Chapter Text
“Fitz, you’ve got to tell me what’s going on before I know how to help you.”
Fitz groans and turns away from you. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he says.
You shake your head and sigh at him. Isn’t this the reason FitzSimmons have so many problems? They spent so much time learning about atoms and circuits that they never had time for anyone to teach them about feelings.
“Fitz, look, it’s just you and me, alright? I want to help.”
You can’t see him, but you know he’s rolling his eyes. His whole body deflates when he lets out a sigh.
“She wants me out of the lab, Daisy. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
You scoff at him. “What are you talking about? You guys have been awkward science flirting for weeks! There’s no way that’s really what she wants.”
He shakes his head, still turned away from you, and you immediately regret your outburst. To make up for it, you walk forward carefully, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Fitz,” you say, “Simmons couldn’t live without you.”
“Yeah,” he says bitterly, “except she did.”
Oh, so that’s what this is about? Have they still not talked about everything happened when Simmons was stranded on that planet? Or is this still about her time at Hydra?
Is it all of it?
Well, neither of them have talked to you about it, either. And you could go into all of that, but is that what Fitz needs right now? Or does he need to act?
“So you do this? You run away?” You think about all the supplies he packed, enough to last him months, and something clicks. “Did you ever plan on coming back?”
He shrugs your hand away, and you can only imagine all the thoughts and feelings swirling around in that big brain of his. Does he see how ridiculous it is? Can you make him see it?
“Fitz?”
He pulls at his hair with both hands. “It’s too much, Daisy. She knows that. She told me herself! It’s… it’s too much. I can’t do it again.”
“Hey,” you say, walking around to face him, “what were we just talking about? You can’t just assume that it’s over and give up! Did she say she wanted you out of the lab?”
He’s staring out at the floor, and when a single tear escapes from his lashes, he sniffs. “It’s not what she said. It’s what she did.”
“Fitz, what she did was bring you up from the bottom of the ocean. And she sat by your bedside for nine whole days until you woke up again! She was out of her mind trying to help you, Fitz. She even went to Hydra because she thought it would help you.”
He massages his temples, and the unrestrained anguish in his expression breaks your heart. “She left me.”
You shake your head at him. “She thought it was the right thing to do. So what if she was wrong? Her heart was in the right place. Have you ever considered how hard it must have been for her to be without you? You have to know, because it was in her eyes when she came back from that planet. When you came back from that planet.”
You let out a breath and pinch the bridge of your nose with your thumb and forefinger. They’ve been through so much! Why do they always insist on dealing with it separately?
“Sure, she makes mistakes sometimes. But you know what? So do you! So do I! So do all of us! And I don’t know what Jemma could have possibly done to make you think she didn’t want you, but I promise you that her heart was in the right place. I know you’re scared, but there has to be a part of you that knows how much she cares about you. You know her too well.”
You wish you didn’t know this look on Fitz’s face, this attempt at being brave while tears stream down his cheeks, while he’s shaking like the scared boy that’s still inside of him. “She brought in new equipment,” he whispers, “I told her there was no room for my desk anymore, and she… she laughed at me. She said that was the point of it.”
“Fitz,” you soothe, cocking your head at him, “I’m sorry she made you feel so small, but I’m telling you, there’s no way she meant it that way.”
He folds his arms and sniffs again. “That’s just a hypothesis,” he says, “there’s no way to prove it.”
Oh, but you know a way.
Next Chapter: Talk Fitz into recording a video letter for Jemma that expresses how he feels. (Coming soon!)