So, I can't read any stories, I can't even Google AOS for fear of spoilers - we're a little behind in my part of the world. Last night I finally saw S2E05 - A Hen in the Wolf-House. I can see that next episode there's gonna have to be some Fitzsimmons developments. I don't get the vibe that they're necessarily going to be ones that I'll enjoy. Anyway, far be it from me to discourage anyone from writing reviews, but if you do (and of course I'll love you forever if you do!) PLEASE don't venture out of the bounds of this episode!

As for THIS tiny story that you're about to read, I just ignored what we knew about Fitz recently and re-wrote the scene according to my preferences. Remember, this little By My Side project of mine is all about bringing Fitzsimmons together, and I mean TOGETHER, no matter what the cost in actual details of the show!

Director Coulson was still talking but Jemma was distracted. Through the glass to her right she could see people and movement in the lab but she couldn't see him. She looked back at Coulson with enquiring eyes. He nodded his assent. "Go ahead." He turned his attention back to the others. "Agents Triplett, Morse?" Coulson then led the others down the corridor with his usual sure, determined gait. Simmons felt as though she slunk in comparison as the sound of their footsteps faded into the distance. She wasn't sure if she was up to this.

The lab door creaked slightly at her touch but not enough for the sound to be audible over the whirr of machinery. Once she closed the door behind her, she caught sight of an unmistakable sandy blonde head bent studiously over the bench in the far corner, almost concealed by a large glass-fronted refrigerator full of flasks and vials. Her heart rate skyrocketed and her head felt light. He was right there!

Jemma recalled the last time she'd seen him so many months before - a frightened, frustrated, stuttering wreck of a man. How would things be between them now?

She didn't speak but he must have somehow sensed her presence. He turned his head and looked directly at her. Without taking his eyes off her, he straightened up. She could only return his gaze and wait to see what he would do.

The corners of his lips turned up into a grin and Jemma grinned back, unable to recall how long it had been since she'd seen last him smile like that. He moved towards her with a steadiness, a self-possession that she didn't even remember seeing in him before the attempt on their lives.

In an instant he was right there, so close she could breathe him in. His arms folded her against him and one hand was in her newly cropped hair, holding her in a way that only made her heart beat faster. This was Fitz! He wasn't supposed to be the one to make her feel like this. He was her friend, practically her brother! But she couldn't deny it, something had shifted.

Fitz stepped back, still smiling, to drink her in, one hand on her face, the other resting on the small of her back. Something about it, about him, was too much. She didn't quite feel in control. It was a bit like the previous weekend's party at a HYDRA colleague's house – though Coulson had told her to make friends, and she really was trying, all she had managed to do was drink too much champagne. After that she didn't trust herself to talk to anyone. Now, for the first time ever, she didn't entirely trust herself with Fitz. He didn't seem all that brotherly anymore. Suddenly, he seemed somehow really very attractive and she was decidedly giddy.

She leaned towards him and he noticed. She steadied herself with a palm against his chest and he took that in too. Her eyes closed slightly when he stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb and he found it highly gratifying. Something unmistakably different was happening between them and he was loving it.

"Hey, Fitz?" a deep voice boomed from the lab doorway, and the pair of them broke apart as if repelled by a sudden magnetic field. "Gimme a hand with this will you?"

Jemma turned to see an enormous man with his back against the door, pushing his way into the lab, pulling some sort of cumbersome trolley behind him.

"Mac," Fitz said as he held the door back to allow his friend through, "This is Jemma."

Mac looked over his shoulder into the lab and saw Jemma standing there. He grinned. "This is the Agent Simmons? That scientist girl you've been moping about ever since I met you?"

Fitz blushed. "Not exactly moping."

Mac raised his eyebrow at Fitz as he held his massive paw out to Jemma. "I'm Mac. Really pleased to meet you."

"You too," Jemma replied, a little pink in the cheeks herself.

"So, what brings you back to our humble lab?" Mac enquired, manoeuvring the trolley into the spot it clearly belonged.

Fitz turned to look at her with the same interested expression.

She smiled and looked at the ground. "Fitz," she replied. "That and the fact that my HYDRA cover was pretty impressively blown." She raised her eyes and found Fitz gazing at her with that distinctly non-brotherly expression.

Mac looked from Simmons to Fitz and back again. "Err, you know what?" he mused. "I think Tripp and Hunter needed me in The Bus for something round about now."

Fitz nodded a little too enthusiastically. "Yeah, I think I remember hearing something about that."

Mac winked at Fitz and then nodded his head toward Jemma. "Good to meet you. Sure we'll get to hang out soon."

"That would be lovely," Jemma called after him as he disappeared out the door and down the corridor.

"So," said Fitz, taking a step towards her, "What were we saying before we were interrupted?"

Jemma grinned. "Actually, I don't think we'd said anything at all."

"Hadn't we?" he asked in a mock-surprised tone, closing the distance between them and taking her once more into his arms. "That's dreadful, that is."

"It was alright by me," she whispered, turning her face up towards him.

Fitz expression grew serious. "I'm better, Jemma. You know that, don't you?"

"I know," she nodded reassuringly, squeezing his arm. "You're amazing, Fitz."

"I can be the man you need me to be now," he offered. "If you'll have me, that is."

Jemma reached up and gripped his tie, just below where his double-windsor met his button-down collar, and yanked him forward so that their lips met with a forceful passion.

When they eventually came up for air, Fitz found his voice. "So that was a yes?" he checked.

She shrugged, grinning. "Oh, I think you'll do nicely."