Drabble 67: Bridging the Gap

A/N: Drabble requested by SwifteForeverAndAlways. I revised it slightly, but I hope you like it! All requests have been taken into account and are lined up to be written, but if you have more let me know! Leave me a review!

She walked back in with Agent Morse and Trip and smiled when she saw him.

"Director Coulson."

"Welcome back Agent Simmons." He said. He looked at Agent Morse.

"I wouldn't be back if Agent Morse hadn't been there. She's a blessing, really." Simmons said.

"That's why she's part of our team now."

Simmons opened her mouth, a bit shocked, and smiled at her. "That's great!"

Then Simmons looked around and saw him, standing in the room next to them.

"Go see him." Coulson pressed gently.

She nodded and walked into the room, leaving the others behind her.

"Hello Fitz." She said.

He looked up. "Is it really you?"

"Of course it's me. Who else would it be?"

He continued to look at her for a second and then looked down.

"How've you been?" she asked.

"You don't have to act like that." Fitz said.

"Act like what?" she asked, taken aback.

"Like you really care. I know you left."

Simmons was really confused now. Of course she left. But she'd never stopped caring.

"See you." He said. Then he walked out of the room.

She just stood there, shocked and confused. She had known their first conversation would be awkward, maybe even a bit painful, but that was barely a conversation. He'd shut her down completely.

She had lost that crucial connection between them. She suddenly knew it. When she had walked out of this base to go undercover, she had cut herself off from her team. From Skye and May. From Fitz. Everyone except Coulson.

At dinner that night her suspicions were proven true. Fitz sat as far away from her as possible, on one end of the table next to Mack. Mack was talking with Hunter, and Bobbi joined in as soon as she sat down. Coulson wasn't there; he was doing something he said couldn't wait. And May was talking to Skye on the other end of the table, Trip sitting across from them.

Simmons sat next to Skye, hoping to talk to her like she had before. Like she needed to.

But after a quick hug and cheery welcome back, the hacktivist-turned-agent didn't really talk to her.

It's not like Simmons needed a big fuss about coming back. She just wanted to know her relationship with her teammates was undamaged. Her "talk" with Fitz had scared her.

Simmons barely spoke during that meal, except when Bobbi started talking about their escape.

"Yeah, it was quite the adventure!" Simmons said.

"Where was the plane?" Mack asked.

"Next to the building, in stealth mode." Trip said.

And the conversation continued.

But Simmons felt isolated in the room, even between all of the people she loved. There was a gap between them now. And she didn't know how to close it again.

Maybe they just needed time. Simmons looked over at Fitz and sighed, wishing he would talk to her. He was the one she really wanted to talk to. But he had walked away, so she would give him the space he wanted.

Maybe the way to close the gap was to reintegrate herself into the group. She wasn't very good at that herself. Having two PhD's at age seventeen had meant limited time socializing. But if she had help…

And now she knew Agent Morse, who saved her. She could be trusted.

So that was who she turned to. She needed to talk to someone. Agent Morse was the only person she really could talk to.

"Agent Morse?" Simmons asked after dinner.

The agent turned from the others to look at her and half-smiled. "Bobbi."

"Right. Bobbi." Simmons said, smiling nervously.

"What's up?" Bobbi asked.

"Could I talk to you?" Simmons said. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting."

"No, it's fine. We were done talking anyway." Bobbi looked back at Mack and Hunter. "See you guys later."

Then she followed Simmons to the room she and Fitz had been in before.

"Have you gone undercover before?"

"Sure." Bobbi said.

"When you got back from an undercover mission, did your team… treat you differently?"

"Not really. Why?"

Simmons closed her eyes for a second as it hit her. It wasn't usual. It was her that had driven them away.

"Fitz won't talk to me."

"He probably just needs time to get used to you being back."

"Skye isn't talking to me either. She's not ignoring me, but the ease we used to have… it seems like it's gone."

"You don't think you fit in after going undercover." Bobbi said.

"Is that completely mental?"

"I don't know about completely, but…" Bobbi smiled teasingly. She put a hand on Simmons shoulder. "You haven't even been back for a day. Things will go back to normal, I promise."

"Thank you Agent – Bobbi."

"I can help you get to know Mack and Hunter." Bobbi said. "Mack's a good guy. Hunter is… challenging, but a good laugh."

"Okay." Simmons said. And she actually smiled. She wasn't alone. Bobbi would help her get back to normal.

Simmons sought out Bobbi frequently after that chat. She sat by her at the meals the team shared, and was included in her conversations with Mack and Hunter. By the second day back Skye was warming up to Simmons again, and Simmons found out it wasn't her that made Skye stay quiet. Skye was going through a lot with Ward, her father, and something else, though she wouldn't tell Simmons what the other thing was.

It didn't matter. Bobbi had been right about needing time. Skye became Simmons's best friend again.

But Fitz didn't budge in his determination to have nothing to do with her. He only spoke to her when he had to, and if Mack was in the room he acted like he was speaking to him instead of her.

So she stuck by Bobbi's side. She really liked Agent Morse. She could grow to be as good a friend as Skye, Simmons thought.

Then, one time, Bobbi took her aside and looked at her carefully. "What's going on?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Something's bothering you, and you haven't said anything to me in a while. Hunter thinks you have a crush on me."

"What?!"

Bobbi smiled. "I told him you'd react like that. Hunter's an idiot. But I did get a reaction from you."

Simmons realized she had been quiet. It had been a week since they'd gotten back, and the last two days she had been withdrawn. She hadn't thought it was that noticeable though.

"I just want to help." Bobbi said. "Is it Fitz?"

Simmons met her eyes, shocked she had known.

"I thought that's what was bothering you." She said. She looked around and started walking away, gesturing for Simmons to follow her. She led her to an empty room and sat down on a chair, pointing to the empty one next to her. "Tell me."

Simmons sat and put her hands in her lap, nervously moving them. "I've known Fitz for a very long time. We've always gotten along really well. Then we were trapped at the bottom of the ocean."

"What?"

Simmons explained their story, from Ward sending them to the ocean floor to being back at the base when Fitz woke up. "He told me he loved me before we got out of the tank." She finished. "He didn't expect to live. But I wasn't going to leave him behind. It was horrible, waiting for him to wake up, not knowing how he would be. It was the longest time of my life. And when he did wake up, he struggled so much. He couldn't get the words out, though his mind was still brilliant. But he relied on me too much. I had to leave to let him recover, and I think he feels like I betrayed him because… I never said anything after he said he loved me. And then I left."

Bobbi had listened silently as she told her story, and now she took a deep breath. "That is complicated."

Her tone made Simmons laugh, despite how serious she felt. It was odd how telling the story relaxed and stressed her. She was a bundle of emotions.

"I never meant to hurt him." Simmons said. Now her voice trembled and shook. "He's improved so much. Coulson always told me how he was doing, every time he came to check in with me."

"I know you care about him." Bobbi said gently. "And I think he does too. But I don't think he understands why you left."

"I need to talk to him." Simmons said, forcing the tears back and making her voice strong again. "But what if he doesn't talk?"

"All you can do is try to make him listen."

Simmons nodded. "Okay."

"Maybe tell him what you told me? How Coulson kept you updated? And you could tell him you love him too."

Her mouth opened and her eyes widened as she looked at Bobbi again.

"You do, don't you?"

"I don't… I don't know." Simmons said quietly.

"Then wait. But let him know how much you care about him, and how much you miss him. I can't replace Fitz, Jemma."

Was that what Simmons had been doing? Trying to replace Fitz with Bobbi? Whenever she saw Mack with Fitz she felt a flare of jealousy, and went to find Bobbi.

"I'm sorry." Simmons said. "I didn't realize-."

"Don't worry about it." Bobbi cut in. "You needed my help. And now I've got another girl I can talk to. You'd be surprised how few friends I have that are girls."

Simmons smiled, forcing back a laugh. "You really are a blessing, Bobbi."

"Enough of this. You need to go talk to Fitz."

"Now?"

"Yes, before you lose your nerve!" Bobbi smiled. "You'll do fine."

She found him in the lab. Luckily, he was alone.

"Fitz." She said.

His back was to her, and when she spoke it stiffened. "What do you want?" he asked, not looking at her.

"To talk."

"There's nothing for us to talk about."

"Yes, there is. I'm sorry I left."

"Then why did you go?" he asked.

He was still facing away from her, but his voice shook with anger… and grief.

"Fitz, I had to leave."

"That's a lie." He said. "You wanted to."

"Yes, I did. Because you needed to be away from me. I knew my being by your side constantly, speaking for you because I knew exactly what you wanted to say, wasn't helping you. It was hurting you. You depended on me, and I was more than willing to take care of you. But I had to stop, to let you heal on your own."

"Why… why didn't you tell me then?"

"Because I was worried I was wrong." She said softly. "I thought there was a chance my leaving would only bring you pain, and if I talked to you about it, I knew you could convince me to stay. And I would have."

Fitz was quiet.

"Coulson told me how you were getting better." She continued. "He kept me updated. I never abandoned you."

"Well it felt like you did." He said.

"Yes." She said, her voice small again. "Yes, I suppose it did. And I'm sorry about that."

He turned his head to the side to look at her, and she saw his blue eyes rimmed pink, as if fighting off tears. "Are you going to leave again?"

"Absolutely not." She said. "I could hardly work up the nerve to do it once. I'm never leaving again."

He nodded, turning to look back at his work.

She stood by the door, looking at him with a faint smile. They weren't back yet, but they were recovering.

A bridge was being built over the gap that had sprung up between them.