Dr. Lansburg leaves and Jemma steps back into the room, still clearly uncomfortable, but she manages a smile for him, "What did she say? Skye contacted me, the BUS is…Oh wait, I don't-"

"Jemma, it's okay," he says and her eyes snap to his the second he says her name. "I have to tell you something."

Jemma immediately rushes to his side, sitting down in the chair that she occupied earlier, her face bright with a genuine smile now, "Did you get you memory back?"

She's going to hate me. "Don't be too cross Jemma..." get it over with already, quick like a band-aid, "ButIneverlostit," Fitz breathes out quickly, watching Jemma closely for a reaction.

Her brows furrow and the look she gets when she's trying to solve a puzzle takes over her features, "What?"

"I don't have amnesia, Jemma, I remember everything. I'm so sorry. Please, Jemma."

"I don't understand," Jemma shakes her head. "Why would you do that? Why would you say you don't remember who I am?" her voice cracks and tears begin to gather at the corners of her eyes.

"When we were in the pod, I thought we were going to die and I had to tell you how I felt," he watches each tear fall down her face as he speaks, and he closes his own eyes for a second as the memory of panic and cold water flashes across his mind. He opens them again, "I woke up and you were here and I remembered what I said and I know you don't feel the same but I can't listen to you say it. I just thought it would buy me some time, I didn't want to hurt you Jemma, I'm sorry."

"Fitz…" Jemma says softly, her eyebrows knitting together.

"It's okay," Fitz interrupts her, no platitudes. "You should go back to the BUS, see how everyone else is holding up."

"What? No, didn't she just clear you?" Jemma asks, her eyes scanning the machines still hooked up to him.

Tell her the truth. "She wants to run a few more tests," Fitz answers honestly.

"A few tests? Why, for what?"

He opens his mouth to explain but decides it would be better to show her instead. "Hold out your hand," Fitz instructs and Jemma does so, holding her hand out over the bed, palm facing downwards, but her eyes are trained on him. He closes his right eye and with his right hand shaking slightly, he reaches out for Jemma's hand. He can see his hand touching hers, but he can't feel it, "I can't feel your hand, but this is where I see our hands touching," he explains, his hand an inch away from hers. He opens his eye and focuses on Jemma's face. Her eyes are wide and her mouth is slightly open.

"We'll fix it," she declares as she wraps her hand around his and rests them on the bed in the space in between them. "It will be fine, Fitz."

He finds himself smiling at her words even though he knows that even they cannot fix this: his nerves, his brain cells, everything that died in the minutes between the ocean floor and the surface. "Thanks Jemma," he finds the words falling from his lips. "But you should go back to the BUS, see how Coulson, Skye, May and…Triplett are."

Jemma shakes her head, squeezing his hand, "No I'm not going to leave you."

"Please Jemma, I'm sure they're worried. I'll be okay. It's just a few tests." A few tests I don't want you to see me fail. "Please Jemma? I'll be released afterwards, it will be fine. I'll meet you on the BUS."

Jemma stares at him for a moment and he's worries she'll insist, but to his relief she complies, "Okay. But you have to tell me everything she says. Promise?"

"Promise."

A/N: My poor baby Fitz.