Previously: A couple days ago when Fitz stumbled out of the rainforest after being held by Hydra he kissed Simmons right on the lips, but the pair decided not to talk about their feelings until things quieted down. Even longer before then, back when Skye and May were trying to rescue the people in the incentive's program from Cybertek, Skye distracted Ward long enough for Ace to get away. Thing is, neither Hydra nor SHIELD know where he got to.

Now the team head to investigate the Ohio location Ward told them Raina might be hanging out at.

Chapter Six

"This place is a little off-putting," said Jemma.

"More like straight up creepy," replied Trip.

Simmons, Triplett, and Fitz walked around the old carnival wearily, as if something was going to pop up at any moment. So far, all signs pointed to it not have being used in quite a while.

When they found the information Ward had given, Cherry Hill in Ohio, to be a theme park that had closed down six years earlier they were skeptical, thinking he may have just been trying to lead them off Skye's trail. But with no other leads, they were forced to investigate.

They approached a Ferris wheel, which seemed to be the only ride in the entire place that was still in tact. Other than a funhouse they'd passed on their entrance to the old fairgrounds.

"Such a shame," said Fitz. "All these parts could have been used for something but they've just been left to rot."

"This one doesn't look particularly rotted though, does it?" observed Simmons as she looked at the Ferris wheel. "In fact, I think it could still be used rather safely."

"Guys, fresh prints," Triplett said, calling their attention to a mixed pile of dirt and sand. They all surrounded the little plot. "Four different shoeprints."

"And an obvious footprint, most likely a girl's based on the size," commented Simmons. "Do you think they were visiting the beach?"

"I wouldn't wear those shoes to a beach outing," Fitz told them, as the shoeprints seemed to have held heavy shoes. "Though I've never been a fan of the beach anyway."

"Well Fitz, your skin just really isn't equipped to handle it," said Simmons, just before letting out a small chuckle. "Honestly, one time we decided to take a road trip from the academy and he returned looking the exact same hue as a tomato!"

"Jemma! It wasn't that bad."

"People called you Bob for weeks! Which, I had no clue what it meant until I looked it up and found there was actually a popular Christian Children's program about vegetables in which one of the main characters was a tomato name Bob-"

"I don't think this was a trip to the beach. Not a friendly one, anyway," said Triplett, effectively ending her rambling. "Looks like there was a scuffle here."

"Oh yes!" Jemma exclaimed, noticing the marks fully now. "We can actually deduce quite a bit from the amount of space between the prints and they way they were dragged across the ground. It looks like someone was trying to hold or pull the girl… oh."

"Could it have been Skye?" asked Trip.

"It could be anyone, even Raina…" Simmons mused. She clicked her fingers together with an idea. "If we can find one clear print of the person who was barefooted, we can use three-dimensional restoration. We brought the scanners but don't have the Golden Retrievers so we'll have to look manually. Now, we don't have scans or footprints of every person in the world, but if it was Skye, we'll know."

"You have prints of Skye's feet?" Triplett asked, giving Simmons a small look of scrutiny. "Why?"

"Well… she's very interesting! Her reaction to the GH-325 I mean. I took an, I suppose, generous amount of samples from her. It's possible I went a little overboard…"

"Yeah, like the one time she was asleep," added Fitz.

"I just wanted a bit of hair! And she probably would have said yes anyway, but I didn't want to interrupt her rest." She turned to Triplett guiltily. "She wasn't very happy when she woke up."

"Neither would I. But it'd probably be a little harder to get a sample from my head," said Trip with a light smile. "Well, now that we know she's an 084, I'm guessing that had to do with why she reacted so differently."

"Actually, if Skye really is an alien, we could detect that from a scan as well," Fitz mentioned. Speaking of Skye's 084 status seemed to abruptly darken his mood. "I can't believe she never told us that…"

"Come now, Fitz. You have no idea how finding that out made her feel. It's no wonder she wanted a little privacy."

"Yeah, right," grumbled Fitz, his eyes holding zero amusement. "Would just be nice if everyone could say what they're really thinking once in a while around here…"

"Ok, you two look for a good print," ordered Triplett in a 'back to business' tone. "While you do I'm going to go check out the beach, there seems to be a pretty big object out there."

"Alright!" agreed Simmons.

"Sure," said Fitz.

"And stay alert, we still don't know who or what's here," he said just before walking off towards the water.

There has to be at least one good footprint around here, thought Simmons as she immediately began scanning the ground for a trace of it.

Keeping her nose down and searching, she eventually came right to Fitz' legs, only to discover he wasn't looking at all.

"Fitz, why aren't you helping me?" she asked as she continued her search.

"Jemma… when are we going to talk about what happened in the jungle?"

Simmons froze in her searching, standing up to look at him.

He looked hurt.

They'd agreed not to talk about the kiss until after Disney World and everyone was safe, but those two things weren't exactly aligned since Skye hadn't been there. They were in a grey area and Jemma was decidedly ignoring the subject.

"Well… obviously not now," she decided.

"When then? We've been dancing around the subject and pretending everything is normal when there's this giant elephant in the room every time we're together!"

"There is no such elephant; we've been fine!"

"Yeah but Jemma, you know how I feel about you now," he stepped up, closing the space between them. "If you felt the same way about me, I don't think this conversation would be so hard for you."

He had his hands on her crossed arms, beginning to rub gently as though trying to warm her up. She shrugged away from him.

"It's just that, well, I'm not sure how I feel."

"I knew it!" Fitz exclaimed, obviously upset as he turned around with exasperation. Simmons bit her lip, unsure of what to say. He looked back at her. "Then why did you kiss me back in the jungle?"

Simmons mouth gaped in shock. "It's not like you really gave me a moment to think! You were back; it was phenomenal!"

"So you're saying the only reason you allowed that to happen was shock?"

"No, I-"

"Because believe me, I'm quite aware of how when I poured my heart out to you with what we both thought would be my last breaths, you managed to put your lips all over my face but right here." He pointed roughly to his own.

Simmons was speechless. It wasn't like Fitz to be so confrontational. Oh yes, he would definitely express his feelings when he was upset about something, but not something like this. Such a delicate subject he would surely try not to be so abrasive about.

This was actually one of the reasons she was hesitant to have this conversation. No, she hadn't kissed Fitz very passionately in the ocean, but that had happened so fast. At that point, her mind still couldn't process that he could become anything more than her best friend.

But when he was dying… the more she thought about it, the more she couldn't imagine life without him. Her fantasies of if he were to survive quickly turned to candlelit dinners and houses with white pickets fences, along with just working side by side together all the time.

Then, when she had gotten him back, it was almost like he'd changed. He'd become more upfront about things and yelling at her for simple tasks. They'd bickered so much in the past that it was probably an unnoticeable change to anyone on the team; anyone but her.

Because she knew Fitz. She knew his heart and she knew his kindness. But since he'd been back, some of it was obviously missing.

How could she tell him that her feelings were faltering because he'd nearly died, and came back just a little incorrect?

"You know," he continued, "I thought life or death situations were supposed to make decisions easier."

"Well you definitely have to decide faster," Simmons decided to finally pipe up. "But that can cause for the incorrect decision to be made."

"So which was the wrong decision then? The one at the bottom of the ocean, or the part where you kissed me back in the jungle?"

Jemma looked at him with pleading eyes, the tears starting to make their way through. "I'm sorry, I just don't know."

"Then I'm done with you."

"Fitz! How can you say that?"

"Look, I obviously don't mean a damn thing to you, Jemma!"

"You mean everything to me!" she shouted, stunning him into silence. "When I thought you were dead my entire world fell apart. We spend every waking moment of our lives together since we've become friends, and you think that doesn't mean anything? Of course it means something!" she shouted desperately, before looking down. "I'm just not entirely sure what."

"Well, until you figure it out, I guess meaning everything to you is just as good as meaning nothing."

"Fitz, Fitz please, wait!" she shouted after him as he briskly started to walk away.

"I'm done waiting, Jemma!" he told her without turning around, continuing on his way. "Don't follow me, I'll see you back on the BUS."

Simmons stood, utterly defeated and staring after him. She didn't have a prospect in her mind of how to fix this.

Suddenly a hand caressed her shoulder, causing her to jump. And squeal, just a bit.

"Hey," said Coulson delicately, seeing her apprehension. May stood dutifully behind him. "Where are the others?"

Simmons sniffled, trying to hold up her posture. "Triplett's on the beach near that dock just over there. He went to investigate some sort of unknown object. Fitz… I don't know. I suppose he went to go look at something as well."

"Shouldn't you be with him?" asked May, ever insightful.

"No I… oh! I need to find a footprint." She pointed to the ground. "Like this one, but more complete."

"What for?" asked Coulson.

"If we get a good enough mold, we'll be able to use three-dimensional restoration to see if we can get anymore information about who was here."

"Alright, we'll look with you," Coulson told her.

"At least we found something here," said May.

"No such luck with anything else, then?" asked Simmons.

Coulson shook his head. "We only have one more area to check, figured we could go together."

Simmons nodded, thinking that "together" may not include Fitz, if he'd really already gone back to the BUS.

In fact, Jemma realized "together" may not be a term that Fitzsimmons would be using for quite a long time.

"Why did you feel the need to save this for last?" asked Simmons.

"It was on the way out," said Coulson. "And it's in pretty good condition compared to the rest of the rides in the place. Maybe it's being kept up for a reason."

"You sure it wasn't because you're scared, sir? Just a little bit?" asked Triplett lightheartedly.

Coulson grinned. "Well, you've got to admit, it's a little freaky."

"All fun houses are," Trip stated.

"True," agreed Coulson, and he really did. The SHIELD agent was not really a fan of the rides at little fairs like these. "So how about we get this over with?"

Coulson took the lead, taking the group through the entrance at the center of the funhouse.

They wove through a few poles, went over a rope bridge and through a tunnel. It was strange leading a team through a place like this, and Coulson was starting to think it would have been a less awkward experience if he'd done it alone, until he heard a soft "damn it" come from behind him.

The single file line turned as one to see the ever-graceful May kneeling on the ground, her foot straight through the rope bridge as she began to hoist herself up.

Simmons tried to stifle a chuckle but was obviously failing, while Coulson couldn't help but grin.

"This is getting to be a pretty tough mission, huh?" he teased, ignoring the serious that was supposed to come hand in hand with going out on an op.

May decided to ignore the comment but did accept Triplett's hand in helping her stand. She would have been perfectly fine getting up by herself in the about the same amount of time, but she was quiet and collected, not rude. Well, sometimes rude.

"Just be thankful something like that didn't happen on that rope bridge in Ecuador, because that would have been a little more messy," continued Coulson.

May's eyes narrowed. "You weren't in Ecuador."

"You know how news travels." Coulson beckoned forward with is hand. "Anyway, let's get going."

They set forth again into the dark carnival ride, and it all seemed rather pointless and discouraging (even with the small comedic incident) until they heard something.

"Did anyone else hear that ruckus?" asked Simmons.

"Stay close," ordered Coulson as they progressed forward with a bit more spring in their step.

There was the sound of someone hurrying down metal stairs. Maybe a couple someones.

All four of them had their guns raised now, unsure of what they were going to be met with. Coulson hoped it would be Skye, but somehow doubted they'd be keeping her in a fun house in Ohio.

When he rounded the corner, he shrieked.

"Ah! Don't shoot, it's just me!" Fitz screeched, his hands slightly up in surrender. "Why do you people have to always have your bloody guns out?"

"Because we're field agents on a mission, Agent Fitz," supplied Triplett. "What are you doing in here?"

"I heard something and thought I'd come check it out."

"Alone?" asked May, after a short pause. It was strange pause, like an absence of words there should have been, because Coulson would have thought Simmons would be scolding and chewing Fitz out right away for leaving the team.

He looked back at her, and saw that she was finding the ground particularly interesting, tracing patterns with her foot. Something was definitely going on there. He made a mental note to check up on it later.

"Yeah, I don't know why. I guess it was stupid," Fitz replied quickly. "But I did find something. Or… someone."

"You found a person?" Simmons exclaimed, apparently unable to contain herself.

"Yeah, but you know… a small one."

The little figure ran over from a dark hallway only to hide behind Fitz' legs. Coulson had to admit: he was expecting to see this person in here even less than he expected to see Skye.

The four agents spoke simultaneously.

"Ace?"

A/n: Ah Fitz, what are you doing mate?

Sorry if I'm updating too fast! Three days in a row. But I actually have written way too far ahead in this story and I want to catch up so not too much information gets revealed on the show that will deviate from this. Because obviously on the show I have no idea what Skye's lineage is so those two will be different, and I"m trying to beat it lol.

Still, next chapter will be in a few days. Let me know what you're thinking and thank you so much for the reviews and follows :D