Fitz groaned and pried his eyes open. The brightness of the room was blinding, so he screwed them shut again. Where was he? He tried to think back. He had been on a mission with Skye. A mission to find Simmons. Simmons! They had found her but she had still been brainwashed! She had tried to kill him! And then...

"Fitz?"

Fitz felt someone grab his hand. The other hand felt small and a bit frail. Jemma. Fitz forced his eyes to open. The bright blur of the world slowly came into focus. He was in a hospital room. After a moment, he began to recognize it as the hospital room in the Playground. The one that Jemma had been in. And there she was, smiling down at him.

"There you are." she cooed softly.

Fitz felt a smile pull at the corners of his mouth.

"Miss me, love? " he whispered hoarsely.

Jemma's lip quivered and she nodded as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Yes. Very much so." she murmured, her voice starting to break.

Fitz squeezed her hand before bringing it to his lips and planting a kiss on her knuckles.

"Me too." he whispered against her skin.

Jemma choked back a sob and threw her arms around him. Fitz patted her back comfortingly while she whispered over and over again how sorry she was. He shook his head.

"I'm not mad at you, Jem. I'm just happy that you're finally safe." he cooed.

Jemma pulled back a bit to gaze into his eyes. Fitz brought his hand up to cradle her cheek, gently stroking it with his thumb.

"So damn happy." he whispered.

Jemma smiled as she leaned down and tenderly kissed his lips. Fitz closed his eyes and kissed her back, savoring every second. It was nearly a full 30 seconds before Fitz heard someone clear their throat behind Simmons. The couple broke apart and looked to see Skye standing in the doorway, a smirk on her face.

"You know, Dr. Simmons, I believe that's the best medicine you've given him." she teased as she came into the room.

Simmons blushed and scoffed.

"Skye, please." she said, rolling her eyes.

Skye came over and patted Jemma's back.

"Relax, I'll leave you guys alone in a minute, I just wanted to drop by before I went to training with May."

She looked at Fitz and smiled.

"Simmons told me what you did. That was pretty badass. What was your plan if it didn't work?" she inquired.

Fitz shrugged.

"Probably die I guess. I suppose I didn't really think that through well." he said sheepishly.

Skye gave him a "No, duh!" look then smiled.

"Well, I'm glad it did work. You got Simmons back for us and you got a manly-looking scar out of the deal so, win, win, win."

Fitz looked insulted.

"Are you saying, I'm not manly without a scar?" he accused.

Simmons and Skye both laughed. Skye patted Fitz's arm.

"Get well soon, buddy." she said as went to leave.

Then she remembered something. She turned to Simmons.

"Oh yeah, may wanted me to tell you that she's good to do your final session tonight." she reported.

Simmons glanced sheepishly at Fitz then smiled and nodded at Skye.

"Alright, tell her that's fine." she replied.

Skye nodded and walked off. Fitz looked at Jemma curiously.

"Session?" he questioned.

Jemma shrugged.

"Well, there's still some things I can't quite sort out so Skye and May have been helping me use the memory retrieval machine the past couple of days." she said, nervously fidgeting with her fingers.

Fitz looked at her sadly.

"I'm sorry. I tried to find a better way but I just didn't have enough time." he said, grabbing her hand again.

Jemma gave a small smile and shook her head.

"It's alright, Fitz. It's not as bad for me. I'm not trying to remember anything traumatic. Mostly trying to sift through the truth and the lies about Hydra." she said, trying to reassure him.

Fitz motioned for her to come closer. She leaned down and he cupped the back of her head. He pulled her into a deep, loving kiss. She closed her eyes and moaned softly into his lips. Fitz moved to sit up but a shooting pain in his gut told him that was a bad idea. Simmons noticed him wince and looked at him worriedly.

"Here, let me give you some more morphine. " she offered as she reached for a syringe.

Fitz grabbed her hand to stop her and shook his head.

"Morphine makes me sleepy. I don't want to sleep." he protested.

Simmons looked at him pleadingly.

"You need your rest to heal, Fitz." she said as she gently pried her arm free.

She picked the syringe up as well as a vial of morphine.

"Besides, I have to go shower anyway. I've been sitting by your bloody side since last night." she said with a small smirk.

Fitz scrunched up his face in disgust.

"I thought I smelled something manky." he teased.

Simmons scoffed and stuck the needle in his arm a bit roughly, making him gasp in pain and pull away.

"Bloody hell, woman, I was only fooling!" he whined.

Simmons gave him an innocent look and shrugged.

"Oops. I guess my manky hand slipped." she said with a cheeky smile.

She tossed the used syringe in the biohazard wastebasket and patted Fitz's head softly. She bent down and kissed his forehead.

"I'll be back when you're awake." she promised.

Fitz smiled and sighed. "I'll be waiting." he whispered.

~*#*~

Three weeks passed quickly. Fitz's recovery was slow but steady and Simmons was there to help him every step of the way. They were all but back to normal now. Coulson had no plans to put either of them back in the field anytime soon, which suited them just fine. They were perfectly content to stay tucked away in their lab. By day, they worked and argued together like they always had. Every once in a while though, Simmons would get flashbacks that would send her shaking with fear and anger. During those times, Fitz would quietly take her in his arms and stroke her hair comfortingly. And he would whisper to her, over and over:

"You're alright, baby girl. I'm here. I'm not giving up on you."

~*#*~

*whew* I finished! ^_^ I'm so glad and sad at the same time. This story was so fun to write and I really appreciated everyone's comments and reviews! Thank you all for reading! See you next year with more Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D fan-fics!