A/N: I don't own Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I told myself "alternate endings are for the weak! never apologize! lok'tar ogar" and "whaddya doin', flip-floppa, just write a whole 'nother fic if you want this scene so much."
But in the end, one of the reasons I like fanfiction is that there aren't as many rules. And I had this "happy" ending in my gut ever since I wrote the first one (which I didn't truly want to scrap). Also, I don't have time right now for anything longer, so this was a good way to get my fanfic groove on in a limited way. Anyway, here it is.

A droopy-eyed Fitz scrambled into the lab, pulling on his lab coat like a bathrobe.

"Simmons? What time is it?" He was adorable, one meerkat curl sticking up at the back of his head.

"You've been sleeping nearly three hours. It's fine, though, Coulson said we had all afternoon, and we left Stark Tower early so there was plenty of time."

"Good. That serum hit me harder than I thought. What are you workin' on?"

Fitz wandered to where she was and looked over her shoulder. He was startlingly close and seemed to know it.

"Just… er… a non-lethal version of the…" Words. Why couldn't she remember words? "...giant wasp venom we discovered in Brazil. It's something I've been thinking about for a while."

"Hmm. I've been thinkin' about something as well."

His voice was millimeters from her neck, and it sent a shiver from her belly button to her shoelaces.

Simmons cleared her throat abruptly. "Oh? A proj- you don't- I mean, you thought of a new idea?"

"It's to do with our pesky protocol issue." This time his timbre tickled the sensitive shell of her ear, and she very nearly dropped her graduated cylinder.

"Fitz! These are volatile! Are you trying to set me on fire?" Oh, God. Phrasing.

"Sorry." No he wasn't. She could feel the smug smile on his face. Prat.

But at least he moved around to face her. Or perhaps that was worse. No doubt I look like a tomato in a wig, after all that. Simmons sucked in a breath, mentally adding up her birthdays and diplomas, and reasserted the usual level of decorum. She raised an eyebrow.

"So tell me your grand scheme, Doctor Fitz. Because I can't find the answer and by your own admission, I'm the smarter one."

"Ah!" Fitz pointed a finger upward. "You may wish to re-evaluate that statement in a minute." His voice went up comically. 'But Fitz,' you might ask, 'why is that?'" Simmons crinkled her face in mock disgust at his impression. "Well, it's simple really. What does the handbook actually say about fraternization? Verbatim. I know you've memorized it, you nutter."

Sigh. Fitz being playful was the cutest thing since people started putting puppies on skateboards. Not that she would ever let him know that.

"Lots of people commit important documents to memory." She almost stuck out her tongue, but Fitz was the immature one, not her. "Fine: 'In the interest of avoiding misunderstandings, conflicts of interest, favoritism, sexual harassment, problems with team morale, and dissension, all agents engaging in romantic activity' -"

"-at their place of work will be subject to disciplinary action. Simmons. At their place of work. Which means…"

Realization dawned. "If we're not on the Bus…"

"I know it's a technicality, and it's not ideal, but- is that enough wiggle room that you won't feel you're lying?"

Fitz had that eager, boyish face he got when they'd made a breakthrough on one of their designs. Simmons tapped her lip as if in thought, knowing her mind had already cycloned away, possibilities whirling. Slowly, her expression lifted to match his and the corners of her mouth tugged up into a canary-eating grin.

"I think I could definitely work with that."

A/N:

And then they run out of the cargo bay and snog behind the wheel well and almost miss May's 5-minute warning. Right? Right?

Sorry to anyone who doesn't like the indecisiveness of alternate endings. I usually don't waffle around like this but you know what, screw it. Waffles are delicious. So if I've offended you, here are some tasty homemade waffles *hands you a plate* and look! They have pecans!