I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this month so I may not get much writing for this fic done. As it is I'm running way behind on my Nano and it's only day 4. Please send me good vibes! - L

7

Leo Fitz thought some elaborate joke was being played on him. Coulson had told him Jemma was gone, she left, she went to be with her family. But she was in the room with them. Fitz wanted to laugh thinking they were still trying to prank him after all this time. Maybe they thought it would lighten the mood. Either way, Fitz pretended to go along with them, see how long they could keep it up. Maybe they figured it would be better for his health.

In a few short days, Fitz returned to his room. It felt nice to recover in privacy for once. Of course, Jemma spent all her time sitting on his bed or reading in the corner. She insisted in keeping him company. It was nice to have her around constantly; it meant she cared for him.

Jemma was a bit strange with all things considering. Fitz had limited mobility and was often left out of team meetings or assignments due to his broken arm. But Jemma wasn't going to them either, and she wouldn't even make him tea like they used to together. He even snuck down to the kitchen one night to make some tea for the both of them but hers remained untouched.

He was itching to get back to work, to not feel useless. He understood what a critical time it was for the team. Everything had broken apart and the team was suffering. They had limited resources and limited people. Fitz knew his role was important. About a week after waking up he headed back to the lab. Jemma followed.

However, Jemma hovered over him. He asked if she had any work to get done and she told him she didn't, and that's why she was able to help him. She was a great help for him in the lab. Where his mind fluttered in remembering terms and had difficulty connecting related objects, Jemma filled him in. She was patient with him. Perhaps her only assignment was aiding him on recovering. Coulson had explained that his lack of oxygen had resulted in hypoxia.

Skye, Tripp, and May were around the most. Coulson was always away and when he wasn't away, he was locked inside his office. Skye tried to talk to Fitz but their conversations fizzled. She bit her lip constantly and kept shifting whenever she was near him. She couldn't look him directly in the eyes. It made him feel like there was something seriously wrong with him. He merely couldn't string words together, that's all. That wasn't something too bad. But here Skye made his presence seem like it was a problem. Like he was constantly doing something wrong. Tripp would pass by every so often to say hello or bring him a snack. Fitz recalled before the accident becoming closer to Tripp. And now it seemed they were back to a casual work relationship. The only positive was Jemma wasn't hanging off him every two seconds. May at least would come and listen to him. She was a lot warmer then she used to be, and he thought about how nice it was to see this softer side of May.

One day, Coulson appeared with a group of agents and new recruits. While many of them would be working in the lab as medical technicians, Alphonso Mackenzie was a mechanic and would be sharing some of Fitz' space and engineering tools.

Jemma reminded Fitz to play it cool around him, that Mack may not be comfortable with Fitz' stuttering. It was at this point, getting worse. He assumed it was due to nerves. Jemma wouldn't say what it was. Some biologist she was.

Fitz didn't really feel anything was wrong. He was getting frustrated with his inability to speak to the same caliber he did. And he could surely do without the constant shaking and the perpetual ache in the arm he had broken, but otherwise he was alive and functioning.

About the second week after Fitz' recovery, things started to turn for him. Coulson came and gave hi his first assignment, to get the cloaking device working. Fitz accepted, he used to always tinker around with the cloaking and shouldn't have had a problem.

Coulson was just about to lave the room, disappear off into another assignment or something where he would be away from the base for days. Fitz stopped him, and seeing that Jemma was out of the room for a moment, he wanted to bring up a concern he had about her. That she should be helping with the work for the medical team. A lot of people were still recovering from their injuries. And Coulson had a reply for him that would confound him.

"Fitz, we told you this before, Jemma isn't here," Coulson said, softly.

Fitz bit his lip. Yes, she was here. The rest of the team needed to stop with the charade. It wasn't funny anymore.

"Sir, she's been here the whole time, helping me get better," Fitz replied.

Coulson looked at Fitz with sternly but his eyes were telltale signs of sadness.

"No, Fitz. She's been gone since the day you woke up."

Coulson wanted to continue, to tell him he wasn't getting any better, but he felt that was enough heartbreak for Fitz to endure in one day.