Phil Coulson wasn't blind to the rumors floating around Fitz and Simmons. He knew about the anti-fraternization rule in place for teams, and for the most part, understood why it was there.
The theory was that if one agent died, the other agent would then perform below standards. Likewise, if the agents split, even if they were completely professional about it, it would still affect the work environment as well as their performance.
Did he want to separate them? Of course not, they were the best team of scientists SHIELD had produced in a long time.
Did he want to test Simmons to see if she could function without Fitz? Yes, but the answer was much more complex than just a yes or no answer. If she could retain her professionalism and continue to work well, then he could possibly overlook the fact that his two scientists were going to get together at some point in time.
After all, the whole point of the anti-fraternization rule was so that the two agents involved wouldn't be compromised if something happened to the other (also a small part of his mind told him that if they did get together, they would never leave each other, so the other reason of the anti-fraternization rule didn't apply). Plus, being the director gave him some more perks.
Did he feel guilty about keeping Fitz's progress from Simmons? The answer was simple, of course he did, he did have a heart. And deep down inside, he had begun to care more about this team than any other team he had been on. But it was a necessary evil in order to evaluate Simmons.
Regardless of his feelings, he was the only one kept up to date on Fitz. He had even given the ok to use the Extremis on him when there wasn't any progress.
He looked at the monitor that was directed at the lab, and was pleased that Simmons had worked as well as she had in the past two weeks. She had found improvements for the dendrotoxin, QNB-T16, and invented a new material called biofoam, which was able to seal off wounds.
It was proof enough that she could carry on without Fitz. Granted her happy disposition on life had faltered the last two weeks, but she had worked effectively and was still as productive with or without Fitz, save that one hiccup when she broke down.
He took one last look at the report stating that if either scientist were to be separated or injured/killed, they would suffer in productivity. And in some extreme cases, be unable to function for a long period of time. He looked at the folder full of reports one last time before he deleted it from SHIELD's database.
Maybe she had carried on so well because she had hope that Fitz was ok, and not dead or seriously injured. Whatever the reason she had, she was in for a surprise in a few moments. Maybe the joy of seeing Fitz again would lessen the blow that was surely coming his way for keeping this a secret from Simmons and the entire team.
Jemma was busy in the lab pouring over her new samples of the biofoam when she heard the doors slide open.
"We just got some unexpected visitors." Triplett looked at Simmons, "Seems to be other SHIELD agents. Don't know if you want to see them or not. Just thought you'd like to know."
There was a brief silence before he caught Simmons slight nod, "I'm fine." She said briskly, not even turning around to acknowledge him.
It wasn't that Simmons wanted to be cold around Triplett or Skye. But lately, they had been annoying her every day about opening up. And quite honestly, she was fine, just a little frustrated. I'm not a porcelain doll guys! Was what she wanted to scream out.
But it was the culmination of all her problems with the situation revolving around Fitz, Skye and Antoine's insistence that she open up, the fact that she had no one to bounce ideas off of, or nothing that could facilitiate her newest invention, that led her to be a bit more agitated and stressed than usual. Though if she thought about it, all of the problems could've been solved by one person... Fitz. If he were here, all of these issues would just disappear. She thought wistfully.
Triplett stared at her back for a quick second before turning to leave, just to bump into Skye.
"Woah there dude." Skye dodged out of his way and went straight for Simmons.
"D.C. said that he wants the entire team to be at the loading bay." She stated pointedly at Simmons before adding, "That includes you."
She heard Simmons sigh softly, "Fine." Simmons carefully put both samples back in the freezer before taking off her gloves and then goggles. "Well then. Lead the way."
The walk to the loading bay was followed with silence and concerned glances to Simmons by both agents.
Coulson turned around and smiled at the entering agents.
"They should be here any moment… May?"
May studied the radar for a few seconds before nodding and opening the gate.
The roar of rotors filled the room with sound as a helicopter started to descend toward the loading bay.
Simmons just watched on as the helicopter landed and shut off its rotors.
"5 minutes until we arrive at the playground." Agent Hartley announced to the cabin.
"So you were a part of the Director's team before SHIELD went to shit?" Lance Hunter asked Fitz.
"Yep, still can't believe Coulson is the new director." Fitz looked outside the window and only saw snow. "Fury must've really liked building hidden snow bases."
"Turn off the stealth generator. I think we're close enough now." Agent Bakshi said as he got up from his seat and looked out towards the cockpit and pointed towards the frozen lake. "If intel is correct, the landing dock should be right there."
Hartley nodded and steered toward the lake.
"Holy shit that's a big base. SHIELD has a much bigger budget than STRIKE if this is a 'small, hidden base'." Hunter remarked with air quotes as he stared at the ice opening up.
He looked over to Fitz who looked like he was almost bouncing off of his seat. "You ok there Fitz? I don't know what's shaking more, the vibration coming off of my seat or your fidgety ass."
Fitz smiled at the ribbing, "It's just that I haven't seen my partner in a long time. I think the longest we ever stayed apart was a week. This pretty much doubles the record." A good lie carries an element of truth was the old saying.
"You mean Simmons?" Hunter replied back as the chopper began to hover above the loading bay.
"Who else could he be talking about? All he can talk about is this Simmons." Agent Bakshi commented as he shared a laugh with Hunter.
"Look at his face. It's as red as a tomato. Don't worry Fitz, we'll not make a move on the sweet, little lass of yours." Hunter looked at Bakshi for confirmation.
Bakshi just nodded and buckled in as the helicopter made its descent to the base.
They jerked forward from the semi-rough landing, and in that instant, Fitz felt both excitement and trepidation entering his body in new highs.
"Sorry about that guys. Still need to learn how to land with these new stealth choppers." Hartley said apologetically as she flipped the switch for the doors.
A blast of cold air hit the occupants in the cabin.
Hunter was the first one out, followed by Agent Bakshi, leaving Fitz by himself in the cabin of the chopper. He paused as he heard Hartley leave the chopper, and then began to unbuckle himself with his newly shaking hands. He counted to ten a few times before he finally steadied himself, now or never. He stepped out into the cold and looked around.
"FITZ?!"
His attention snapped to the person who had screamed and smiled at the sight.
Simmons just stared blankly at their new teammates. From the looks of it, though she shouldn't be one to judge, all of them seemed to be specialists. It made her feel a bit better that no one was going to replace Fitz anytime soon.
She quickly nodded to her new teammates and turned to leave when she heard Skye gasp and then scream, "FITZ?!"
She whipped her head around so quickly that everyone in the loading bay thought she had suffered whiplash.
A/N: So Coulson ships FitzSimmons. And who doesn't. Jemma is also being more and more grumpy - I was debating whether or not to add that Simmons was being constantly harassed by both Skye and Tripp about opening up more. Friends care about each other, and I know I'd be quite annoying to get to the bottom of the issue. But I did add it in the end. Hopefully this is still a smooth story.
Also, the new agents are also the new cast members joining the show. Though it was ambigious if Bakshi was working with HYDRA or SHIELD. And Hunter I think works with STRIKE (UK version of SHIELD according to the wiki). And Hartley (Lucy Lawless) is going to be a good addition to the team.
Just a bit more left and then this will be done. This took a lot more planning than I thought for such a small idea. But finally they reunite!
I made two ninja edits because I suck at proof reading. Sorry if that affected you guys in any way.