Author's Note: I'm really happy the way this turned out. It's a good way to lead into the epilogue. Spoilers for all current Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episodes and I don't own any TV content. Marvel does.

"Sir, just sit down!" Simmons commanded, sounding exasperated again.

"Don't you 'sir' me, Jemma. I can walk out of this place on my own, thank you very much."

Coulson was refusing to sit in the wheelchair that Fitz had brought for him. It had been ten days since he was first admitted to the hospital, and today he would be able to go back to his own compartment. Away from the needles and the smell of antiseptic.

"You can't strain yourself. Your stitches will rip if you try and walk. Do you want to spend an extra three days here or not? Ward can certainly pick you up and put you in the wheelchair if you would like."

A look of horror flashed across his face. He wanted to save his dignity "N-no, I think I'll sit down then." He did. Finally.

The whole team was in the hospital wing, even May, who left the cockpit because we were parked on a remote airstrip who knows where.

"Come on, we'll take you back to your compartment, AC," I offered, grabbing the handles of the wheelchair. Grant stood close to me and we were almost touching, but none of our teammates had picked up on any change between us. Good. It was going to stay that way for a while. We wanted to keep it a secret.

"Bye! Don't kill yourself any time soon!" Fitz called jokingly as we walked away. I swore I heard May laugh. Coulson cracked a smile.

Grant slid the door back and I pushed the wheelchair inside, close to the bed that was in the middle of the room.

"Can I grab you a book to read?" I asked, scanning the shelf along the wall.

"Robinson Crusoe, please. It's about time that I read a classic." I placed it on the bed and with a grunt of effort, managed to help him into bed, pulling the blanket around his legs.

"Yell if you need anything, okay?"

"Fine, fine. Just leave me alone already. I'm tired of being looked after," he whined.

The two of us turned around, heading for the door again.

"Oh, one last thing," he called from his bed.

"Yeah?"

"I've noticed." Our eyes widened. Grant and I exchanged a brief look.

Shit. He was onto us already. Our ten day streak had just ended.

Against my better judgment, I grabbed Grant's hand quickly, but hid it behind my back as we turned around again. He squeezed it for half a second, giving me a sense of comfort.

"Noticed what, sir?" he asked, his voice unwavering. Thank god at least one of us was acting calm.

"First Barton and Romanoff, and now you two!"

"Ha! I knew it! I totally knew it!" I yelled, feeling a little bit proud of myself. "Damn, I was right."

Coulson sighed. "You know relationships between agents are forbidden, correct?"

We both nodded meekly.

"This is highly out of the ordinary, but I'm going to choose to ignore what's going on between the both of you. As long as you maintain a professional working relationship out in the field and your judgment isn't clouded, you can stay together. Am I clear?"

"Of course, sir." On the outside, I was smiling, but on the inside, I was giddy. It wasn't a secret. We didn't have to hide it any longer.

"No offence, sir," Grant commented, a smirk on his face. "But it seems that you've been getting softer with age."

"I'm going to ignore that too, Agent Ward."

"Thank you...Phil." Whoa. Nobody called him Phil. Ever. This was groundbreaking.

"Grant."

That evened it out. We left quickly after that, not wanting to spill anything else.

"So, do we tell the rest of them?" I asked.

He leaned down to kiss my cheek. "What's there to lose? It's not like FitzSimmons is going to shoot us or anything."

"Agent May just might," I said, only half kidding.

"Well, I'm indestructible."

"Wouldn't that make you Superman?"

"Oh, shut up."

###################################################################################

Down at the lab, I saw three very different facial expressions on three very different people. We had just revealed the relationship we worked so hard to keep under wraps. Simmons was grinning from ear to ear. Fitz was in utter disbelief. May looked smug, as if she'd known about it all along.

"Somebody say something!" I cried, not wanting to stand at the front of the room in awkward silence any longer. Simmons opened her mouth, but all that came out was an indescribably girlish squeal. She ran to us and wrapped us in a bone-crushing hug. More squeals. Not wanting to seem rude, Grant slowly pried himself out of her grip.

"I'm glad you're glad Simmons," he chuckled. "Now only if you could let Skye breathe, please."

"Oops, sorry!"

She laughed, her bright eyes twinkling. Fitz walked up, snaking an arm around her waist and pinching Grant on the arm.

"Ouch! Watch it!"

Fitz cleverly scooted away before Grant had the chance to swat him on the back of the head.

"Ughh, I think I'm going to be sick," May groaned, pretending to cover her mouth with her hand. She faked retching noises and moved toward the door.

"Love is in the air, Agent May!" Simmons called happily as she left. "She's just jealous, don't worry. It's a part of human nature."

"Where did you learn that?" I asked, feigning curiosity.

"Charles Darwin's book on Innate Human Behaviours," Fitz and Simmons said together. Of course they would know about it. They could literally pull scientific facts out of nowhere.

"We need to find her a boyfriend!" Simmons exclaimed.

"You're genius, Simmons. Absolutely genius," I said. "But who do we set her up with? There's not a lot of people on this plane."

Collectively we pondered the idea. All of a sudden, I had an answer, but it made me shudder slightly. Coulson. Oh boy. Our work was cut out for us.

"Coulson!" I burst out. "We need to set her up with Coulson."

"On a scale of one to impossible, how logical is that idea?" Grant asked, smirking.

"Not too logical," Fitz reasoned, "but statistically, not impossible."

"Alright then, let's do it."

"Only if we can name it Operation Monkey," Fitz added.

"No! No way!"

"Say yes or else I'm out."

"Oh, fine," Grant said finally, sighing heavily. "You two," he nodded to Simmons and I, "start constructing possible scenarios and Fitz and I can work on the logistics."

We all nodded. The boys left to work on the "logistics", but I highly doubted that they would be getting any work done at all. Most of their time would be spent arguing or coming up with new weapon ideas. They couldn't concentrate for long. Simmons and I, on the other hand, went right to work. She had given me a notebook and a pen to write down ideas in, but after an hour, I still hadn't made a mark on the first page. Beside me, Simmons had almost written a novel, complete with diagrams.

"So, Simmons," I started, trying to start a conversation. It had been over an hour since we had last said a word. "How are things between you and Fitz?"

She looked up, blushing slightly and obviously uncomfortable. Clearly, nobody had asked her about it before.

"Uh...we're fine really. Great actually. We're going to see my parents on our next day off. They really want to meet him, me being their only daughter and all."

"Aww, you've only been dating for a while and you're taking him to meet your parents? That's so cute!"

"For your information," stated Simmons. "We've been dating for one month and three days. I think that amount of time necessitates a visit to my parents' house. Anyways, they haven't seen me since I've been ill. It's starting to worry them, I think."

"Still, that pretty frickin' awesome. I'm happy for you. Now I can start a betting pool on how long it takes him to propose. Coulson will definitely be in on it.'

Simmons turned even redder. "I think it is way too early to even discuss the matter."

"Look me in the eye and tell me you haven't thought about it, Simmons."

"Maybe I have," she admitted. "I've always wanted to get married outdoors somewhere. A small and quiet wedding. But I really must get married sooner rather than later because I want my father to walk me down the aisle. He's not in the greatest shape at the moment."

"When the time comes, I'll be there to make sure your wedding is perfect," I said firmly.

"Thank you Skye!" she exclaimed, rushing to give me a hug. I hugged her tightly in return. As we broke apart, she sniffed.

"Skye, do you really think this idea with May and Coulson is going to work?"

"Absolutely not, Jemma. I was only trying to get the boys out of our hair so we could finally have the chance to talk."

"Very smart move you made there."

"Thanks."

As if I had jinxed it, Grant and Fitz walked in the door a few seconds later, holding a piece of paper with scribbles on it aloft proudly.

"So, we have a few ideas!" they announced. Their faces fell slightly. "But nothing will actually work."

"It's not like we can set them up on a blind date," Fitz added, "because they'll know who the other person is. Which means that it's basically pointless."

"I guess we'll just have to let nature take its course," I said, a little sad. "Coulson is probably still a little heartbroken over the situation with the cellist. Maybe he's not ready to move on just yet."

"We'll have to give them some direction. Nudge them a little bit," Simmons suggested.

"That's a job for Jemma and I," Fitz interjected. "We see a lot more of Coulson than you guys do. May is always busy so we can't really rely on the fact that she's always around."

"Good idea," Grant said. "Let us know if there is any progress, but don't screw up! We only have one shot at this."

"Trust me, we won't screw up," Fitz said confidently.

And so we left them to work in the lab, with no sign of Coulson in the halls. It was quiet and Grant had an arm slung around my shoulder.

"You're quiet," he remarked.

"Huh, you say that like it's a bad thing," I replied.

"It's just unlike you, that's all."

"Okay then. Well, I've been thinking."

"About what exactly?" he asked.

"How short life is. Coulson being...injured got me thinking. Life is too short to spend it doing something you don't enjoy."

"You do only live once."

"So you have to make the most of it. Regret absolutely nothing."

"Exactly. You're sounding a little philosophical. Have you been spending a lot of time doing tai-chi with May?"

"Nah, she scares me. And she's always silent. It's almost a little creepy. So even if I do spend a lot of time with her, we don't pass the time talking."

"If it makes you feel any better, she scares me too," he admitted sheepishly.

"Yeah? Who else scares you then?"

"Promise not to tell anyone? Or laugh?" he questioned, holding up his pinkie finger.

I linked my finger with his. "Promise."

"Alright, Agent Hill scares me."

"Hill? Really?" I asked incredulously, trying to hold back my laughter.

"You promised that you wouldn't laugh!" he said, his feelings obviously a little hurt. I patted him on the arm, still laughing.

"I lied."

End Note: Yep, that was short and sweet. A word of warning - I cried while writing the epilogue. I'm a big softie, so if you're like me, have a few tissues around. Anyways, I'll post it fairly quickly. You guys rock!