A/N: This story contains speculation that is based on minor spoilers for 3x05 gleaned from press photos and the one clip that's been released. Thanks to amandajbruce for reading it through and abating my fears. Check out her work if you haven't already, you won't be disappointed.

Fitz's hands shake so violently that he can barely secure the harness to Jemma's waist. Her fingers clutch at his shoulders, digging into his dress shirt and he can't help but notice when she winces as he hooks the carabiner to the harness.

"Did I hurt you?" He whispers and she shakes her head slowly, her eyelids beginning to drop with exhaustion.

"Hold on, okay?" Fitz gives the rope a tug and calls out that she's secured. Again, she winces and he can't help but watch her curiously as Mack hauls her to the surface.

It's Bobbi that initially assesses her and by the time that Fitz is at her side, Jemma can barely stand on her own. When she's finally unhooked from the harness, she practically collapses to the ground. She's wobbly and reaches for Fitz's hand to keep her balanced.

"I feel- weightless?" She mutters to no one in particular. Fitz thinks there's a joke in there somewhere, but he's so focused on getting her back to the plane that he can barely think straight let alone reply wittily.

"Thank you," she says, her voice barely above a whisper and her eyes are trained on Fitz as Bobbi helps her lay back on a gurney that's been brought into the isolation chamber.

He's not exactly sure what to say in reply. He'd go to the ends of the Earth- ends of the universe, even- over and over again for her if he had to.

"Fitz?" Her hand twitches and he reaches for her.

"I'm here." Her fingers tighten around his and she nods, tears beginning to pool.

She crooks her arm across her eyes. "Stay with me?"

"Yes. Yes, of course." I wouldn't dream of leaving you, he adds silently.

...

His hands fidget at his waist and his stomach clenches unnecessarily. He's nervous and anxious and he wishes that he could figure out a way to make it all go away. He doesn't want to seem overprotective and smothering, but he can't help it. He's worried.

He paces the hall and he's certain he's close to wearing actual tread marks upon the tiling. He can't help but wish she'd agreed to let Bobbi escort her into the communal showers. Her flinching and hesitancy around corners hasn't gone unnoticed; he's quite aware that despite having returned home, she's still frightened to her core.

"Fitz?" Daisy's head pokes out from a doorway. "Coulson wants to talk to you."

He nods absently and gives a lingering glance at the door to the ladies' showers.

"It'll be five minutes," she says, as if reading his mind. "You'll be back before she's out."

He exhales the breath he'd been holding and begrudgingly turns from the door. He knows he's being irrational, but he can't help it. He'd lost her once, he refuses to let it happen again.

"Fitz?" Daisy calls a second time, her voice becoming impatient.

"Coming."

…

Fitz has never been a patient man, but where Jemma is concerned he has all the patience in the world to offer her. He wakes early every morning to greet her the second she ventures precariously from her room. Coulson cautions him, reminding him that Jemma needs time and space to heal and Fitz begrudgingly tucks his hands into his pockets and the next morning decidedly takes his time getting ready.

To his surprise, Jemma notices.

"You weren't outside my room," Jemma teases weakly, pressing her back against the wall to keep her steady.

"I just- I thought..." He toes the floor bashfully, his face reddening.

She reaches for his hand. "Whatever you were thinking, don't. You're always overthinking things."

"I do not-" He replies automatically, his voice rising. She winces at the sound and he snaps his mouth closed. "Sorry," he whispers sheepishly and silently chastises himself.

Jemma smiles and tugs at his hand. "It's fine, really."

"But-"

She shakes her head, silencing his protests. "No," she insists, growing serious. "I want you near. I need you here."

His face softens and he's left momentarily speechless.

Jemma blushes and steps toward him, tucking herself against his side. "So, what do we have planned today?"

Her question startles him to attention and he reaches across his chest and pats her arm lightly. "I figured we could take a walk about the lab. If you're feeling up to it, that is."

"I'd like that." She shifts from foot to foot nervously. "Has it changed greatly?"

He chuckles gently and bows his head. "Not at all," he admits, his face growing hot. "I wouldn't let them."

She grins and nudges his arm with her own. "Some things never change, do they?"

…

He chews at the edge of his thumbnail as the restaurant puts him on hold. He knows he's making a ludicrous request, but he can't resist making it just the same.

"Mr. Fitz?"

He straightens, moving the phone to the opposite ear. "Yes?"

"It's a very unusual request," the man on the other end says and Fitz's heart sinks.

"I know."

"We'd have to charge you an event fee, it's-"

"Whatever it costs," he says without thinking. "It's fine."

The man coughs. "Well then…" He can hear papers flipping. "Would Thursday work?"

Fitz can't help the grin that spreads to his lips. "Yes! Yes, that's perfect."

…

He'd never been brave. Growing up he'd always cowered from confrontation, hiding in fear behind the tennis courts or tucking himself away in the engineering labs. However, when Jemma crumbles before him, finally releasing a fraction of what he imagines she's bottled up, he knows that he has to steel himself. He has to muster his courage and be strong for her. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and the moment feels far too long before she shudders against his chest and her tears stain his shirt.

He's at a loss, scared of what her tears are really saying and the best he can offer is to take her home. He ignores the sinking of his heart when she agrees and reaches for her purse.

…

When she finally opens up, desperate for his help and in need of his understanding of astronomy and physics, he's stunned. He'd always help her. Hell, he'd throw himself to the other side of the universe for her and so it takes little thought from him before he agrees. Together they set to work.

With every day that passes, Jemma's mood shifts gradually. She's still tense with apprehension, but she confides in him more easily. Knowing the full truth of her journey draws them closer and eventually she allows him to listen to the recordings she made on the other side. He's stunned to discover that the recordings, which started off as observational documentation, eventually became frightened letters to him.

His heart breaks anew for her and all that she's experienced. She'd spent over forty-seven hundred hours in darkness, waiting for a sunrise that never crested the horizon, never quite failing to believe that he wouldn't find her.

He can't help but marvel at her resilience.

"Jemma?" He asks hesitantly, unsure if she's even ready for what he's about to invite her to do.

Her fingers lightly and deftly turn the adjustment knob of her microscope. "Hm?" she replies, not looking up.

"I was just…" He steps closer to her, his fingers trembling ever so slightly from nerves as he drags them across the lab table. "I have an idea. Since dinner didn't work out so well, I... " He swallows thickly. "Just… Can we meet up tomorrow morning at like 6:30?"

She straightens and stares at him for a moment. "Okay," she says at last, nodding her head suredly. "That'd be nice." She returns her attention to the microscope and with a teasing twinge in her voice adds, "even if it is far too early for any sane person to be up and about."

His heart swells and he can't help the smile that pulls at his lips. "Good thing neither of us fits that description." And with that, they both burst into laughter; the sudden fit they share in, a much needed reprieve from their focused study.

…

Fitz reaches for her hand to help pull her through the roof's maintenance panel and Jemma tuts in reply as she hoists herself through the exit.

"I'm perfectly capable of-"

"I know, I know!" He retorts, excited by the electricity that has begun to return in her eyes.

She brushes the dust from her knees and rights herself, reaching for his hand. "Now tell me why we've climbed through the world's tiniest hole to stand on the roof. In the cold, I might add."

He's chuffed that she hasn't quite pieced it together. He'd figured that standing in the darkness on the roof of the base would've tipped her off, if the timing hadn't. The sky is already beginning to glow; the soft pink, orange and yellow hues bouncing off of the clouds that stretch across the horizon.

He nudges her with his elbow and with his free hand points. "Look."

Her fingers tighten in his and she presses against his side. "Sunrise?" She asks, almost breathless as her eyes widen with surprise. "I'd forgotten."

He nods and looks down at her. His face warm as his heart swells, flooded with love as he watches her take in the morning light she'd missed for so long.

When the sun finally breaks the horizon she releases his hand and turns, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face against his skin. He hears her whisper her thanks and his arms encircle her body in reply, letting her lean against him.

The moment feels fragile; there's a sadness that is still present as the dawn steals the shadows from around them. But it's in that moment that he knows with almost certainty that they can be more and that Jemma sees him as more. And when her lips press softly against his for the first time, it finally feels as though everything is awakened in that morning light.

.:Fin:.

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