Chapter 2- I Wanna See You Be Brave
Skye smiled wryly as she walked into the lab.
Over the past few days, she had noticed something that piqued her interest. Being banned from ninety-nine percent of technology for the time being made her more than a little bit antsy, so she needed something to distract her from that.
Skye had found that pretty quickly.
Observing Jemma Simmons undertake scientific procedures, even ones that Skye probably couldn't pronounce, was something to behold. Even hunched over, she looked graceful. Her bottom lip were securely tucked between her teeth as her eyes narrowed.
"Hey, what are you working on?" Skye interrupted as patiently as she could
Jemma jumped a little, turning around quickly. "Oh, nothing. Just analysing the biological properties of various alien substances procured by SHIELD agents around the world after the battle of New York. The Chitauri left myriad residual chemicals behind when they invaded. The Avengers may have dealt with them, but their environmental and biological footprints are all around the city. With enough analysis, we can learn more about them and any intel is good intel."
Skye nodded, because that made sense. Maybe not total sense, but enough for her to agree. "Right, good. I'm sure you're making good progress."
"Oh, I am! I'm organising the data into separate categories which will help us to identify anomalies within the results."
"Is Fitz helping you?" Nobody could say that Skye ever beat around the bush. That just wasn't her style. When it came to affairs of the heart, Skye liked things direct. It wasn't exactly what was happening between her and Ward, but that would take time, she supposed. Ward wasn't exactly the mellowest of human beings.
Jemma blushed, clearing her throat. "Not explicitly, but I'm sure I'll ask for his input at some point or another. Why do you ask?"
Skye shrugged. "It just seems like something that you two would work on together. You know, as a duo. Fitzsimmons."
Jemma smiled. "I see what you're doing. You're trying to ask if I have feelings for Fitz."
"And?"
Jemma bit her lip. "Is it that obvious?"
"To everybody but him, yeah. Don't worry, Simmons, you're fine. He doesn't know a thing. He's completely clueless. It's up to you to clue him in."
Jemma tilted her head, as though her wildly talented brain did not factor in Skye's words. "I'm not sure I understand. Why would I want to clue him in?"
Skye almost rolled her eyes, but she saw how genuinely bemused Jemma was about her suggestion and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Because it's obvious that he has feelings for you, too. Come on, Simmons, you can't tell me you haven't noticed."
Jemma coughed and tapped on the countertop in front of her. "Fitz and I have always been just really good friends. We understand each other in ways that nobody else does, we…"
"Yes?"
"How sure are you about this?"
"You question my matchmaking abilities?" Skye smirked with a mock gasp.
Jemma scoffed. "Well, it's not like there's a quantitative experiment we could run to test the theory! It's all down to whether you're reading Fitz's tells correctly."
Skye didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Jemma clearly struggled with deciphering other people's emotions as she was always more invested in being scientifically correct and there was no test in the world that could measure love on an accurate scale. Love was way too wildly unpredictable for science to gauge. Skye reckoned, though, that if anybody would come up with a way to determine love through science, it would be Simmons. Then Fitz would assemble the machine and Simmons would use him as a test subject and…Skye shook her head and made a note to stop writing fanfiction in her head, forever. Not that she would ever write it down, of course. Not ever.
"Jemma, do you trust me?"
Jemma paused and then nodded. "As time goes by, I'm trusting you more and more, yes."
Skye held her tongue about that and continued. "So if I told you that Fitz was crushing on you, you would believe me?"
Jemma opened her mouth to argue, but realised that she was inferior when it came to dealing with matters of the heart. It was a feeling that she hated, being worse than somebody at something. She knew it was immature and petty and that everyone was good at different things, but she had grown up being academically gifted and ahead of her peers in the curriculums they were set. It caused social problems, but who needed friends when you were trying to become a S.H.I.E.L.D agent? Jemma still maintained the theory that if she and Fitz had met before S.H.I.E.L.D Academy, they would not have been friends. Jemma was way too engrossed in her studies to speak to many people, even if she felt a connection with them. "Yes, I suppose I would."
"Okay. And if I told you that you should say something to him, to tell him how you feel about him? Be brave, throw caution to the wind and do something bold!"
Jemma blushed deeply and shook her head. "I never agreed to anything like that!"
Skye shrugged. "Wouldn't you rather be with Fitz than spend all of your time ogling him from afar?"
Jemma smirked. "Would you rather be with Ward than spend all of your time ogling him from afar?"
Skye knew that she had been shut down. "That's different."
"How exactly?" Jemma folded her arms and looked at the other girl expectantly.
"I don't know," Skye admitted, "it just is. Ward is so closed off and so emotionally distant from everyone. At the moment it's just a physical connection."
"And what's wrong with something purely physical?" Jemma raised an eyebrow and Skye was impressed.
"Jemma Simmons, I underestimated you!" Skye laughed as she heard a noise from behind her. Whirling around, she saw Fitz lingering in the doorway.
"Uh, sorry," the man said, breathing deeply, "I was just coming in to see how you were doing with the alien residue, Simmons. I can see I've interrupted something. I'll leave you to it."
Skye shook her head. "Fitz, I was just leaving anyway. You can stay."
Fitz sighed. "I would, but I have to see Coulson anyway."
Skye turned quickly to Jemma. "Now's your moment," she whispered.
"Fitz!" Jemma called loudly at the aforementioned man before he had chance to leave the lab.
"Yeah?"
Jemma froze, her insides turning to mush as Fitz's eyes gleamed with sincerity. "Uh, it's nothing. I'll fill you in another time."
Fitz nodded quickly and left, leaving Jemma to blush profusely.
Skye raised an eyebrow at her. "So much for that."
Jemma shrugged. "Maybe I'll be brave enough next time."
That was good enough for Skye.
