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It had been Chloe's idea originally, and looking back, Iain should have realized that fact alone meant things wouldn't end well. But unfortunately, he hadn't realized this and now he was laying in the hospital with a black eye and a splitting headache.
That Thursday had been like any other besides the fact that it was the last day of filming Season 3.The team had filmed a few scenes, none of particular importance. Iain and Chloe stood around craft services table, as usual, snacking, chatting, and waiting for Elizabeth who would be in the next scene with them.
The Agents of shield cast knew just how much gravity their last few days held. For the past month the entire Agents of Shield team had been spending a lot more time off set together hanging out (grabbing drinks, game nights, laser tag, etc.) before their two month hiatus would pull them in their separate ways. One would think that the longer they worked together the more sick of each other they’d become, or, if anything, the more years they had the easier it’d be to say goodbye. But ask anyone and they will tell you it only gets worse. Few people understand the whirlwind that comes with being an Agent of Shield, and the stress and excitement of it creates a fortified bond.
"I have a fantastic idea," Chloe said, still chewing a cookie she had practically inhaled. Iain looked up at her, already sensing that someone was going to be victimized.
"You should scare Lil."
Why she had been carrying a mask in her purse was beyond him, but Iain set down his tea and pulled the rubbery face on anyway. It wasn't a particularly scary mask, just a pale, zombie-looking head, but it's more the surprise that would get her than the mask's appearance.
He snuck onto the lot and around the back of her trailer, to the corner closest the door. Chloe stood in the stage doorway, watching the scene unfold.
The two pranksters counted on Iain jumping at her once she came out (which he did) , they counted on her jumping and screaming (which she did), then they would all had a laugh before they filmed their last scene of the day (they did not).
Instead, Elizabeth surprised everyone, including herself, by instinctively punching the man in the mask, punching him with strength almost unnatural for someone of her size.
"Oh my God!" Chloe rushed out onto the lot where Liz had already pulled off Iain's mask and was trying to wake him up.
Iain had hit the ground hard, unsuspecting of the small, but clearly powerful, fist that had collided with his face.
"Please wake up! Iain! Can you hear me?" With a hand on either side of his face, Elizabeth was frantically trying to bring her friend back to consciousness while Chloe called their ambulance over: they always kept one on set on days they filmed more complex stunts, but they never dreamed it'd be for something off set.
The medical team loaded Iain in the back, Elizabeth had insisted on riding with him, she is the one that knocked him out after all. Jeph Loeb decided it would be best if came along too. They had barely shut the doors when Iain woke up, surprised to find Elizabeth holding his hand while she retold the story to a clearly distraught Jeph, and a team of EMTs who looked bemused as they took his vital signs.
"Did you punch me?" He croaked out, gingerly touching his swollen and already black eye with his free hand.
"Thank goodness I didn't kill you!" She squeezed his hand tighter, "I am so sorry! I don't know what happened!"
The EMTs, who knew he would be fine, laughed at the poor actor's situation as they radioed to the hospital. As they did so they noticed his heart rate increase slightly and quickly looked back to their patient: what they saw was the British actress cupping her friends jaw affectionately, and while she was examining his black eye, Iain was gazing softly at her concerned face. The EMTs looked at eachother bemused before noticing their third passenger, the older gentleman, chuckling to himself at the increased beeping.
They arrived at the hospital soon after and Elizabeth reluctantly dropped his hand and let the nurses cart him away. She and Jeph plopped themselves down in the waiting room and filled in as much of Iain's paperwork as they could while taking frequent coffee and tea breaks.
After an hour or two a doctor finally emerged, walking them to Iain's room while filling them in on his status. Thankfully, there was nothing more serious than a concussion and black eye. They wanted to keep him for a few more hours because he had loss consciousness, but they assured the Marvel team that he could go home tonight.
"Wow, Henstridge, you should really put boxing on your resume!" He said sarcastically as they entered the room, "I know you're jealous that your dog loves me more than you, but I think beating me up went a bit too far."
She rolled her eyes, glad he was at least acting his usual self, "Oh please, if I wanted to beat you up you would definitely not be getting out of this hospital tonight." She countered with a smile, Jeph chuckled at the familiar bickering, surprised at how little time it took the two to go back to being an old married couple.
He had been there since the beginning and he knew their game all too well. The pair had chemistry since the moment they met and it had been completely platonic. Their game was simple, the rules were easy: Don’t let the other tease you more then you tease them. But somewhere along the line the rules had changed: Don’t let the other see how you truly feel.
Elizabeth slipped into the chair beside his bed, "Does it hurt badly?"
"Yeah, it bloody hurts!" He rolled his eyes, or rather, rolled his eye, but he smiled at her nonetheless, "How's your hand?"
Typical Iain.
It wasn't until then that she noticed the dull, throbbing pain in her knuckles, and upon inspection, found them to be peppered with purple bruises. Iain took her hand to get a look at them, running his thumb lightly across them, absentmindedly "you didn't break anything, did you?" She shook her head no.
"Good." He sighed, laying his head back against the pillow, failing to cover a small wince. Jeph who had stepped out to phone the rest of the Shield family, returned and the three of them talked about rearranging the filming schedule as well as relaying the mocking and concerns of Iain's Cast mates.
Iain's doctor made it back into the room, according to him Iain could be released in about two hours, but someone had to stay with him in order to monitor his breathing while he slept, he was after all, still concussed.
The three just nodded, Elizabeth agreeing instantaneously to take charge of her friend's health.
Loeb got called back to set, knowing that Iain was going to be well taken care of, he felt it acceptable to leave the pair.
"You really don't need to stay over, I can ask someone else." He sighed, "I mean I know you have always wanted to get me into bed, but-" he joked.
"I think you hit your head harder then originally thought." She laughed but the sound didn't carry the way it should.
"Hey." He said softly, seriously, catching her eyes, "it really wasn't your fault." He knew Liz well enough to know, joking aside, she still felt incredibly guilty over hurting him; she proved this many times including her reluctance to hit him with the fake fire extinguisher in Season One, which seems like ages ago now. She was beside herself with guilt after he had tricked her with some artfully applied makeup into thinking she actually bruised his neck quite badly.
"I want to, really." She said, not breaking eye contact to prove her point, "it'll be fun!"
Brett and Chloe came to check on him once they had finished filming for day. The latter receiving a verbal lashing from the pair, while Brett was in stitches laughing at the situation.
Once the doctor came around again telling Iain he could start preparing for discharge Chloe and Brett decided they’d better get going too.
"Your place or mine?" Elizabeth asked, and when Iain raised an eyebrow bemusedly, and their two other costars stopped on their way out the door she continued, "you know what I mean!" She rolled her eyes.
"Oh I think we all know what you mean, Lil." Chloe said suggestively.
"Yea, are you gonna go nurse him back to health now?" Brett added with a wink.
"Have you tried kissing it to make it better?" Chloe pouted, failing to hide her smirk.
"Ha. Ha." Elizabeth said humorlessly, cheeks flushing slightly.
"Goodbye!" Iain had shouted, rubbing the back of his neck.
The still giggling actors took their cue and left, Chloe giving one last dramatic wink to the hospital patient while Liz was distracted.
"I’m gonna run out and make a phone call, so why don't you change and then we can go?" She suggested, he agreed and waited till the door was firmly shut before tugging off his thin hospital gown and back into his, or rather Fitz's, button up and trousers.
After scanning the room one time for any forgotten possessions, Iain exited into the hall. He leaned against the wall while he waited for Elizabeth to finish her observably tense conversation with her boyfriend. She hung up and gave him a forced smile before linking her arm through his good-naturedly.
She babbled as he signed out and as they walked to her car, which Chloe had dropped off for them beforehand. Liz had apparently decided that Iain would probably be more comfortable at his own apartment but she still decided to stop at her own place to grab some over night stuff.
"This'll be fun!" She said firmly, "like a sleepover except where we actually go to bed at a decent hour."
When they arrived at Iain's apartment, only four blocks from Lil's own, she instantly began buzzing around like a mother hen: putting on the kettle for some (decaffeinated) tea, making Iain some extra strength ibuprofen, picking up the clutter around his living room while he changed in more comfortable clothes for the night, ordering a pizza for the two of them, changing out of her clothes, and putting both Fitzsimmons costumes into bags to bring back to work.
It was only after the pizza came (and the delivery guy winced at Iain's shiner) that Liz finally relaxed settling in next to her friend on his sofa, shoulders brushing.
10:45 rolled around and the credit had just started rolling on Beauty and the Beast. He had let her choose the movie, and though he acted resistant, it was secretly one of his favorites. The empty pizza box lay on the table in front of them, and both had a small amount of cold, forgotten tea left in the bottoms of their mugs.
Elizabeth sat up and streched, she flicked off the TV and turned to the sleeping man beside her. She paused, checking, as the doctor ordered, that he was breathing normally before attempting to wake him.
"Hey..." She said with a gentle shake of his shoulder, "It's time for bed." He stirred and looked up at her with wide eyes. She saw him process a moment before he nodded, eyes already starting to droop once more.
"I missed the end." He whined, sounding genuinely upset. She pulled him to his feet and swayed, putting his arm around her shoulders; she chuckled and walked him into his room.
"I know, but we can watch it again."
"Yeah, I guess." He yawned, falling unceremoniously into his bed, "I’m so tired,” He whined again, “Being assaulted by a shrimp really takes it out of ya." He pulled the blankets over himself while she placed a glass of water and more ibuprofen on his bedside table for the morning.
"I am not a shrimp.” She said indignantly.
"But you don't deny the physical assault?” His face was half hidden by his pillow but she could still see his familiar smirk.
"You were asking for it." She sighed, still beside his bed.
"I suppose so…” He mumbled sleepily, “Good night, Henstridge." He said earnestly, his eyes too heavy to keep open any longer.
"Goodnight, de Caestecker." She said softly, and Iain wished he hadn't shut his eyes so quickly because just when he had thought she'd turn to leave, he felt her gingerly press a light kiss to his bruised temple, "Feel better." She whispered, turning the light out. Iain smiled to himself and tried to quiet his pounding heart.
She returned to the living room, her mind occupied by what she had just done. Not because it was that uncommon, but because it felt right. She cleaned up the living room once more, washed a few dishes, and finally returned to the couch. She had been stressed for a while now: her relationship was crumbling, her mom was sick, and nothing seemed to be going right. In fact, she thought, just spending the night with Iain, making silly jokes, watching movies, his presence in general had made her happier and calmer than she had been in weeks.
After two hours of trying and failing, and figuring that since she had to check on him periodically, Liz wrapped the fuzzy blanket around herself and tiptoed into the bedroom. She paused next to where Iain lay and listened to his deep even breathes, and noticed how much younger he looked while he slept. All muscles relaxed, his lips parted just slightly, the gentle rise and fall of his chest which was stretched under a navy t shirt. Fitz had changed this season, no longer was he a scrawny science geek, he had grown, like the rest of the team, into a true agent of shield. Iain certainly looks the part now, and Liz couldn't help but notice the breadth of his shoulders and the muscle definition in his chest and arms.
Shaking herself from her wondering thoughts, Elizabeth made her way to unoccupied side of his bed.
"Iain..." She whispered, her voice cutting through the darkness, the only light coming from the street lights shining through the slots in his blinds.
"Iain, can I sleep with you?" She tried again, only a bit louder. She heard an intake a breath and he turned forwards the sound of her voice.
"What's wrong?" He asked his voice husky and confused.
"I can't sleep. Can I climb in with you?" She asked, pulling her blanket tighter around her shoulders.
"Yeah, 'course." He mumbled. Reaching out he folded down the covers next to him for her.
Closing his eyes again, he felt her petite frame wiggle in next to him.Sshe sighed and pulled the comforter tighter around her. Iain smiled sleepily in the dark, dosing off once again to the familiar scent of Elizabeth's vanilla shampoo occupying the pillow beside him.
Elizabeth slipped in next to him, the sheets were soft and cool, smelling of fresh laundry and something unmistakably Iain. She sighed, sinking further into the pillow, she fell asleep almost instantly.
Iain woke up at 8, having received a text from Jeph stating they didn't have to come in for the last day until 10. He sqinted, only causing his head and his eye to hurt more, but the room was already bright.
He looked around for the pills and water Elizabeth had left him, but his eyes settled on her first. She slept on her stomach, head not on the pillows but on his mattress itself. She had her head tucked under her shoulder and her arm was warm on top his, her fist lay on his shoulder, knuckles still matching his purple eye.
If his head hadn't been splitting, he could have laid there for hours, but unfortunately she must have felt him stiffen and shift because her head shot up like a bullet, hair flying at strange angles.
He winced as he turned onto his side to reach the table, "are you okay?" She asked her voice a bit raspy.
"Yea, just need some ibuprofen." He reassured her, and she sighed.
"You know, you shouldn't have those on an empty stomach,” she turned slowly, sitting on the edge of the bed away from him and stretched (and Iain did not notice the way her shirt had ridden up, and he really didn't take note of how pale and smooth her skin looked.)
"Breakfast?" She chirped, her voice back to its normal cheery tone.
She padded into the kitchen and started the kettle as she had the night before. She pulled down a box of pancake mix from his pantry and, seeing some chocolate chips on the shelf below, decided to throw some of those in.
The kettle began to whistle and she flicked it off, turning to where she knew he kept the tea she opened the cabinet. Inside she found Iain's regular stash of coffee and tea, but noticing the topmost shelf she felt a surge of affection for her best friend. The highest shelf was brimming with all of her own favorite teas, unopened accept the one she drank last night. There was even a box of her favorite cookies that she usually enjoyed with a nice cuppa.
Iain silently pulled up next to her on the counter and started mixing the pancake mix she had left out. Snorting he held up the chocolate chips and raised and eyebrow at her. She just smiled in response.
It was strange that it wasn't strange. It had only been three and half years since they'd met, who would have thought they'd be domestic together so naturally. He knew she liked chocolate chips in her pancakes, she knew how he took his tea. She knew her way around his kitchen with ease, and he knew exactly how to cease her worries. I guess being together nearly every day was bound to force friendships: Even if theirs never needed to be forced.
While they ate they planned revenge on Chloe, along with gossiping over the minor dramas they had on set. After, Iain rinsed and load the dishes while Elizabeth changed into the pair of Simmons' tight khakis and one of Iain's old t shirts, it was faded and soft from being washed so many times, and since he had basically outgrown the old article years ago so it was only slightly baggy over her slight frame.
Teasing on set had reached an all time high that day. Whether it was about Elizabeth "beating him up", or the pair's sleepover and the fact that she was wearing his clothes, the two Brits seemed to have all the attention fixed on them. Liz finally decided to have her own fun with it.
"Woah, nice shirt!" Brett said as he entered the room, the cast had planned a final lunch together and were meeting on stage B, Ming was the only one left to arrive. "It looks like you two had a good night!" He grinned cheekily.
"Oh, we sure did!" Elizabeth cooed, throwing her arms around Iain's shoulders hugging him sideways to her, "we're just so madly in love, we can't bare to be parted! Isn't that right, my sexy little dove?" She asked, gently patting his chest for emphasis.
"Uh, right?” Looking confused, shrugging at Brett.
Ming had arrived just in time to hear Liz's question, her eyes widening in shock and amusement. But after a good laugh with the rest of the team, everyone rushed out to the cars.
"In all seriousness, how was your night?" Brett had asked as the two men trailed behind.
Flashbacks to her waking him on the couch, and kissing him goodnight resurfaced. Followed by her crawling into bed, waking up to her, warm by his side, and the simple joy of making breakfast together. Without realizing it Iain had forgotten about Brett and his innocent question, smiling blissfully to himself.
"Did something happen?" Brett stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, ripping him for his reverie.
"No, no, not at all." He said, nonchalant.
Brett studied him closely, Iain thinking hard once again, "You really like her, don't you?"
Iain had opened his mouth, quick to defend with a strong "No!" but he knew it was over this time. He had been convincing everyone, especially himself, that he wasn't in love with one of his best friends but three years was enough: the game was lost.
And so Iain just sighed. He looked down at his shoes, then over to where the friend in question sat, laughing in Chloe's open passenger side window, then finally back to Brett's solemn expression, "Yeah.”
The hand on the shoulder that had stopped him before now gave a sympathetic squeeze and a pat.
Chloe honked loudly, ushering the guys to her car, which waited for them. Half the cast had already left for the restaurant.
The subject was dropped, and it wasn't picked up again for a long while after, but there did come a time when Iain (and Elizabeth) got a happy ending.
The final day of filming began wrapping up, but Iain had one thing left to do.
He walked briskly to the trailer across from his, keeping an eye out for anyone watching, and knocked quietly on the trailer door that opened soon after.
"Hey... Oh God." Brett stared at his friend’s possession.
In Iain hands was the zombie mask, mischievous sparkling in his blue eyes, "I dare you to scare Chloe."