Chapter Five.

"You gave Fitz a bath?!" Skye laughed as Jemma attempted to matter-of-factly tell her where she had been for the last forty-five minutes, completely failing to do so without blushing. They were in Jemma's bunk sat amicably facing each other, cross-legged at opposite ends of the bed.

"He needed one. The poor thing hadn't had a proper wash in weeks. Stop it Skye it wasn't like that."

"Mmm," Skye raised her eyebrows disbelievingly.

"Well... it didn't start like that anyway," Jemma flushed again.

"Ooo you naughty girl- you totally took advantage of him!" Skye gaped in pretend shock.

Jemma opened her mouth to protest, then realised the hacker was teasing her. She threw a cushion across the bed and it narrowly avoided Skye's face. "Hey! It's not my fault you can't keep your hands off him! Is it the vulnerability thing? Does it turn you on?"

Without any more ammunition Jemma resorted to leaning across and punching Skye in the leg. "Skye! I'm serious, this is actually a problem. I don't know what to do." Despite how hopeless she felt Jemma couldn't help but laugh at her friend's attempt to goad her.

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, Skye contemplating Jemma's predicament. "Does it have to be a problem?"

"What do you mean?" The biochemist screwed her face in confusion.

"Well... you like him and we know he likes you too. Usually people see that as a good thing."

Jemma tilted her head, "it is a good thing. I think. It's just... complicated. We've gone so long ignoring how we felt- I don't even know how long he's actually felt that way about me. And he doesn't know I know," she flopped back into her pillows and sighed. "This is ridiculous. I am a ridiculous human being."

Skye laughed again at her friend's dramatics. "You are a ridiculous human being. But so is he. You're a perfect match; you can be ridiculous together..." Skye leapt up from the bed as Jemma tried to punch her again and flew to the door.

"Anyway... I said I'd go and visit lover boy this evening. Maybe I can get some gossip from him." She wiggled her eyebrows mischievously, Jemma's protests ringing in her ears as she left the room.

-:-

"Dr Fitz," Skye saluted playfully as she entered his room. Fitz was sat in the chair next to his bed, reading, his hair still damp. He looked up and smiled as she entered.

"Agent Skye... of the Organisation-Formally-Known-As-S.H.I.E.L.D." he quipped, closing his book and putting it to one side.

Skye sat across from him, perched on the edge of his bed. "Agent Skye... I still can't get used to that! Anyway, Simmons said you won't be down here too much longer, you must be pleased."

"Yep," he nodded. "It's just Koenig being a jobsworth really, wanting to jump through all the hoops and tick all the boxes before I move. Evidently there has to be some kind of risk assessment but Jem doesn't think it will be a problem."

"Cool." Skye's eyes roamed around the little room. There were no windows and the fluorescent tube lights gave everything a faintly yellow glow. She could understand why he wanted to move, remembering back to her days imprisoned in the med-pod on the Bus. "So... been up to much?"

Fitz set his mouth in a sarcastic smile at her question and began to count off on his fingers, "Let's see... breakfast, physiotherapy, nap, lunch, speech therapy, nap. Same as every day. Oh, but Simmons helped me have a bath- I cannot tell you how good that was." Skye nodded and laughed as he flushed. "I don't mean... I mean it's just I hadn't been able to have one and Simmons offered so... I just wanted to be clean," he drew out the last word for emphasis.

"Oh I bet you did," Skye smirked as she watched him squirm. Suddenly Fitz looked up and narrowed his eyes at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Erm..." it was Skye's turn to feel uncomfortable. She had momentarily forgotten that as far as Fitz was aware nobody knew about his feelings for his lab partner. "You know... Simmons is hot. Don't pretend you haven't noticed, you can wave your hands in the air as much as you want but you have eyes Fitz." Skye smiled inwardly at her speedy recovery as Fitz lowered his hand, the protest dying on his lips. He looked at her quizzically but didn't say anything.

Skye racked her brains for a way to get him to talk, to confess. She looked up when he cleared his throat.

"Simmons is hot?"

"Don't you think so?"

"Well... I...I suppose," Fitz's face darkened to a deep red. His good hand picked at the plaster cast on his other arm, he was clearly flustered now. "I try not to think of her like that," he added quietly.

"You try not to?" Skye couldn't believe he was opening up about this without her really needing to pry.

Fitz coughed again, a pained expression on his face. "Well, erm... we're friends, you know? I can't work with her and think... that."

"But you do." It wasn't a question.

Fitz looked straight into her eyes and moved his head minutely up and down. To anyone else the movement may have passed unnoticed, but Skye was looking for it and her heart leapt at his reluctant nod. She tried to keep a straight face; she didn't want to put him off opening up by getting over excited.

"How long have you felt like this Fitz?" Skye felt a little guilty knowing that she knew more about Fitz's feelings than he could guess. She told herself it was for his own good; if he couldn't tell her then he wouldn't be able to tell Simmons, and that was the point of all of this.

"Just recently...ish," Fitz suddenly appeared to find his trainers fascinating.

"Ish?"

The engineer bit his bottom lip, appearing to decide how much he should tell her. "I started to feel... different when she jumped out of the plane. She could have died and... I don't know what I'd have done. Then with all the Hydra crap I started to... think about it a bit more," he let out a long breath. "I realised she's not just my lab partner."

"People don't usually try to sacrifice themselves for someone who's just their lab partner," Skye spoke before thinking. "But... she's your best friend too."

"Yes," Fitz nodded vigorously. "But I don't think that's it." Skye waited for Fitz to continue talking. He started staring at his shoes again in an effort to avoid her gaze. "Skye, I've never told anyone this, but I've kind of had feelings for Simmons before."

"Before?"

"At the Academy, when we first met. I thought she was amazing; so talented and beautiful. But I knew she'd never be interested in me, not like that. We worked together and we were friends."

Skye waited for the 'but' she knew was coming.

"But then after our finals things changed. People said that she liked me, more than just a friend... and then I noticed it too. I'd never realised, I wasted so much time. We actually started seeing each other for a little while," he paused to study Skye's face. "But when we realised we would be working together at SciOps we knew we couldn't carry on. If we really crossed that line there was no going back," he looked sad and Skye mirrored his expression. "I don't think I ever really stopped loving her, not really," he murmured quietly.

"Do you love her now?" Skye asked the question despite knowing the answer.

"Yes," he sighed. He closed his eyes looking completely dejected. He had absolutely no idea his feelings were reciprocated.

"How does Simmons feel?" Skye floated the question, unsure what he would say.

"Simmons? Well... we're friends."

"Yes, but how does she feel?"

"I...I don't know."

"Don't you think you should find out?"

Fitz rubbed at his eyes with his hand, clearly tired and confused. He made a low growling noise in the back of his throat, his frustration evident. "How can I find out? I can't exactly just ask her... Skye? Do you know something?" His head snapped up to look at her as it dawned on him that her reaction to his confession had been incredibly calm and un-Skye. He had expected squealing or hugging or some other wildly over the top reaction, not quiet acceptance.

"What? No!"

"Skye. Has Jemma said something to you?"

"What? She... just talk to Simmons."

"What did she say?"

"Fitz," Skye fixed him with a level, unblinking stare. "Talk. To. Simmons. I'm going to bed." Skye left the bewildered scot behind her, unsure whether she had made things better or worse.