xXx

Love was his undoing. He'd known this girl for more than 10 years and everything had been fine. But then he'd gone and fallen in love with her. He didn't even know how or when it had happened, it just did. And that's when everything went to hell. His feelings went from the normal run of the day-to-day, to being anxious, scared, jealous, afraid, terrified, relieved, happy, crushed, disappointed, angry, despairing, and numb - representing more or less the entire emotional spectrum.

Love was not a simple walk in the park, it was an endless heart ripping experience. And the constant danger they kept finding themselves in didn't help the matter much.

Already he'd given up the world for her, more than once in fact. And there was no doubt in his mind that he'd do it all over again if he had the chance. Love was worth it, and she was most definitely more than worth it. That, and he could literally not imagine a world where she didn't exist. He'd tried that, and he wouldn't recommend it. Like a well-oiled machine without its most vital parts, his systems had broken down completely, a total meltdown, crashed and burned. He'd become consumed by doubt, anger, and hatred. Burrowed himself in his work, trying to find a way to get her back, gone out on every crazy limb that had presented themselves to him, almost getting himself killed in the process. Nothing else mattered to him. Getting her back was his sole priority, everything else just paled in comparison.

And by some luck, or more likely science, he had succeeded.

But love must have made him crazy, because none of this was logical, he had willingly suffered through brain damage caused by lack of oxygen, just so she could survive - her having dragged him along, minimizing her own chances of survival was another discussion. But all that pain, the thought of never being himself again, being who he were, was scary. After all that, it had taken him a while to understand her reaction - just as a friend, not anything more... yet - to the "new" him. But now he got it, after having been on the other side of the equation. Helping someone heal was just as hard as being the one doing the healing. Luckily they were both young, and therefore they had both been able to recover quite well.

Anyway that was just how it was. Each time a new threat resurfaced his first thought was of Simmons..., of where she was, if she was okay, and how he could protect her from being hurt? Over time he'd learned to duck, or if that wasn't an option, to fight back, but Simmons had a different approach to danger, it was almost as if she was drawn to it. She liked to help, and he couldn't really blame her for that, but it contributed to putting her in situations that he wasn't comfortable with her being in. However it did seem she had learned a little self-preservation while she'd been away, which was fine, but it still didn't stop him from worrying.

Some days he wasn't sure if he was built to love this intensely, the strain of things. So far it hadn't really done him any favours. But he only had to look over at her to know that it was all worth it. People might think love was his downfall, his pressure point or ruin, but the truth was that without love he wouldn't be who he was, he would never have become brave enough, or strong enough to fight evil in all the forms that they had encountered. Without Jemma Simmons, Leopold Fitz would have never been the man he was today. Love might have been his undoing but only in so far that it had killed the boy and made the man. A transformation much more comprehensive than that of the terrigen mist crystals. If love had done anything to him it was make him a better version of himself. And all in all that was something Fitz was happy to live with.

A/N: All these men ready to give up their life for Jemma..., well I can't say that I blame them. And Will was nice, but I'm not sad that he's dead. FitzSimmons shipper all the way!

I only really had the idea for the Will chapter, so the Fitz one is all over the place, but it just seemed fitting to put it in considering how much he has done for love.