Chapter Text
Jemma sighed to herself as she finished the mitochondrial analysis of the most recent Inhuman the team had encountered on a mission earlier the week. With the ATCU (well what remained of the ATCU) on their side it had been easier to locate and find new Inhumans before they accidently wrecked havoc. Unfortunately, this was not the case of their last encounter. What remained of the Inhuman was scarce as she literally combusted (poor dear) and unfortunately that made tagging her DNA a difficult process. Fortunately, Fitz had been able to grab what they assumed was the victim’s hairbrush from her apartment before the building burst in flames.
She shuddered at the thought of Fitz being stuck in there, a burning building with no chance to escape. The smoke rising above him, burning his lungs, choking hi-
Jemma was jolted from the nightmare scenario as the test tube fell to the floor and shattered.
Ever since her return from Maveth, she found it easier to get lost in her thoughts.
“It’s merely a side effect from lack of human contact over an extended period of time” she told herself. “Once you give yourself time to adjust and find your feet you’ll be as quick and as agile in the lab as you were before”.
She moved to carefully pick up the broken pieces of glass, her fingers trembling. She hadn’t managed to regain full fine motor control after the oxygen her body had been deprived of for the past few months. Recovering was proving too be a slow and tedious process and Jemma had no patience; especially when it came to herself.
Frustrated and tired, she decided to give up for the evening considering it was steadily approaching 2 am and they had another briefing with Coulson tomorrow morning.
She moved a such a haze she didn’t even recognize that someone was lying on her bed when she entered her room and crawled under the covers.
“Mmm Jemma” A voice said, turning towards her.
“Hey sleepy head; decided to crash here?” She said turning around to face Fitz.
“Well I went looking for you, and you weren’t in your room but the bed looked very warm and…”
“What did you want silly goose?” Jemma said laughing in his shoulder.
He sighed into her shoulder. “It can wait ‘till morning”.
“Well your awake now, and what if you forget by morning?”
“And why would I forget?” he said playfully nudging her leg.
“Hmm, you’ll find-”she said, moving her leg over his own so she could move over him “that I have ways to occupy your current thoughts”.
He smirked, pulling her down so that she rested on top of him.
“Is that so?”
***
Fitz yawned as he rolled over and subsequently inhaled a portion of Jemma’s hair.
Blah! As nice as Jemma’s hair smelled it did not taste as great. He did take the moment though to admire Jemma in this light; hair splayed across the pillow and adorably tiny nose taking in slow, deep breaths. If only there were some way she could find this peace when she was not asleep.
She had been through so much this past year and he knew how hard she was on herself. What with the traumatic months spent on Maveth only to be pushed through her recovery quickly so that she could help the team.
He knew that she needed a distraction to focus her energy towards instead of beating herself up on what she could not have prevented. It was in the lab, scrolling through the recovered data on her phone, when the idea struck him. He saw a picture of himself from their years at the Academy covered in what appeared to be a custard pie. It was a long held tradition at the Academy to prank the incoming freshmen; an initiation of sorts.
It made him think of the pranks they had plotted together, as well as the pranks that had been plotted on them. Of a time when everything was so much simpler; when the greatest of their worries were final exams.
Jemma began to stir beside him “Good morning” he said, kissing her temple.
“Good morning” she whispered “What time is it?”
“Just past 7” he stated, checking the clock on her nightstand
“Well I suppose you better hurry off before anyone notices you leave my room” she said as she sat up.
“Remind me again why we need to be sneaking around the rest of the team?”
“Because Fitz” she said sighing “It’s technically against protocol to be shagging a fellow agent”
“Is that all I am?” He joked as he moved towards her, entwining their legs “A form of release ?”
“Mmmhmm” She leaned in towards his mouth, moving “Simply a means to an end”
“I’m highly offended” he said in a mock tone as he pulled away ever so slightly as she bit her lip in frustration.
“Seriously Fitz, you have to leave now before May finishes her morning meditation and walks by or Daisy wonders why I’m not up yet and decides to investigate”
“Well we can’t have anyone investigating.” He sighed and began to search for his shirt.
She tossed him his jeans “And you can’t sneak into my room every night, eventually Hunter’s going to catch on that you haven’t been sleeping across the hall from him in over two weeks”
“But I came last night with honorable intentions!” struggling with the buttons on his shirt “I wanted to ask you something.”
“What about?” she said from the washroom and she tried to sort out her hair. Giving in, she pulled it up into a messy ponytail. Good enough.
“Well I’ve been thinking” he started, moving towards the open door “that it might be fun to bring back an old tradition.” He watched her through the small vanity mirror as she fixed her hair. Even having not slept most of the night she somehow always looked as radiant as ever. “Remember at the Academy how the seniors would pull jokes on the new class?”
Jemma scrunched her nose “I’m not sure Fitz…I don’t think Coulson would approve”
“Probably not” he said, scratching his head “But it might be a way to cheer everyone up; to move foreword after everything that’s been going on”
She considered this point as she turned to face him directly.
“Well” she started
“Ya?” A smile began to form at the corner of his mouth.
She gave in to his pleading eyes “I suppose it would be fun to see Hunter covered in pie”
His smile broadened as she moved to embrace her.
“Yes it will” he whispered excitedly “Even if he may kill me afterwards”
The thought of such a predicament caused her to laugh; an emotion she had not felt in quite some time. Feeling safe in his embrace, she allowed herself be swept into Fitz’s arms and into a state of reclaimed silliness.