Chapter Four

Laughed.

Fitz heard Jemma's laugh ring out through the busy Boiler Room. He smiled as he saw Jemma talking with one of her girl friends. He was about to go up and say hello to the girls, but the sound of his name stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Fitz? You think Fitz fancies me?"

"Of course he does."

"Oh, stop. There is no way," Jemma exclaimed, "We are just friends."

"I don't believe you, He fancies you, and you fancy him."

"No… no… We are just friends," she repeated. "Best Friends."

"Then why have you never had a boyfriend?"

Fitz stayed completely still, sure that he was not supposed to be listening in on this conversation. But now he had to know, had to know her answer. He knew the reason why he hoped she had never had a boyfriend, the same reason why he had never had a girlfriend, because he was pathetically pining over his partner and best friend. Fitz looked around the corner, but the two girls hadn't spotted him.

"I don't have time for a boyfriend. I'm here to learn, to study. I don't have time for a boyfriend, I have too many things to do."

"Too many things to do with Fitz."

"That's work," Jemma exclaimed. "We work together."

"Then prove it." Her friend replied, standing up from the bar stool. "Go talk to that guy."

Fitz followed their gaze, seeing a male student playing darts. Jemma had to know she was way out of that guy's league, right? But would she think that? He was tall, built more like someone from operations than from SciTech. Compared to Fitz, who was scrawny and baby faced. Would Jemma actually go for it?

"No, I couldn't possibly."

Fitz took a sigh of relief, but it didn't last for long.

"Come on!" The girl grabbed Jemma by the arm and pulled her over to the dartboard. "I would like to introduce you to Jemma Simmons."

"Hello," Jemma replied. "I'm Jemma Simmons."

"Adam Wingfield," the other man replied. "Would you like to play some darts?"

"I've never played before, actually."

"That's okay, I'll teach you."

To Fitz's horror he moved around her, cradling her from behind and moving her arm in the proper position to throw the dart. Fitz couldn't stand it; he couldn't stand it for one bit. Fitz moved from his spot on the side of the bar and stalked across the floor. "Jemma, I need you."

"You, what?" Jemma exclaimed; her arm still suspended by the other man, a dart in her hand.

"I need you to come with me, there is a problem with the bots." Fitz replied quickly, but his eyes drifted to the other man. His eyes were filled with jealousy, and from the smirk on the other guys face Fitz could tell that he saw it. The other guy was looking Fitz up and down, clearly sizing him up. Fitz didn't back down, trying to puff himself up so he looked bigger than his usual self. Fitz's jaw was set, his eyes piercing into the other guys, but he just laughed. It was obvious he didn't think Fitz stood any chance again.

But he was wrong.

Though unfortunately it wasn't Fitz that had gotten her to move away from the other guy, but what he had said. Jemma was already moving away from him, placing the dart on the table.

"Who is it? Is it happy again? Don't tell me it's Dopey." Jemma was in her own little world, worrying about the bots that didn't even have a problem. She hadn't seen the stare down that had gone down between Fitz and the other guy. No, she wasn't leaving him because of Fitz, but at least she was leaving.

Fitz shot the man a satisfied look before he put his arm over Jemma's shoulder, leading her out of the Boiler Room and trying to think of how he was going to fake a problem with one of the bots.

A small yelp of pain jolted Fitz out of his daydream. The men had left about an hour before with Jemma unconscious on the other side of the bars. Fitz had tried to reach his hands through the bars so he could touch her, but she was just out of reach. Instead he had to be content with watching her body move up and down with labored breaths, at least glad to know she was alive. Jemma moaned in pain once more, turning over slightly.

"Jemma?" Fitz asked quietly, his voice shaking.

"Fitz?"

Fitz sighed in relief when he heard her voice. "They are gone. Everything's okay." Fitz said, trying to stay positive even though every ounce of him wanted to scream in fury.

"They will be back, they haven't gotten what they want," Jemma replied. He could see the pain on her face as she moved to look at him. She moved her hand close to the bars, which Fitz quickly took in his own hand. "You didn't, right? You didn't give them what they wanted?"

No, Fitz hadn't said anything, despite how much he wanted to. He had screamed at them to stop, desperate for them to stop hurting her. But he never gave them what they wanted. Did Jemma really think he would? Did she really think that he would betray SHIELD's trust? Her trust? But he had wanted to. Deep down he knew he should have. Whatever it took to stop them from hurting her. What would have happened if he had talked? Would she have realized he would have done it for her?

Suddenly Fitz was filled with anger as he looked at her accusatory face. The fear and anger bubbled up and flowed out of him. "Dammit Jemma, would that have been so bad? They were torturing you, killing you!" His voice was high and loud, his eyes filled with too many emotions to count.

"Me! They were torturing me!"she said back, her voice getting stronger despite her frail body. She pulled her hand out of his, staring back at him in disbelief.

"Do you know how hard that was for me to watch?" Fitz exclaimed, "I would rather them torture me, kill me!"

"All you had to do was stay quiet. Keep your mouth shut and keep the vows that we made SHIELD."

"SHIELD. Do you think I give a damn about SHIELD right now? What about the vows I made you? What about when I told you that I would be by your side forever. That we would fix things together." Fitz's chest was heaving; fresh waves of tears streaking down his face. She still didn't get it. She still didn't see. She had missed every look, every moment. Things hadn't changed a single bit from their days at the Academy. They were still friends. Best friends. And she was still more interested in their work than him.

"I didn't tell them a single thing. And it damn well almost killed me not to." He looked at her, seeing tears in her own eyes. Maybe for once she would look at him, see the emotions on his face, instead of looking through him. Perhaps she could understand how hard it was for him to watch her in danger. Then maybe, just maybe, she would understand how much he cared for her. He turned away, looking at the wall in defeat.

"Fitz?"

She moved her hand back to his, taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. Fitz looked back at Jemma. He was speechless, not sure what else to say. He hadn't meant to yell, but it was all just getting to be too much. He looked at her imploringly, hoping she understood where his anger was coming from.

"Thank you."

Fitz sighed. "I promise I won't break. I won't say anything. I give you my word."

"No," Jemma replied, a look in her eyes he almost didn't recognize, a look that went beyond friendship. "Thank you for being by my side once again. You have always been there. I don't know what I would do without you. I know you will do the right thing."

Coulson and May went up and down the streets of the small German town. Armed with a small SHIELD photo of Fitz and Simmons they began going into shops, asking the owners if they recognized the pair. Their first valuable lead was the owner of a toyshop who had sold Jemma a doll. From there they were able to track their movements around the small town.

"Skye?" Coulson asked, getting her on the com. "I need you to get into the security footage of a couple of places. See if you can catch anyone following them from place to place."

"Sure thing, boss," came the quick reply.

May was looking around, carefully inspecting everything around them. Coulson walked up to her, watching her closely. "You getting anything?" Coulson asked hopefully. He had worked with May enough to know that her instincts were far superior over anyone else.

"Nothing," she replied, her voice tight. "But they didn't leave here themselves."

"I know," was all Coulson could say.

"I think I found something." Skye's voice came over the com.

"Go ahead."

"I went through the footage from both the toy store and the clock place around the time that the employees IDed them. There was a guy with them both times, and lets just say he wasn't there to purchase anything. I caught him on the outside feed from a jewelry store following them down the street. Unfortunately the trail ends there. They disappeared into a black out zone and never reappeared."

"Were you able to identify the man?"

"Yes, his name is Anton Kraus. Looks like he is just a low level thug."

"Keep digging. It looks like we have a place to start."

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