself. His voice was soft when he spoke her name, a hint of confused longing in the word. "Skye."

Something changed within her, she stood up and walked towards him, by the time she had closed the gap between them tremors began to rock the cabin – books fell off the shelves, cutlery smashed, the wine bottle rolled off the low table and into the corner of the room. She practically fell ontop of the still sitting Fitz, her legs straddling his waist as she pushed her forehead against his. His hands instinctively snaked their way up her legs and rested on the small of her back. Around them, the lights swung and flickered in their fittings, the fire coughed out a plume of embers like fireflies in the wind and all the while the young scientist held her. She felt the emotion that had been lingering under the surface for so long spill forward; the shaking intensified; the light bulbs shattered, furniture broke into pieces and the wooden panels fixed to the walls came loose, revealing the same metallic plating used on the BUS. As the chaos raged the legs that held up the sofa splintered and buckled, the wood collapsing under the strain of the quaking and the weight of both Fitz and Skye, throwing them to the floor. She fell forward on top of him and, driven more by instinct than thought, pressed her lips against his.

The kiss was electrifying, at the moment they touched a pulse rippled throughout the cabin, cracking the reinforced glass windows and denting the reinforced panelling. Debris gathered around the corners of the room while Fitz and Skye began waging a savage battle of mouths, teeth and tongue and lips mashed furiously together, their bodies literally shaking at the contact. Skye pressed herself closer to him while Fitz drew her in, running his hands up her back and feeling her soften under his touch. As he raised one hand to the side of her head that she didn't catch on the cabinet, the needy urgency of their kissing ebbed and was replaced with a slower but more methodical rhythm that allowed them to better explore each other's mouths. By the time Fitz pulled herself away from the shaking had stopped. He brought them into a sitting position, her legs still wrapped around his thighs, and looked around at the now destroyed cabin. He laughed as his eyes rested on a broken television nearby, "I guess we're not watching a film then."

Skye punched him in the shoulder playfully though admittedly a little too hard – something he pointed out as he brought his hand away from her face to rub the spot she'd hit. Glancing around she knew in other circumstances the damage surrounding them would have terrified her – to some extent it still did, after all she had completely destroyed the cabin in less than a minute – but hearing Fitz make light of the situation made her feel surprisingly at ease. The cabin was now only lit by the fire. a couple of the kitchen lights that didn't break and the dim blue-ish light from the overturned computer screen in the corner. In all directions pieces of broken wood and glass were strewn across the floor and yet atop the collapsed, and yet oddly comfortable, remains of the sofa the surrounding carnage seemed unimportant, though she was slightly nervous at what Coulson would say when he saw it.

Pushing that from her mind she brought her hands to Fitz's face and ran her fingers up through his soft brown hair, leaning impatiently inwards for another kiss. Just before their lips met, though, they were interrupted by the sound of a ringing phone. She groaned from frustration and watched Fitz pull his mobile out of his pocket to check it. Realising it wasn't him being rung he shrugged, before giving an amused smile as Skye crawled over to where her jacket was lying amongst the remains of the coat stand. Fishing her mobile out from her now dusty jacket pocket she saw it wasn't hers either. She looked at Fitz confused for a moment before catching sight of the blueish glow in from the computer in the corner of the room. Sure enough the ringing was coming from somewhere underneath what was left of the desk the computer had been perched on.

She rose unsteadily to her feet and made her way over to it, trying to ignore just how much damage she'd caused. She'd got less than halfway there when she stubbed her toe on a pile of books she hadn't noticed and cursed loudly, finding herself immediately supported by the up to that point dazed Fitz. Her shout of pain had snapped him back from reality and he let her lean on him as they hopped their way to the computer screen. When they got there she threw herself onto floor rather ungraciously while Fitz unburied the computer, brushing the dust off the cracked screen with his sleeve and setting up to look at them. The incoming call was from the Playground and, perching himself on a couple of books, he answered it, almost laughing as his and Skye's webcam feed came up showing the obviously destroyed cabin behind them and the two of them faces flushed red and hair covered in dust. Immediately after hitting accept he regretted not waiting longer to prepare an explanation for Coulson.

But it wasn't Coulson on the other line, it was a rather concerned looking Simmons. "Fitz!" She called out, her voice slightly distorted from the damaged speaker.

"Hi Jemma." He replied in a very typically awkward and understated fashion, as though oblivious to the destruction that surrounded him. Her face went from relief that he was alright, to concern as she caught sight of what Skye had done to the cabin.

"Are you alright? The readings for the retreat – they were off the charts." She said, checking a tablet computer in one hand. "I showed Coulson, they're like nothing we've seen."

"I'm fine Jem." Fitz said to try and calm her down a bit. When she continued looking at her tablet and fretting he added louder, "Simmons."

Realising he was not going to explain anything further, though still noticeably unconvinced that he was entirely alright, she awkwardly capitulated. "Oh, right… I see. Great."

"I'm fine too," Skye said awkwardly, waving her hand to Jemma who seemed not to have noticed her up to this point.

"Skye, I'm sorry – yes, I meant to check, ask..." Simmons began in a flustered and slightly bothered manner. She looked like a rabbit frozen in headlights as everything she said seemed to make her feel worse.

"It's cool seriously," Skye added with a smile to reassure her, "we're good."

Simmons let out a sigh of relief and for a split second everything was quiet, that was before Coulson burst into the Lab behind her anyway. He ran up to the screen looking panicked and then confused as he took in the sight of Fitz and Skye sitting on the floor in the wreckage of the cabin. "What happened?" He asked, though it was clear he knew exactly what had gone on. Fitz guessed Simmons too had probably guessed they had been making out – not least of all because of their messy hair and flushed faces but also because the last time they had been together in the Playground they had almost destroyed the BUS. Considering Simmons' feelings for Fitz, Skye noted she was keeping her composure quite well and felt guilty. When neither Fitz nor Skye said anything Coulson frowned and asked a different question, "Are you both alright?"

"We're fine sir." Skye and Fitz answered almost in unison. It was clear Coulson was already regretting his decision to let Fitz visit her.

Coulson sighed at least partly relieved before squinting to assess the damage as best as he could from his side of the computer, "Well Rodgers won't be happy with what you've done to the place – he really liked it there." Coulson sounded genuinely sad when he said that, his favouritism towards Captain America of all the Avengers was well known.

"We'll fix it sir." Skye offered, hoping that they wouldn't actually have to repair the damage – she would have no idea where to start.

"No don't worry, I'll send a clean up crew with May in the morning, they've got quite good at putting it back together after Banner figured out his issues there…" Coulson offered to their relief, saying the last part more for himself than them. The director seemed to snap back into reality, "In the meantime can you last the night as you are?"

Fitz nodded quietly in the hope that saying yes would let them end the ever growing awkward stares between himself and Jemma – his heart and mind were hammering as he tried to handle what was happening around him. He knew in his heart that he loved Jemma Simmons in a way that he doubted he would ever love anyone else, and yet he felt closer to Skye more than just physically. When he looked towards Jemma he felt a deep rooted sense of longing but also terror – a fear that she would leave him again or decide that he was not up to her standards after the hypoxia. Yet with Skye, there was neither fear nor worry that she wouldn't accept him for who he was now, but still – his feelings for her weren't as strong. Them not being as strong wasn't anything to do with Skye herself; he cared for Skye an enormous amount – more than he thought possible to care for someone who wasn't Simmons, in time he could even embrace those feelings as a love of sorts… but he had been at Simmons' side for so long and they had been inseparable for years. The two of them had an enormous shared wealth of experience and interests that muddled his mind and made his head spin.

"Well I think I broke the bed but I'm sure we'll be alright." Skye joked in an attempt to break the tension, inadvertently increasing it as Simmons and Coulson clearly misconstrued what she had meant innocently.

"Well, try not to break anything else." Coulson said slightly weakly in a vague attempt to bring the conversation to a close and to restore some semblance of order.

"We will sir." Skye answered and the line went dead rather too quickly. She put her hand on Fitz's and smiled at him in relief the call was over but, upon seeing him lost in thought it suddenly dawned on her how hard the conversation must have been for him and Simmons and how hard the situation for him must be in general. "It'll be alright." She said to try and console him before standing up and walking through all the debris searching for something.

After a few moments she returned and handed him what was left of the wine bottle, he smiled at her but she could see he was confused, scared and sad all at once. He held the bottle up to his eye and looked at how little was left in it before asking, "There is more isn't there?" She nodded and stepped over the remains of the counter she had hit her head on to the now broken fridge to get another bottle.

. . .

The Playground:

When Simmons had sent him the readings from the Retreat Coulson had panicked, seeing the spike in tectonic activity and immediately told her to try and reach the in case they were hurt accidently. At the back of his mind he hoped Fitz would help calm Skye and keep her from getting to lonely – it was the only reason he had eventually relented and let him see her, but now he regretted the decision immediately, if anything Fitz had made her worse. By the time he sprinted down to the Lab to where Simmons had managed to get through to his youngest agents he was more relieved that they were both ok than annoyed they had destroyed Banner's cabin – after all, that was what it had been designed for. He didn't care for the damaged furniture – just the damage done to his team. He had seen the rifts forming between members of his team for some time now – after the incident in the ocean Fitz and Simmons were emotionally toxic, Skye had been isolated from the rest of the team, Bobbi and Mack were up to something and Hunter had mysteriously gone missing. He was beginning to wonder how they ever managed to achieve anything.

Coulson wasn't prepared for what happened after he cut the line to the Retreat. Immediately after they hung up Simmons burst into tears, throwing her head into her hands and visibly trembling. When he put his hand on her shoulder to offer what little support he could she spun around in her chair and hugged him in the way a child would hug their parent. He could feel her tears wet the lapel of his suit and hesitantly returned the embrace, looking over to the doorway where May had walked in for some kind of support. May looked just as surprised as he was; Simmons had never shown emotion in this way before. After almost a minute of quietly sobbing the young scientist seemed to realise what she had done and collected herself, brushing the tears from her eyes, before she broke away from Coulson and made for the door – stopping only to mumble that she was sorry. May stepped out of the way for her as Simmons headed in the direction of her bunk; Coulson had no doubts that she would continue crying in private there. He looked to May who shrugged her shoulders; the Cavalry could most likely take out an entire HYDRA squad single handed but was often found lacking when it came to emotional issues.

Coulson furrowed his brow troubled and deeply concerned for the welfare of his team but turned his attention towards the more pressing issue of whatever Bobbi and Mack were up to.


Author's Note:

Hello all, hope you enjoyed it. I'm not quite sure when the story twisted from being a smut vehicle to becoming so angsty and emotional but I hope nonetheless you enjoy the journey. As a supporter of both ships I'm now getting rather confused as to which to follow and how long to make the story - don't think the idea of having them all resolve in a threesome hasn't occurred to me, but that is definitely not how it is going to end lol. As ever major thanks to everyone who follows, likes and reviews the fic. I am, like so may on here, an aspiring writer so any feedback is definitely appreciated - I don't have anyone who betas it though so be relatively gentle! :) Thanks again, and I'll update sometime relatively soon.