Jemma sat in the kitchen, enjoying the pleasant smell of baking pastries in the air while looking over the team's potential new cases.

"How so many incredible things happen unnoticed right under people's noses is beyond me," she told Leo, who was scrubbing the dishes. "Here's a case of wild flowers blooming a rainbow of colours in a midwinter meadow. Now that would be a sight to see, flowers poking up through a layer of snow. The photo is beautiful, oh I hope we get to go!"

A photograph showed them, bright patches of color against white snow. Not exactly alarming but definitely something to grab your curiosity.

Leo came over and embraced her from behind, leaning down so his chin rested on her shoulder as he examined the picture on the screen.

"That'd be a nice place to have a picnic," he decided.

"We could take a few samples while we're there," she added, enjoying his warmth.

He chuckled and pulled his arms away, kissing the top of her head before returning to the dishes. "Better flowers than bugs," he joked.

She rolled her eyes, he could be so silly about certain things. Insects were just as good as flowers but he was probably worried about them getting in his sandwich.

She returned her attention to the cases. Slightly more urgent was the case of frozen heads which were being stolen from cryonic storage facilities. Even more puzzling than what anyone would want frozen human heads was that the thieves, Shield suspected, were shapeshifters.

The oven beeped and she heard him removing the pastries.

"Shapeshifters!" She gushed after filling him in. "What fun it would be to see one of those in action. Maybe take a few blood and tissue samples..."

She continued to read through the files as he finished in the kitchen, keeping him updated on what she found.

"There you go!" Leo exclaimed proudly, setting down a heaping plate of pastries. "Some famous Simmons blackberry pastries...I hope I got it right... You'll tell me if I messed up the recipe won't you?"

"I'm sure you've mastered it," she assured him, setting aside her tablet and rising to kiss his cheek before returning to her seat.

He took the seat beside her, munching on a bowl of carrots and broccoli, and watched her take one onto her napkin.

"You're really off sweet things aren't you?" She mused as he crunched one of the carrots.

He nodded, "It's awful, all I can stomach is vegetables," he said as if it were some horrible profanity and she giggled at him wondering how long that would last.

"Why would you make pastries then?" She asked.

"For my superhero girlfriend, because she loves them," he answered, gazing fondly at her and she blushed.

"I don't know if I fit the exact definition of a superhero..." She protested.

"Well then the definition should be changed," he insisted. " Because what you did, finding a cure and stopping me from exploding, that was incredibly super and hero. And on top of that, you should have seen the way you swung down from the ceiling! You were my hero."

She almost pointed out that he had exploded anyway but she didn't really want to think about that. She still remembered the feel of his cold, lifeless form in her arms.

"We're all pretty super," she agreed, feeling very good because he'd called her his hero, before taking a bite of the pastry. He'd got the recipe just right, on his first time alone too. Clever Leo. "These are perfect," she told him happily. She was about to add 'we should share them with the others,' when Skye skipped into the kitchen breathing in deeply as she smelled the baking.

"What are you making in here?" She asked and her face lit up when she saw the pastries. "Oh yum! Can I try one?"

"Go ahead," Leo offered, sliding the plate towards her. "They're blackberry, it's Simmons' family recipe."

She took one and tore off a piece to pop in her mouth. It looked as if she enjoyed it very much.

"I'll go get the others, Jemma announced. "Everyone should enjoy these."

She kissed Leo goodbye, feeling a tightness in her chest for a moment at the thought that he might not be there when she returned. But she couldn't live her life worrying that the man she loved was in danger each time she left. They were agents of Shield and they had an incredibly hazardous job however, so far, they had always found their way back to each other. She needed to keep believing that they always would so she shook off her apprehension and smiled at him before hopping away to find the others.

/-/-/

Leo watched her skip away feeling immensely grateful that she was alive. Things could have gone so differently. If his powers he hadn't bent the blast...

He still felt sick thinking about it, how scary it had been. How scary he had been.

Skye must have noticed his expression change because she sat down beside him and tilted her head questioningly. "What's wrong?" She asked gently.

He glanced at her briefly before looking away. "I could have killed her," he murmured. "I've never been afraid like that before. I've never been afraid of myself."

"Yeah, that's not easy," she sighed, her voice filled with understanding.

He shook his head quickly, not wanting her to misinterpret him. "You have nothing to be scared of." He insisted. "You can control your powers. We all trust you."

"Sometimes I don't trust myself." She admitted.

"You saved me," he reminded her. "Jemma told me what you did."

She picked at the pastry not saying anything and he worried he'd upset her. He knew how sensitive she was about her ability though it wasn't something they ever spoke about.

"Do you remember when I killed Jeremy Fischer?" She asked slowly and he nodded because he did. It was the only time she had ever used her ability to kill.

"I was hurt, I didn't have a weapon and he was going to shoot May. She was going to die because she had come back to protect me even though she was unarmed too. I couldn't stop it, I felt so helpless. Everything happened so fast, he was about to pull the trigger and I just thought 'off.'" She shook her head, smiling though she didn't look happy. "Off. Who thinks that? Not stop or don't or no, just off. And he turned off." She paused, and he could tell she was remembering that day, seeing it. He waited patiently for her to continue.

"I was so scared," she said at last. "I was scared of what I could do, what I was. I didn't want to be around people because I was convinced I was dangerous, I was a monster."

"You're not," he asserted gently, placing his hand on her arm. "You're Skye, good, kind Skye and you've saved every one of us at some point. You saved May that day."

She smiled at him, a happy one this time. "That's what made me brave again. You all believing in me, believing I was still me no matter what else I was. So I let myself be around other people and I didn't hurt anyone. I never hurt anyone again using that power. I never used it at all until yesterday."

"When did you figure out you could do that?" He wondered. If she hadn't been using her power how had she known what to do?

"I didn't," she said, sounding almost guilty. "Fitz you need to understand you were so far gone... You were like ice and you were barely breathing. I didn't even think you were breathing except that Simmons kept insisting you were. And the look on her face... It was like she knew you weren't going to make it but she was trying to convince herself, all of us, you were. I didn't know if it was going to work or if it would kill you but I did know we didn't have any other options so I took your hand and I focused on you being alive and I thought 'on.'"

"Well it worked," he told her brightly, hoping she saw that he wasn't angry with her for using her power on him. On the contrary, he was really glad she had. "And I'm thankful for that."

"Me too," she agreed and they grinned at each other.

"You're too soft to be a monster anyway," he teased. "What kind of monster cries at the end of a children's movie?"

"Hey, that little robot steals your heart," she defended. "And I remember a certain someone needing Simmons to hold their hand on that flying saucer ride."

"She was scared too," he informed her. She raised her eyebrows at him. "OK, I guess we're both too soft to be monsters," he conceded.

"Way too soft," she agreed. "Besides," she went on, serious now, "I've figured out that being a monster is a choice. We both chose not to use our powers to hurt people so we didn't. Stop making yourself crazy thinking you could have hurt her because you couldn't have. It was never a possibility."

Her words extinguished the fear and guilt that had been swirling around inside him. It was never a possibility. It was a choice and an easy one to make for both of them.

/-/-/

Jemma was snuggled up against Leo, their legs warm under a blanket and a large book on their laps.

"Oh wow, look at the colours on that spider!" Leo exclaimed, tapping the page. "It looks just like the flower."

"Didn't I tell you 'creepy crawly things' were fun?" she laughed, using his word for arachnids, insects, roundworms, flatworms, earthworms and just about anything that wasn't a vertebrate.

"Yeah, well the flower is winning here," he grinned, pointing to the next page where an orchid disguised itself as a female bee to trick male bees into trying to mate with it so it could be pollinated.

"That's from the Orphys genus," she told him. "The flower actually smells like the female bees."

"What a trickster," he joked. "And that one puts flowers in the lead."

"Are you actually keeping score?" She chuckled.

"Yeah, I am," he replied. "And flowers are winning."

She shook her head but his game was adorable. Even if she was never going to pick a side.

"Well write down the points because it's time to go to sleep," she said, closing the book.

"OK," he agreed, yawning.

They were in her bunk tonight, which was why they were reading her book. Coulson had recently given them permission to sleep in the same room.

"You haven't been any less productive since being together so I don't see why sharing a room would change that," he'd shrugged when they'd asked. "Besides Simmons maybe you could convince Fitz to get up a bit more quickly when we need you for something."

She doubted that but she had nodded enthusiastically, willing to try.

"And the rule still stands," he'd reminded them. "No sex on the bus. You sleep, that's all. Or make gadgets, that's fine too."

Make gadgets. Right before going to sleep? Coulson had such a sense of humour.

Though if they were together they would probably discuss some of their ideas, maybe sketch out some blueprints, do some reading on the subject. Hmm...

The light flicked off.

"Goodnight Jemma," Leo said sleepily, finding her face and giving her a kiss. He was warm and the touch of his lips sent a small spark across her face.

"Goodnight Leo," she replied before laying down her head and closing her eyes.

It didn't make much of a difference, she hadn't been able to see at all with them open either it was so dark. Leo didn't like the dark but she'd discovered it bothered him far less when she was there. He fell asleep after a short time and she listened as his breathing became steady and even.

'He's not going anywhere,' she assured herself. 'You can sleep, no one is coming to take him. And if anyone dares you'll find him.'

He'd called her his hero. Maybe she was because she would always protect him, always come for him. She felt safe sleeping beside him because she knew he'd do the same for her. She was his hero and he was hers and that made them stronger.

She let herself drift off to sleep.

/-/-/


Thanks for all the likes, follows, reviews and reads! This one was so fun and I hope you had fun with me.

Fun Background

The Fringe reference in this chapter is the shapeshifters stealing frozen heads. It is the plot of 2x04 Momentum Deferred. Olivia's boss Broyles asks her very seriously: "Why are shapeshifters from another universe stealing frozen heads?"

The movie Fitz mentions is WallE :)

Some of Fitz and Skye's conversation is inspired by a quote from Avatar the Last Airbender. Aang talks to Katara about his thoughts on going into the Avatar state and he tells her "It was scary, I was scary."

Simmons is totally a hero and not only for protecting Fitz but for protecting everyone and for doing the right thing no matter how hard or scary it is.